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Oh say can we see 2020?

http://historyreally.org/bookofthelaw.html

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Joshua 1

1. Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,

2. Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

3. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

4. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

5. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Excerpts from Annals of the World - Lives of Kings David and Solomon

2919c AM, 3629 JP, 1085 BC

395. David was born to Jesse the Ephrathite in his old age. {#1Sa 17:12} This was thirty years before David succeeded Saul to the kingdom. {#2Sa 5:4 1Sa 16:1} David was the youngest of eight sons born to Jesse and Bethlehem was later called the city of David as was Jerusalem. {#1Sa 20:6 Lu 2:4 2Sa 5:7,9}

1 Samuel 17

41. So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him.

42. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and good-looking.

43. So the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?'' And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44. And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!''

45. Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

46. "This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47. "Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands.''

48. And it was so, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.

2941c AM, 3651 JP, 1063 BC

396. God had rejected Saul and his family from the kingdom. After mourning a long time about this, Samuel was sent by God to Bethlehem to anoint David as king. This occurred forty years before the rebellion of Absalom. {#1Sa 16:1 2Sa 15:7} David was a handsome-looking lad who was called away from shepherding his father's sheep. {#1Sa 16:11,12,18 2Sa 7:3 Ps 78:70,71} Because David was preferred over his older brothers and was being anointed in their presence, {#1Sa 16:13} they were envious of him. {#1Sa 17:28} David's brothers were as envious of him as Joseph's brothers were of him. David was also made king over Judah at the same age that Joseph was made ruler over Egypt. {#Ge 41:46 2Sa 5:4} From the day of his anointing, the Spirit of God came upon him, giving him his courage and wisdom. {#1Sa 16:13,18 18:5,13,14,30 2Sa 5:2} As a result of this, while Saul lived, he was made general over all Israel and became a great warrior to fight the Lord's battles. {#1Sa 25:28} He became known as a prophet and the sweet Singer of Israel who, by his divine Psalms, would teach and instruct the people of God. {#Ac 2:30 2Sa 23:1,2} [L50]

2944 AM, 3654 JP, 1060 BC

397. Mephibosheth (or Meribbaal), {#1Ch 8:34 9:40} the son of Jonathan, was born five years before the death of his father. {#2Sa 4:4}

2944c AM, 3654 JP, 1060 BC

398. David feared that he might at last fall into Saul's hands, so he fled to King Achish in Gath, taking six hundred men with him. {#1Sa 21:10} Achish gave him the town of Ziklag to dwell in, and he lived there for one year and four months in the land of the Philistines.

2948a AM, 3657 JP, 1057 BC

399. From there he attacked and killed all the Geshurites, Gezrites and the Amalekites, leaving no one alive to carry news of the slaughter to King Achish. {#1Sa 27:1-12}

2948c AM, 3658 JP, 1056 BC

400. While David was at Ziklag, many who were relatives of Saul came to join themselves with him. Also many valiant men of the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of Gad and various good soldiers came across the Jordan River to join him, in the first month when it overflowed all its banks. They were accompanied by many other captains and commanders of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. {#1Ch 12:1,15,18}

2949c AM, 3659 JP, 1055 BC

401. King Achish planned to invade the Israelites with his Philistine army. He took David along with him. {#1Sa 28:1,2} While David was on the march with his six hundred men, he gathered a number of others from the tribe of Manasseh who joined him. {#1Ch 12:19} The Philistines were then encamped at Shunem and the Israelites were in Gilboa. {#1Sa 28:4}

402. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he became afraid and sought counsel from the Lord. Receiving no answer in a dream, or by Urim, or through his prophets, he went to Endor by night to consult with a witch. When she conjured up a vision of Samuel, Saul received the dreadful message:

"God shall deliver Israel, together with thyself, into the hands of the Philistines; and tomorrow, thou and thy children shalt be with me." {#1Sa 28:5,6,19 1Ch 10:13,14}

403. While David was away on his march, the Amalekites took Ziklag, plundered it and burned it. They carried away David's two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal, along with all the wives and children of his men. {#1Sa 30:1-31}

404. When Saul returned that same night from the witch, the Israelites moved to the fountain of Jezreel and the Philistines went to Aphek. The princes of the Philistines became jealous of David, so he and his men left the Philistine army early the next morning and returned to Ziklag. The Philistines in the interim marched up to Jezreel to fight with the Israelites. {#1Sa 28:25 29:1,3,10,11} It seems that Saul and his sons were not killed on the day immediately following his communication with the apparition of Samuel (since all that day David was with the army of the Philistines) but Saul's death occurred some while after David's departure from them.

