I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Chronicles 8-10.

    In addition to building the Temple and his own palace Solomon conducted other building projects throughout the kingdom. This was done with a conscripted labor force of non-Israelites living in the kingdom. He did however apparently maintain a large army of Israelites conscripted for that purpose. This passage tells us that Solomon spent his reign consolidating control over the territory which his father, King David, had conquered In addition, Solomon built a trading empire rather than extending his military and political control over the surrounding areas. For several years now I have believed that David’s conquests were mostly about protecting the merchants who used the trade routes which ran through Israel focusing on overthrowing rulers who supported banditry and ensuring that their replacements did not resume such support. Solomon took the next step of sending out his own merchant caravans. The visit from the Queen of Sheba shows that Solomon developed quite a widespread reputation. I would suggest that that reputation was likely as a sharp negotiator who entered into mutually beneficial agreements.

    However, it seems that the wealth which Solomon’s trade generated did not spread to those outside of the area around Jerusalem. It seems that while the entire kingdom bore the burden of maintaining Solomon’s trade empire, the benefits accrued only to those who lived in the area controlled by the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. So that when Solomon died, the rest of the kingdom demanded that Rehoboam reduce the burden on them. As I had noted when reading the description of how David became king, David became king over Israel as the various groups which composed the nation of Israel chose him as their king. Rehoboam thought that he had the ability to impose himself as king over them against their wishes. He discovered that while it is possible to rule by force, you need to have people willing to impose that force in order to do so. The army of Judah, as shown in Kings, was unwilling to impose that force on their fellow Israelites.