2 Chronicles 2:1-6

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?

2 Chronicles 2:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

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.

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