405. When David was returning to Ziklag, seven captains of the Manassites came to meet him. {#1Ch 12:20,21} David arrived on the third day of his journey at Ziklag and found the town plundered and consumed by fire. Two hundred of his company were weary from marching and rested at the brook Besor, while David followed after the Amalekites and overtook them with the remaining four hundred men. The battle lasted from the twilight of the first day to the evening of the next. They recovered all that was lost and returned home with joy. {#1Sa 30:1-31} [L51]

406. The host of Israel were soundly trounced. The three sons of Saul, Jonathan, Abinadab and Melchishua, were also killed. Saul and his armourbearer fell on their own swords. The following day the Philistines took off the head of Saul and hung up his armour in the temple of their idol Ashtaroth. His body and the bodies of his three sons were also left to hang on the walls of Bethshemesh. [E35] However, the men of Jabeshgilead remembered the deed of valour which Saul had done for them at the beginning of his reign. They stole away their bodies from there and burned them. They buried their bones under an oak at Jabesh and fasted for them for seven days. {#1Sa 31:1-13 1Ch 10:1-14}

407. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, who was now dead. When his nurse heard the news of his death she ran away with Mephibosheth. Because she was very afraid and in a great haste, he fell out of her arms and became lame in his feet for the rest of his life. {#2Sa 4:4}

408. Three days after David's return from the slaughter of the Amalekites, he heard of the defeat of the Israelite army. A boy of the Amalekites who had been in the battle brought him the news, together with Saul's crown and bracelet, which he had removed from Saul's body. {#2Sa 1:1-16} From this news, though quickly brought to David, it is inferred that the defeat in Gilboa happened a number of days after David left the Philistine army. It was not unusual for the battle to be so delayed. Much later, when the Syrians camped against the Israelites at the same place at Aphek, Israel waited seven days before fighting with them. {#1Ki 20:26,29}

409. David executed the Amalekite who claimed to have killed Saul. In a funeral song he praised Saul, Jonathan and God's people. {#2Sa 1:13-27} Daily, more companies of the Israelites' army flocked to him. {#1Ch 12:22} He asked counsel of God before he went up to Hebron with his men and their families. There he was anointed king by the men of his own tribe at the age of thirty. He reigned over Judah for seven years and six months. {#2Sa 2:1-4,11 5:4,5}

410. Abner, the former captain of Saul's army, took Ishbosheth, Saul's son, to Mahanaim and there he made him king over the rest of Israel. Ishbosheth was forty years old and reigned two years over Israel. {#2Sa 2:8-10} He had two years of peace with the house of David, just as his father's two years of reign {#1Sa 13:1} referred to two years of peace with the Philistines. {See note on 2909c AM. <<392>>}

411. David sent messengers to the men of Jabeshgilead and thanked them for the kindness which they had shown to King Saul. He informed them that he was now king over Judah. {#2Sa 2:5-7} To strengthen his position, he made an alliance with Talmai, king of Geshur and secured it by marrying his daughter, Maacah. She bore him Absalom and Tamar. {#2Sa 3:3 13:1}

2951c AM, 3661 JP, 1053 BC

412. After the two years of peace with Ishbosheth, there was a long war between his people and the people of David. Joab, the son of Zeruiah, David's sister, headed up David's side and Abner commanded the other side. Many battles and skirmishes took place. David's side grew stronger and stronger, while Ishbosheth's side became weaker. {#2Sa 2:26-3:1}

2956d AM, 3666 JP, 1048 BC

414. When Abner was disgracefully used by Ishbosheth, he defected to David. He arranged with the chief men and heads of Israel to transfer the whole kingdom to David. {#2Sa 3:6-21}

