2 Chronicles 2

Solomon's Letter to Hiram

1 ^[a] Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself,

2 ^[b] so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.

3 Then Solomon sent [word] to King Hiram^[c] of Tyre: [Do for me] what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.

4 Now I myself am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to Him for burning sweet incense before Him, for [displaying] the rows [of the bread of the Presence] continuously, and for [sacrificing] burnt offerings for the evening and the morning, the Sabbaths and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is [ordained] for Israel forever.

5 The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.

6 But who is able to build a temple for Him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Him?^[d] Who am I then that I should build a house for Him except as a place to burn incense before Him?

7 Therefore, send me a craftsman who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. [He will work] with the craftsmen who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, appointed by my father David.^[e]

8 Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum^[f] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants

9 to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful.

10 I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, 100,000 bushels^[g] of wheat flour, 100,000 bushels^[h] of barley, 110,000 gallons^[i] of wine, and 110,000 gallons of oil.^[j][k]

Hiram's Reply

11 Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter^[l] and sent [it] to Solomon: Because the Lord loves His people, He set you over them as king.

12 Hiram also said: May the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, be praised! He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

13 I have now sent Huram-abi,^[m] a skillful man who has understanding.

14 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your craftsmen and the craftsmen of my lord, your father David.

15 Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.

16 We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.^[n]

Solomon's Work Force

17 Solomon took a census of all the foreign men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted,^[o] and the total was 153,600.

18 Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.^[p]

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]. 2 Ch 1:18 in Hb
• [b]. 2 Ch 2:1 in Hb
• [c]. Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads Huram; 2 Sm 5:11; 1 Kg 5:1-2
• [d]. 2 Ch 6:18; 1 Kg 8:27
• [e]. 1 Ch 22:14-16; 28:21
• [f]. Spelled almug in 1 Kg 10:11-12
• [g]. Lit 20,000 cors
• [h]. Lit 20,000 cors
• [i]. Lit 20,000 baths
• [j]. Lit 20,000 baths of oil
• [k]. 1 Kg 5:2-6,10-11
• [l]. Lit Tyre said in writing
• [m]. Lit Huram my father
• [n]. 1 Kg 5:7-9
• [o]. 2 Sm 24:1-9
• [p]. 1 Kg 5:15-16

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.