2 Chronicles 2:17

2Ch 2:17 And Solomon numbered all the strangers that [were] in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.

Ver. 17. After the numbering.] See 1Ch 22:2.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch_2:17-18

And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel.

Naturalisation of foreigners

I. A good government will tend to make a country attractive to foreigners.

II. Foreigners thus attracted are amenable to the laws of the state.

III. Thus protected, they may contribute materially to the enrichment of a state by the importation of foreign industries. Silk-weavers of Spitalfields.

V. Be kind to strangers. (Bibical Museum.)

Strangers in the city

I. Strangers in a city are in danger from the temptation to explore the underground life of the community. I believe that three-fourths of the young men of our cities are ruined for the simple reason that they went to look at iniquity. In 1794, during the Reign of Terror in Paris, there were people who, to hide from their persecutors, got into the sewers under the city, and went on mile after mile amid the stifling atmosphere, poisoned and exhausted, coming out after a while at the river Seine, where they washed and breathed again the pure air. But, alas! that so many men who attempt to explore underground New York life never come to a river Seine, where they can wash, and they die horribly in the sewers. I stand on a mountain of Colorado, six thousand feet high. There is a man standing beneath me who says, I see a peculiar shelving to this rock, and he bends towards it. I say, Stop, you will fall. He says, No danger; I have a steady hand and foot, and see a peculiar kind of moss. I say, Stand back; but he says, I am not afraid; and he bends farther and farther, and after a while his head whirls and his feet slip--and the eagles know not that it is the macerated flesh of a man they are picking at, but it is. So I have seen men come to the very verge of the life of this city, and they look away down in it. They say, Dont be cowardly. Let us go down. They look farther and farther. I warn them to stand back; but Satan comes behind them, and while they are swinging over the verge, pushes them off. People say they were naturally bad. They were not? They were engaged in exploration. No man can afford to sail so near the coast of eternal fire for the purpose of discovering how hot it is. Stand off from that exploration. If you are a good swimmer, and you see a man drowning, leap for him and bring him ashore; but if you are merely going to jump in to see him drown, stand back.

II. Strangers in a city are in danger from the temptation to desecrate the Sabbath. There is not one in ten who knows how to keep the Lords day when he is away from home and absent from all Christian influences.

III. Strangers in a city are not safe without Christian restraint. (T. De Witt Talmage.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ch 2:17. Solomon numbered all the strangers — For David had not only numbered his own people, but afterward the strangers, that Solomon might have a true account of them, and employ them about his buildings. Yet Solomon numbered them again, because death might have made a considerable alteration among them since David’s numbering.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:17-18 The book of Kings explains that all those left from the seven nations were conscripted for labor. Further, no Israelites were conscripted, and Israelites were placed in charge of the laborers (1 Kgs 9:20-23).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Solomon numbered all the strangers, &c.--(See on Kg1 5:13; Kg1 5:18).

Next: 2 Chronicles Chapter 3

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(17) All the strangers.—The indigenous Canaanite population. (Comp. the use of the term in Gen_23:4; Exo_22:21; Lev_17:8.)

After the numbering.—The word sĕphâr, “reckoning,” “census,” occurs here only in the Old Testament.

Wherewith David his father.—The former census of the native Canaanites, which had taken place by order of David, is briefly recorded in 1Ch_22:2. (Comp. 2Sa_20:24, “and Adoram was over the levy,” from which it appears that the subject population was liable to forced labour under David; comp. also 1Ki_4:6; 1Ki_5:14; 1Ki_12:4-18.)

And they were found.—The total of the numbers here given is 153,600, which is the sum of the figures assigned in the next verse, viz., 70,000 + 80,000 + 8.600.

(17, 18) Solomon’s levy of Canaanite labourers. (A return to the subject of 2Ch_2:2.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17, 18 [16, 17, Heb.] (cp. 2). Bearers and Hewers

17. David his father] See 1Ch_22:2.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The strangers are the non-Israelite population of the holy land, the descendants (chiefly) of those Canaanites whom the children of Israel did not drive out. The reimposition of the bond-service imposed on the Canaanites at the time of the conquest Jdg 1:28, Jdg 1:30, Jdg 1:33, Jdg 1:35, but discontinued in the period of depression between Joshua and Saul, was (it is clear) due to David, whom Solomon merely imitated in the arrangements described in these verses.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Had made, at the commencement of Solomon’s reign, when David put such immense treasures into his hands. The second list was taken when the temple was begun. The proselytes were the remnants of the nations of the natives of Chanaan. The Jews foolishly pretend, (Calmet) that no strangers were allowed to embrace the law of Moses, under David and Solomon, for fear lest they might be influenced by self-interest rather than by the love of religion. (Seldon, Syn. iii. 2, 5.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Wherewith David his father had numbered them; for David had not only numbered his own people, for which he smarted, 2Sa 24; but afterward he numbered the strangers, not out of vanity, but that Solomon might have a true account of them, and employ them about his buildings, as he saw fit. Yet Solomon thought fit to number them again, because death might have made a considerable alteration among them since David’s numbering of them; and it behoved him to have an exact account of them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Strangers. By these are meant those of the former inhabitants and possessors of the land, who had not been extirpated or driven out. Special regulations respecting them are recorded in Jud 1:21-28, 33-36. But these had largely lapsed till, as it appears, David revived themrather trenchantly, and David is now followed by Solomon (2Ch_8:7, 2Ch_8:8; 1Ki_9:20, 1Ki_9:21) The very much milder enforcement of labour upon the Israelites themselves is evident from 1Ki_5:13-16. After the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them. Of this transaction on the part of David we do not possess any absolutely distinct statement. But the place of it is sufficiently evident, as indicated in 1Ch_22:2.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The strangers - For David had not only numbered his own people, but afterward the strangers, that Solomon might have a true account of them, and employ them about his buildings. Yet Solomon numbered them again, because death might have made a considerable alteration among them since David's numbering.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Solomon counted

The readers should understand that Solomon probably commanded other people to do the actual work. AT: "Solomon had his servants count" (See: Metonymy)

They were found to be 153,600

This can be stated in active form. AT: "There were 153,600 foreigners" (See: Active or Passive and Numbers)

153,600

"one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred" (See: Numbers)

seventy thousand ... eighty thousand

"70,000 men ... 80,000 men" (See: Numbers)

to carry loads

It is understood that these are loads of materials for building Yahweh's house. AT: "to carry loads of materials" (See: Ellipsis)

3,600

"three thousand six hundred" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

alien

Israel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And he made of them seventy thousand, etc. The reason he mentions them again and mentions the number is that he interrupted the topic; therefore, he had to repeat it again now. And he did not stop until he finished the entire [account of the] building, and he says immediately (3:1): “And Solomon commenced to build, etc.” Now, even with one verse, it is customary to interrupt the topic and [then] to begin [again] with the previous statement, e.g., (Num. 16:6): “Do this: take yourself, etc.” And the morrow, it says (ibid. 16f.): “And Moses said to Korah: You and all your band, etc.,” and he repeats and says, “and let each man take his censer and place, etc.” Since he interrupted with many verses, it was necessary to rewrite it, and how much more so here.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.