415. When David had fled from Saul, {#1Sa 19:12} his wife Michal had been given by Saul in marriage to Phaltiel. David demanded that Ishbosheth send her back. {#1Sa 25:44 2Sa 3:14,15}

416. When Abner came with twenty men to David, he was well received and given a feast. When he returned from David in peace, he was treacherously killed by Joab. David made a great mourning and lamentation over Abner, and he was buried at Hebron. {#2Sa 3:17-39}

417. All Israel was troubled by the death of Abner. Baanah and Rechab, of the tribe of Benjamin, murdered Ishbosheth when he was resting on his bed in the heat of the day. They brought his head to David and he had them executed. {#2Sa 4:1-12}

418. The captains and elders of all the tribes came to Hebron and anointed David king over Israel for the third time. {#1Ch 12:23-40 11:1-3 2Sa 5:1-3}

2957a AM, 3666 JP, 1048 BC

419. David, with all Israel, marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites. By Joab's valiant actions they captured the citadel of Zion. Henceforth, it was called the City of David, just as Bethlehem, his birthplace, was called. He made Jerusalem the capital of the kingdom and reigned over all Israel for thirty-three years. {#2Sa 5:5-7,9 1Ch 11:4-7}

2957c AM, 3667 JP, 1047 BC

420. When the Philistines heard that David was made king over all Israel by every tribe, they twice led their army against him at the valley of Rephaim, and were defeated both times. {#2Sa 5:22-25 1Ch 14:1-17} [E36] It was at this place that David, in the time of harvest, desired a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem. To please him, three of the most valiant captains broke through the host of the enemy to get it. When they brought it to him, he would not drink it. {#2Sa 23:13 1Ch 11:15}

2958b AM, 3668 JP, 1046 BC

421. David built up the city of Zion and strengthened its fortifications. Joab repaired the rest of the city. {#2Sa 5:9 1Ch 11:8}

422. Hiram sent messengers to David. Hiram also sent cedar wood, and carpenters and masons, to build David's house. {#2Sa 5:11 1Ch 14:1}

2959 AM, 3669 JP, 1045 BC

423. The ark of the covenant, which in the first sabbatical year had been brought from Gilgal to Shiloh, was now brought from Kirjathjearim in this sabbatical year. It had been moved from Shiloh seventy years earlier, from the house of Abinadab. Thirty thousand choice men from all Israel accompanied the move of the ark by David. He composed the sixty-eighth psalm for the occasion, as may be deduced from the psalm's title. {#Ps 68:1} This verse appears to have been taken from a prayer which was appointed by Moses to be used and sung every time the ark was moved. {#Nu 10:35} The ark was first carried to the house of Obededom. After three months, it was moved into the city of David, or the citadel of Zion. David himself rejoiced before it, and sang a psalm. {#Ps 132:8}. Solomon his son repeated this verse {#2Ch 6:41} in the next Jubilee year, when he brought the ark into the Holy of Holies in the temple.

"Arise oh Lord unto thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength"

424. See also this passage. {#Ps 132:6,7} From the Hebrew:

"Behold we (that is the men of Bethlehem dwelling there) have heard of it at Ephratah (our own country) and found it in the fields of Jair, or the wood; (that is in the hill of Kirjathjearim, for that signifies a city, bordering upon woods)"

425. From another psalm we have: [L53]

"The Lord hath chosen Zion, for a habitation for himself; saying, This is my rest for ever here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein." {#Ps 132:13,14}

426. The ark came to rest there at Zion {#1Ch 6:31} and was moved into the new tabernacle which David had prepared for it at Jerusalem. {#2Sa 6:17 1Ch 16:1 2Ch 1:4}

427. The tabernacle of the congregation, built by Moses, together with the brazen altar used for the daily sacrifices, remained at Gibeon, in the tribe of Judah, until the temple of Solomon was built. It was no longer in Shiloh in the tribe of Ephraim. {#1Ch 6:32,48,49 16:39,40 21:29 2Ch 1:3,5,6 1Ki 3:2,4}

428. The ark was moved from the house of Joseph, of which the tribe of Ephraim was a part, into the tribe of Judah. After this, Shiloh played no part in Israel's worship. {#Ps 78:67,68 Jer 7:12,14 26:6}

