2 Chronicles 2

1 And Solomon purposed to build ^[a] a house for the name of Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom.

2 And Solomon numbered seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred to superintend them.

3 And Solomon sent to Huram king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell therein [so do for me].

4 Behold, I build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God to dedicate ^[b] it to him, to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual arrangement ^[c] [of the shewbread], and for the morning and evening burnt-offerings [and] on the sabbaths and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of Jehovah our God. This is [an ordinance] for ever to Israel.

5 And the house that I will build is great; for great is our God above all gods.

6 But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? And who am I that I should build him a house, except to burn sacrifice ^[d] before him?

7 And now send me a man skilful to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple and crimson and blue, and experienced in carving, besides the skilful men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.

8 Send me also cedar-trees, cypress-trees, and sandal-wood trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that thy servants are experienced in cutting timber in Lebanon; and behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,

9 even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house that I build shall be great and wonderful.

10 And behold, I will give to thy servants the hewers that fell timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, ^[e] and twenty thousand measures ^[f] of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

11 And Huram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because Jehovah loved his people, he made thee king over them.

12 And Huram said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, that made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and a house for his kingdom.

13 And now, I send a skilful man, endued with understanding, Huram Abi,

14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and whose father was a man of Tyre, experienced in working in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in byssus, and in crimson, and for doing any manner of engraving, and for inventing every device which shall be put to him, besides thy skilful men, and the skilful men of my lord David thy father.

15 And now the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants.

16 And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need; and we will bring it to thee [in] floats by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

17 And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the account that David his father had taken of them, and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.

18 And he set seventy thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand to be stone-masons in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the people to work.

2 Chronicles 2 Commentary

Chapter 2

Solomon's message to Huram respecting the temple, His treaty with Huram.

- Solomon informs Huram of the particular services to be performed in the temple. The mysteries of the true religion, unlike those of the Gentile superstitions, sought not concealment. Solomon endeavoured to possess Huram with great and high thoughts of the God of Israel. We should not be afraid or ashamed to embrace every opportunity to speak of God, and to impress others with a deep sense of the importance of his favour and service. Now that the people of Israel kept close to the law and worship of God, the neighbouring nations were willing to be taught by them in the true religion, as the Israelites had been willing in the days of their apostacy, to be infected with the idolatries and superstitions of their neighbours. A wise and pious king is an evidence of the Lord's special love for his people. How great then was God's love to his believing people, in giving his only-begotten Son to be their Prince and their Saviour.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'thought to build.'
• [b]. Lit. 'sanctify.'
• [c]. As Lev. 24.6.
• [d]. Or 'incense.' Lit. 'to burn as incense' [i.e. all that is burnt on the altar].
• [e]. Heb. Cors: see Note, ch. 27.5.
• [f]. Perhaps 'wheat for food.'
• [g]. Lit. 'said.'
• [h]. Or 'of Huram my father;' and so ch. 4.16.
• [i]. * In 1kings 7.14 Hiram is said to be of the tribe of Naphtali, but here of Dan, probably due to the fact that Naphtali belonged to the camp of Dan: Num. 2.25-31.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 2

Solomon intending to build a temple for God, and a palace for himself, sent to Hiram, king of Tyre, to furnish him with materials and workmen, 2Ch 2:1-10, to which Hiram returned an agreeable answer, 2Ch 2:11-16, and for this service Solomon numbered all the strangers in Israel, 2Ch 2:17,18.