Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Chronicles 8:4
And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
4. Tadmor in the wilderness ] Palmyra ( Bdeker, p. 364) is meant, a city on an oasis N.E. of Damascus half way between Damascus and the Euphrates. Apart from this passage of Chron. it first appears in history in b.c. 34, when it was threatened with attack by Mark Antony. This silence of history for a thousand years casts a doubt on the belief that Tadmor (Palmyra) is as old as the time of Solomon, and the doubt is strengthened by a reference to the parallel passage (1Ki 9:18), for there (1) the text (C’thib) has “Tamar,” with “Tadmor” as marginal reading (K’ri), and (2) Tamar (Tadmor) is associated with Gezer, Bethhoron, and Baalath, cities either in Judah or on its borders. Probably therefore the marginal reading Tadmor in 1 Kin. is due to the influence of 2 Chr., and the text of 1 Kin. (“Tamar”) is correct. The city built by Solomon was probably a Tamar in the south of Judah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 4. Tadmor] Palmyra. 1Kg 9:18, for an account of this superb city.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Of this and the following verses, See Poole “1Ki 9:17“, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And built Tadmor in the wilderness,…. Of which
[See comments on 1Ki 9:18]
and all the storehouses which he built in Hamath; a country in Syria, which he made himself master of, and where he laid up store of provision and ammunition to keep it, should any attempt be made to rescue it out of his hands. According to an Arabic writer a, Solomon in the twenty fourth year of his reign having demolished Antioch, built seven cities, of which Tadmor was one.
a Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. dyn. 3. p. 53.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) And he built Tadmor in the wilderness.That is, Palmyra, in the wilderness, on the traders route between the coast and Thapsacuson the Euphrates. See 1Ki. 9:18, where Tamar or Tammor of the Heb. text is explained by the margin to mean Tadmor; and the epithet, in the wilderness, seems certainly to identify the two names. That Solomon was the founder of Palmyra is the tradition of the country to this day.
And all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.1Ki. 9:19 mentions these cities, but not their locality. They were no doubt places of arms, and served as outposts against the hostile neighbouring kingdom of Zobah-Damascus. (See 1Ki. 11:23-25.) So far as they lay on the caravan route, they would serve also as victualling stations. (Comp. 2Ch. 32:28.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Ch 8:4. And all the store-cities, &c. And also other store-cities, which are in Hamath. Houbigant.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ch 8:4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
Ver. 4. And he built Tadmor, &c. ] See 1Ki 9:18-19 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he built: 1Ki 9:17-19
Tadmor: Tadmor, the Palmyra of the Greeks, as we learn from Josephus, a celebrated city of Syria, situated in an oasis, or fertile spot of land, surrounded on all sides by a vast sandy desert, like an island in the midst of the ocean; according to Pliny, 337 miles from Seleucia and Tigrim, 203 from the nearest part of the Mediterranean, and 176 from Damascus; according to Josephus, one day’s journey west of the Euphrates, and six from Babylon; and according to Ptolemy, in lat. 34 degrees north, or that of Tripoli, and about 4 degrees more easterly; and it is described by Mr. Wood as “situated under a barren ridge of hills to the west, and open on the other sides to the desert;” “about six days’ journey from Aleppo, and as much from Damascus, and about twenty leagues west of the Euphrates.” Palmyra attained the height of its splendour when the royal city of Zenobia was conquered by the emperor Aurelian; became a Roman colony after the victories of Trajan; and was probably reduced to its present miserable state in the wars of the Saracens. Its magnificent ruins, however, scattered over an extent of several miles, sufficiently attest its former splendour and riches.
Reciprocal: 1Ki 9:18 – Tadmor 2Ki 14:28 – Damascus 2Ch 8:6 – the store cities
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the {c} store cities, which he built in Hamath.
(c) Meaning of munitions and treasures for the war.