2960d AM, 3670 JP, 1044 BC

429. David now lived in the house of cedar which he had built, and enjoyed peace on every side. He told Nathan, the prophet, that he planned to build a house for God. God replied that this was a task that should be done by a man of peace, not war, and that his son Solomon would build the house, not David. {#2Sa 7:1,2,11,13 1Ch 17:1-27 22:8-10 28:3,6 2Ch 6:8,9 1Ki 8:18,19} From now until the birth of Solomon, the time was spent in wars. David subdued the Philistines, the Edomites, the Amalekites, the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Syrians. {#2Sa 8:3 1Ch 18:1-17} The borders of Israel stretched not only from Shihor in Egypt to Hamath, {#1Ch 13:5} but even from there to the Euphrates River as far as the borders of Syria Zobah. {#2Sa 8:3} This was the extreme boundary of all that land which had formerly been promised to the seed of Abraham. {#Ge 15:18 De 11:24 Jos 1:3,4} It was never possessed by any of them, except by David and his son Solomon. {#1Ki 4:21,24 2Ch 9:28}

430. At this time Hadadezer, also called Hadarezer, (the d and the r look very similar in Hebrew) the son of Rehob, was king of Syria Zobah. He united his forces from Damascus with the forces of Rezon, the son of Eliadah. They prepared to fight against David not far from the Euphrates River. However, after David routed Hadadezer's army, he killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians from Damascus and put garrisons in all that country. When Rezon saw that David had prevailed, he rebelled against Hadadezer and made himself captain over the forces he had recently raised. He marched with them to Damascus and there set up a kingdom for himself and his posterity. He was a very bitter enemy to Solomon, as was his kingdom to the rest of the kings of Israel. {#2Sa 8:5,6 1Ch 17:5,6 1Ki 11:23-25} Concerning this battle fought by David near the Euphrates River, Nicolaus Damascene, quoted in Josephus, {*Josephus, Antiq., l. 7. c. 5. s. 2. (101) 5:413} mentioned this battle of David's and called this Rezon, Adad. He added that his name was passed on to his successors to the tenth generation, as Ptolemy did to his in Egypt.

2967a AM, 3676 JP, 1038 BC

431. After Nahash, king of the Ammonites, died, his son Hanun reigned in his place. He badly abused the messengers that David, out of kindness, had sent to comfort him over the death of his father. {#2Sa 10:1-5} [E37] [L54]

2967c AM, 3677 JP, 1037 BC

432. Therefore, David sent out Joab, who defeated a large army of the Ammonites and Syrian mercenaries. David and Joab returned victorious to Jerusalem. {#2Sa 10:1-19 1Ch 19:1-19}

2968b AM, 3678 JP, 1036 BC

433. David crossed the Jordan River with his army and slaughtered a vast number of the Syrians who were led by Shophach, the general of the army of Hadadezer, king of Syria Zobah. A time of peace followed between David and the petty kings of Syria, so that they sent no more aid to the Ammonites, but served David. {#2Sa 10:1-19 1Ch 19:1-19}

2969b AM, 3679 JP, 1035 BC

434. At the end of the year, when kings went to battle, Joab, with his army, fought against the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon. In the meantime, David took his ease at Jerusalem. {#2Sa 11:1 1Ch 20:1} There, he defiled himself in an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Uriah was in the army at that time. Consequently, David arranged to have Uriah killed at the hands of the Ammonites. {#2Sa 11:1-27}

2970b AM, 3680 JP, 1034 BC

435. When David's child by adultery was born, David was convicted of his sin by Nathan, the prophet, whereupon he repented. David composed the 51st psalm {#Ps 51:1-19} as a sad memorial of his sin with Bathsheba, but the child died. {#2Sa 12:1-31}

2971a AM, 3680 JP, 1034 BC

436. Bathsheba, who was now David's wife, bore David another son called Solomon, whose name was given to him by God. This child proved to be a man of peace. {#1Ch 22:9} His name means one beloved of God, the name of Jedidiah. {#2Sa 12:25}

