Fir trees. — The word bĕrôshîm is now often rendered cypresses. But Professor Robertson Smith has well pointed out that the Phoenician Ebusus (the modern Iviza) is the “isle of bĕrôshîm,” and is called in Greek Πετυου̑σαι, i.e., “Pine islets.” Moreover a species of pine is very common on the Lebanon.
Algum trees. — Sandal wood; Heb. ’algummîm, which appears a more correct spelling of the native Indian word (valgûka) than the ’almuggîm of 1 Kings 10:11. (See Note on 2 Chronicles 10:10.)
Out of Lebanon. — The chronicler knew that sandal wood came from Ophir, or Abhîra, at the mouth of the Indus (2 Chronicles 10:10; comp. 1 Kings 10:11). The desire to be concise has betrayed him into an inaccuracy of statement. Or must we suppose that Solomon himself believed that the sandal wood, which he only knew as a Phoenician export, really grew, like the cedars and firs, on the Lebanon? Such a mistake would be perfectly natural; but the divergence of this account from the parallel in 1 Kings leaves it doubtful whether we have in either anything more than an ideal sketch of Solomon’s message.
For I know that thy servants ... — Comp. the words of Solomon as reported in 1 Kings 5:6.