2 CHRONICLES 8:9 — KING JAMES VERSION 0 0
“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.”
But Solomon did not make slaves of the people of Israel; rather, they were soldiers, his officials, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and cavalry — The crucial distinction: Israelites were not enslaved; rather, they served as 'soldiers, his officials, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and cavalry' (אַנְשֵׁי־הַמִּלְחָמָה וְשָׂרָיו וְשָׂרֵי־הָרִכֶּב וְשָׂרֵי הַפָּרָשִׁים). The Chronicler emphasized that Israelites held administrative and military authority, not slave status. This distinction was theologically important: the covenant people must not be enslaved; non-Israelites bore the burden of forced labor.
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