2972c AM, 3682 JP, 1032 BC

437. Amnon, David's oldest son, raped his sister Tamar. {#2Sa 13:1-39}

2974c AM, 3684 JP, 1030 BC

438. Two years after he had raped his sister, Amnon was killed by his brother Absalom at the time of sheep shearing, before grain harvest. {#2Sa 13:23} This occurred at the end of the spring, shortly after the middle of the first month and during the second mowing of the grass. Codomanus noted this from these passages. {#Am 7:1 Jos 3:15 4:19 5:10-12}

439. After Absalom had killed Amnon, he fled to Geshur in Syria. He stayed three years with king Talmai, his grandfather on his mother's side. {#2Sa 13:37,38 15:8}

2977c AM, 3687 JP, 1027 BC

440. After three years of exile, Absalom returned to Jerusalem. His father was pacified toward him by the speech of the woman of Tekoa, who was employed by Joab. {#2Sa 13:38 14:1,23}

2979b AM, 3689 JP, 1025 BC

441. Absalom set Joab's barley on fire just before harvest time that year (for the following year was a sabbatical year, when there was no harvest in Judah.) By this means he was admitted to his father's presence, whom he had not seen in the two years since his return from exile. {#2Sa 14:28,30,33}

2980 AM, 3690 JP, 1024 BC

442. This sabbatical year came between the burning of Joab's grain field and the rebellion of Absalom against his father. In his rebellion, Absalom obtained chariots and horses and gathered a band of ruffians around him, while insinuating himself into the favour of the people. He stole away their hearts from his father David. {#2Sa 15:1-6}

2981c AM, 3691 JP, 1023 BC

443. Forty years after the anointing of David by Samuel, Absalom followed the advice of his chief counsellor Ahithophel and took possession of his father's kingdom. {#2Sa 15:7} This happened between the Passover and the Feast of Pentecost. Codomanus assumed this to be the season, from what Barzillai provided for David when he fled with new fruits and roasted grain. {#2Sa 17:28}

444. David composed the third and fifty-fifth psalms against the practices of Absalom and Ahithophel. {#Ps 3:1-8 55:1-23} Shimei, of the tribe of Benjamin, railed against David as he fled. {#2Sa 16:5} [L55]

445. When Ahithophel saw that his counsel had not been followed by Absalom, he went and hanged himself. {#2Sa 17:23}

446. In the battle with David, Absalom lost twenty thousand men and fled. A bough of a thick oak caught hold of his long hair, so he hung there until Joab came and thrust him through with darts, killing him. {#2Sa 18:9-14}

447. After this victory, David was brought home again by the men of Judah and one half of the people of Israel. The other Israelites rebelled because they had not participated in that work. This rebellion was soon over when the head of Sheba, the son of Gera, was thrown over the walls to Joab by the people of Abel. {#2Sa 19:1-20:22}

2983c AM, 3693 JP, 1021 BC

448. The harvest of this year failed and there was a famine which afflicted the land for three years. This famine was sent because the innocent blood of the Gibeonites had been shed by Saul and his family. {#2Sa 21:1,2}

2986c AM, 3696 JP, 1018 BC

449. The famine still continued, so the Gibeonites hanged two of Saul's sons and five of his grandchildren at the beginning of the barley harvest. Rizpah, Saul's concubine, watched over their bodies and kept them from being devoured by ravenous birds or beasts, until water dropped from heaven upon them. {#2Sa 21:8-10}

450. David took the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son and moved them from Jabeshgilead, along with the bones of the seven that had been hanged. They were buried at Zelah in the sepulchre of Kish, the father of Saul. {#2Sa 21:12-14}

451. Many battles were fought with the Philistines and their giants. In one battle, David, who was now old, fainted in the battle and could have been killed by the giant Ishbibenob, but he narrowly escaped. [E38] This was the last battle that David took part in. {#2Sa 21:16-22 1Ch 20:4-8}

