1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house,
2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
3 And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it.
4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
5 Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;
6 And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.
7 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel,
8 But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.
9 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.
10 And these were the chief of king Solomon's officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.
11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come.
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,
13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was perfected.
17 Then went Solomon to Eziongeber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.
18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
<html><b>Now it came to pass at the end of twenty years</b> The meaning is: at the end of twenty years that the entire construction had been completed: that of the House of the Lord seven years and that of his palace thirteen years, as it is written in I Kings (6:38, 7:1).</html>
<html><b>And he built Tadmor in the desert</b> In I Kings (9:18) it [the name] is written “Tamar,” but read, “Tadmor.” This accounts for that which we learned in Tractate <i>Jebamoth</i> (16a): We may not accept proselytes from the Tarmodites; and in <i>Genesis Rabbah</i> (56:11), in the portion dealing with the binding [of Isaac] it is explained that they aided Israel’s enemies, and because they changed themselves and became worse, the word תָּמָר is used in Kings, an expression of exchange (תְּמוּרָה), for they should have repaid Israel for the kindness that Solomon bestowed upon them, for he built the city of Tadmor for them. Because of Solomon, it is not written here “Tamar,” but “Tadmor,” i.e., an important city, in deference to Solomon’s honor, for it is no honor to Solomon to say here that he built a city which rebelled against him and sinned against him. Therefore, it is written, “Tadmor,” and not “Tamar.”</html>
<html><b>fortified cities</b> Because they stood on the border, they needed to be fortified.</html>
<html><b>for his work</b> [i.e.] for the work of his building. Why? All the proselytes were [employed] to do his work, but not the men of Israel, because the Israelites served as soldiers and men of war and the officers of his chariots and his horsemen.</html>
<html><b>two hundred fifty</b> And in I Kings (9:23): “five hundred fifty,” but [in fact], these two are identical, for there Scripture deducts three hundred and then repeats and counts them again, for there it is written (5:30): “Besides Solomon’s chief officers, etc….three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule,” and here it is written above (2:1): “three thousand six hundred.” We find that what is missing in one verse is added in the other verse. Scripture separates them because the three hundred extra were proselytes, and they were appointed over those three thousand three hundred who ruled over the seventy thousand who bore burdens and the eighty thousand hewers in the mountains (I Kings 5:29), and these two hundred fifty were Israelites, appointed over those three hundred proselytes.</html>
<html><b>Solomon brought up from the City of David</b> That is Zion, for he let her dwell in the City of David when he married her, and she was there until he completed building his palace. <b>because they are holy</b> The entire city and all the houses. <b>since the Ark of the Lord came to them</b> because the Ark of the Lord had come to them. [The word] בָּאָה is a feminine expression, similar to (I Sam. 4:17): “and the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord (sic) was taken (נִלְקְחָה).”</html>
<html><b>on the altar of the Lord</b> This was the copper altar that Solomon built. Some explain that this was the copper altar that Solomon made instead of the copper altar that Moses built, but this is astounding, because it is written (II Kings 16:15): “and the burnt offerings of the entire people of the land, etc. and the blood of every burnt offering, etc. shall be for me to visit,” i.e., the copper altar, which was there heretofore, shall be for me to visit. This proves that Moses’ copper altar was still there.</html>
<html><b>until this day [from] the founding of the House of the Lord</b> From the day of its founding until its completion.</html>