Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.
This we had Kg1 9:10-24, and therefore shall only observe here, I. Though Solomon was a man of great learning and knowledge, yet he spent his days, not in contemplation, but in action, not in his study, but in his country, in building cities and fortifying them, in a time of peace preparing for a time of war, which is as much a man's business...
Commenting on 2 Chronicles 8:1-11
And built Tadmor in the wilderness,.... Of which See Gill on Kg1 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.
And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah--Hamath was on the Orontes, in CÅ“le-Syria. Its king, Toi, had been the ally of David; but from the combination, Hamath and Zobah, it would appear that some revolution had taken place which led to the union of these two petty kingdoms of Syria into one.