2987d AM, 3697 JP, 1017 BC

452. Either Satan or David's pride motivated David to have a census taken, thereby kindling God's wrath against the Israelites. {#1Ch 21:6 27:24} For this census, all the men over twenty years of age in every tribe (except the tribes of Levi and Benjamin), were counted. {#1Ch 27:23}. This census took nine months and twenty days to complete. {#2Sa 24:8} God sent the prophet Gad to David and gave him the choice of one of three punishments. He was to choose famine, sword or pestilence. {#2Sa 24:11-14} This famine was to last three years, {#1Ch 21:12} but for seven years according to the passage in Samuel. {#2Sa 24:13}. The famine would have included the three years of the previous famine {#2Sa 21:1} together with this present sabbatical year, in which no sowing would take place to compensate for the losses of the previous years, bringing a fourth year of dearth. Three years of famine for the slaughter of the Gibeonites were already past, and after this there would have been a poor harvest for lack of seed. This harvest would not have been able to supply the needs of the next two years, which the intervening sabbatical year would require. So the famine would still have continued in the land, especially among the poor. Now in addition to these past four years of famine, God proposed to David a choice of three more years of famine. To reconcile these two different passages, {#2Sa 24:13 1Ch 21:12} I placed the account of David's numbering the people in this sabbatical year.

453. Now of the three choices, David chose the plague. In one day, seventy thousand men died. When the angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, God in his mercy bade him withhold his hand. He commanded David to offer whole burnt offerings and peace offerings on the threshing floor of Araunah or Ornan, the Jebusite. {#2Sa 24:1-25 1Ch 21:1-30} [L56]

2988a AM, 3697 JP, 1017 BC

454. David foresaw that the house of God would be built on the threshing floor of Araunah. {#1Ch 22:1 2Ch 3:1} He began to prepare the materials necessary for so great a work. He exhorted his son Solomon and all the heads of Israel to carry the project through to a successful completion. {#1Ch 22:1-19}

2988c AM, 3698 JP, 1016 BC

455. He took the number of the Levites, first from thirty, and then from twenty years old and upwards. He divided them into many ranks and assigned to each one his office. He established a set form both for ecclesiastical and civil government in the fortieth year of his reign. {#1Ch 23:1-27:34} This was the beginning of the year, a year and a half before his death.

2989b AM, 3699 JP, 1015 BC

457. David was now seventy years old. Broken with continual cares and wars, he was so weak and feeble that wearing extra clothes could hardly keep him warm. So Abishag, a young Shunammite maiden, was sent for to keep him warm. {#1Ki 1:1-4}

2989c AM, 3699 JP, 1015 BC

458. When Adonijah saw his father's decline, he took counsel and advice from Joab and Abiathar, the high priest, and made himself king. When Bathsheba and Nathan told David of this, he ordered his son Solomon to be anointed king in Gihon by Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. As soon as Adonijah heard this, he fled to the sanctuary and took hold of the horns of the altar. He was pardoned by the grace and favour of Solomon and set at liberty. {#1Ki 1:1-53}

459. David assembled all the governors, captains and commanders of Israel with his sons and servants. He exhorted them all to the fear and worship of God, especially Solomon his son. He ordered them to proceed with the building of the temple. He gave them the plans for the temple and consigned into Solomon's hands the gold and silver by weight for making every vessel and implement to be used in the temple. {#1Ch 28:1-21} After this, because of David's example and exhortation, every man was moved to give gold, silver, brass, iron and stones, all in great abundance, toward the building of God's house. They gave thanks to God, and on the following day they offered a thousand young bullocks, a thousand rams and a thousand lambs, with the meat offerings. Solomon was anointed as king the second time, and Zadok was confirmed as the high priest. {#1Ch 29:1-23} [E39]

2990a AM, 3699 JP, 1015 BC

460. After David had given his instructions to his son Solomon, he died. {#1Ki 2:1-10}. He had reigned in Hebron for seven years and six months, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem over all of Israel. {#2Sa 5:5} Concerning the forty years which the scripture attributes to his reign, we must take the term of his reign before he made Solomon king in his place, and consider that he lived for six more months after that. [L57] So that the years of Solomon's reign as mentioned in the scriptures are to be reckoned from the first month, a full half year before David's death.

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King Solomon

2970b AM, 3680 JP, 1034 BC

2971a AM, 3680 JP, 1034 BC

2988a AM, 3697 JP, 1017 BC

2988c AM, 3698 JP, 1016 BC

456. Rehoboam was born to Solomon by Naaman, an Ammonite woman. He was forty-one years old when he began his reign, and hence was born to Solomon a year before Solomon started to reign. {#1Ki 14:21 1Ch 12:13} For although Solomon called himself a little child when he began to reign, {#1Ki 3:7} and David his father said he was a child, young and tender, {#1Ch 22:5 29:1} yet in another place he called him a man of wisdom. {#1Ki 2:9} This was even before God granted him extraordinary knowledge and wisdom. These three things-tender years, a son born and perfect wisdom-were not unique to Solomon at eighteen. For the same things were attributed to king Josiah when he was only sixteen, {#2Ch 34:1-3 2Ch 36:2,5} since Jehoiakim was born when Josiah was only fourteen years old and Jehoahaz was born when Josiah was sixteen.

2990a AM, 3699 JP, 1015 BC

460. After David had given his instructions to his son Solomon, he died. {#1Ki 2:1-10}.

2990b AM, 3700 JP, 1014 BC

461. Adonijah used Bathsheba to ask Solomon to give him Abishag, the Shunammite, as his wife. Therefore Solomon had him executed, as one still aspiring to be king. Abiathar, of the family of Eli, was put out of the high priesthood and Zadok, a descendent of Phinehas, replaced him. This had been foretold earlier by God to Eli. {#1Sa 2:33,35} So the high priesthood reverted from the family of Ithamar to the family of Eleazar and continued there. Joab fled to the tabernacle in fear and took hold of the horns of the altar. He was executed by Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who was made captain of the host in his place by the king. Shimei, who had before railed upon David, was merely confined to his house, yet with this condition, that if at any time he passed over the brook Kidron, he would be executed. {#1Ki 2:1-46}

462. When Hadad, the Edomite, heard that Joab was dead, he returned from Egypt to his own country. When Solomon later began to follow after vanities, God used Hadad as an enemy against Solomon. {#1Ki 11:14,21}

2991a AM, 3700 JP, 1014 BC

463. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon. He gave her the city of Gezer located in the tribe of Ephraim. {#Jos 21:21} Pharaoh had taken it from the Canaanites and killed all its inhabitants. {#1Ki 9:16} Solomon brought her into Zion, the palace of David. {#1Ki 3:1 2Ch 8:11}

2991c AM, 3701 JP, 1013 BC

464. Solomon offered a thousand whole burnt offerings at Gibeon where the tabernacle was situated. God appeared to him in his sleep and asked him to choose anything he wanted. Solomon chose wisdom to be given to him. Therefore, God gave him wisdom from above, as well as all other blessings over and above this. The first test of his wisdom was the deciding of the controversy between the two women about one of their children. This gave him a reputation and the respect of the people. {#1Ki 3:1-28}

2992a AM, 3701 JP, 1013 BC

465. Solomon was visited by messengers sent from Hiram, king of Tyre, who wanted to help him with timber for the building of the temple. When Solomon met Hiram's terms, Hiram co-operated in the venture. Solomon supplied the workmen, over whom he set pay masters and other officers to oversee the work. {#1Ki 5:1-18}

The Fifth Age of the World

2992c AM, 3702 JP, 1012 BC

466. The foundation of the temple was laid in the four hundred and eightieth year after Israel's exodus from Egypt. This was in King Solomon's fourth year of reign, on the second day of the second month (called Zif, Monday May 21st). {#1Ki 6:1,37 2Ch 3:2}

2993b AM, 3703 JP, 1011 BC

467. Three years after he was commanded not to cross the brook Kidron, Shimei returned from Gath to bring back two run-away servants. Solomon had him executed. {#1Ki 2:39-46}

3000a AM, 3709 JP, 1005 BC

468. In the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, in the eighth month, called Bul, the temple and its furnishings were completed. [L58] It had taken seven years and six months to build. {#1Ki 6:38} The dedication of the temple was postponed until the autumn of the next year, because that was the beginning of the Jubilee year.

3001a AM, 3710 JP, 1004 BC

469. This was the ninth Jubilee, which opened the fourth millennium of the world. King Solomon celebrated the dedication of the temple with great pomp and splendour. All Israel was assembled together in the seventh month, called Ethanim. The ark was brought from Zion into the Holy of Holies. The tabernacle and holy vessels from Gibeon went into the temple treasury. God gave a visible and wonderful token of his presence. Solomon was standing on a scaffold made of brass, and knelt down to pray to God. After this he blessed the people. He then offered twenty-two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. They celebrated the feast of the dedication of the altar for seven days, and the feast of tabernacles another seven days. On the fifteenth day, the celebrations were completed and the people were dismissed to their homes. This was the twenty-third day of the seventh month. {#1Ki 8:1-66 2Ch 5:3-5 6:1-42 8:1-11} [E40]

470. The eighth day of the seventh month (that is, Friday, October 30th) was the first of the seven days of the dedication. According to Levitical law, the feast of atonement was held on the tenth day. (Sunday, November 1st) {#Lev 25:9} At the sound of the trumpet, the Jubilee was proclaimed.

471. The feast of tabernacles was held on the fifteenth day. (Friday, November 6th) The last day of this feast was always very solemnly kept. This occurred on the twenty-second of the month. (Friday, November 13th) {#2Ch 7:9 Le 23:36 Joh 7:37} The following day, (Saturday, November 14th) at the conclusion of the Sabbath, the people went home.

3012c AM, 3722 JP, 992 BC

472. In the thirteenth year after the temple had been built, Solomon finished building his own house. He spent twenty years on both of them: seven years and six months on the temple, and thirteen years on his own house. {#1Ki 7:1 9:10 2Ch 8:1}

473. As a reward for Hiram's good will in helping to construct these houses, Solomon offered Hiram, king of Tyre, twenty cities of Galilee or Cabul, which were located within the tribe of Asher. Solomon purchased these cities himself. When Hiram refused to take them, Solomon reconstructed them all himself, planting colonies of Israelites in them. {#1Ki 9:10-13 2Ch 8:1,2}

474. When Solomon had finished both houses and the wall of Jerusalem, he moved his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, out of the city of David, into a house which he had built for her. {#1Ki 3:1 7:8 9:24 2Ch 8:11} He also rebuilt Gezer, which Pharaoh, his father-in-law, had taken from the Canaanites and given to Solomon. {#1Ki 9:15-17} Gezer was located within the tribe of Ephraim.

3026c AM, 3736 JP, 978 BC

475. Shishak, also called Sefonchis (according to Egyptian Chronology), began to reign in Egypt. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, fled to him and continued with him until after Solomon died. {#1Ki 11:40 12:2}

3029b AM, 3739 JP, 975 BC

476. Toward the end of his life, Solomon forsook the lusts and vanities to which he was addicted in his latter years. He testified of his deep repentance in his book called The Preacher (Ecclesiastes) and made his peace with God. {#2Ch 11:17} Solomon died when he had reigned forty years. {#1Ki 11:42 2Ch 9:30} [L59]

477. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, was made king by all Israel in Shechem. By his harsh approach to his rule, he alienated the hearts of the ten tribes. (Solomon died before the Jewish New Year otherwise he would have been said to have reigned forty-one years. Rehoboam would have reigned for sixteen not seventeen years unless he was anointed king on or before that Jewish New Year.) These tribes sent to Egypt for Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, to be their king. Under his leadership they rebelled against the house of David. They killed Adoram, whom Rehoboam had sent to them, and abandoned the true worship of God. {#1Ki 12:1-33} In memory of this sad disaster, the Jews kept a solemn yearly fast on the twenty-third of the third month, called Sivan. {*Josephus, Antiq., l. 14. c. 4. s. 3. note (a) in Whiston’s translation}

478. After this sad division of the kingdom, Rehoboam reigned over Judah and Benjamin for seventeen years, {#1Ki 14:21 2Ch 12:1,2} and Jeroboam over Israel, that is, over the other ten tribes, for twenty-two years. {#1Ki 14:20}

1 Kings 11

1. But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites

2. from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. For surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.'' Solomon clung to these in love.

3. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.

7. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.

8. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

9. So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

10. and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded.

11. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

12. "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

13. "However I will not tear away the whole kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.''