2 Chronicles 2:1-6

Solomon Will Build a Temple and Palace

1 ¹Now Solomon decided to build a house for the name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself.

2 So ²Solomon assigned 70,000 * men to carry loads and 80,000 * men to quarry stone in the mountains and 3,600 * * to supervise them.

3 ³Then Solomon sent word to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, "⁴As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedars to build him a house to dwell in, so do for me.

4 "Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, dedicating it to Him, ⁵to burn fragrant incense before Him and to set out ⁶the showbread continually, and to offer ⁷burnt offerings morning and evening, ⁸on sabbaths and on new moons and on the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, this being required forever in Israel.

5 "The house which I am about to build will be great, for ⁹greater is our God than all the gods.

6 "But ¹⁰who is able to build a house for Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? So who am I, that I should build a house for Him, except * 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.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Kings 5:5
• 2. 1 Kings 5:15, 16; 2 Chronicles 2:18
• 3. 1 Kings 5:2-11
• 4. 1 Chronicles 14:1
• 5. Exodus 30:7
• 6. Exodus 25:30
• 7. Exodus 29:38-42
• 8. Numbers 28:9, 10
• 9. Exodus 15:11; 1 Chronicles 16:25
• 10. 1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 6:18

Footnotes

• [a]. Ch 1:18 in Heb
• [b]. Lit "said"
• [c]. Lit "house for his royalty"
• [d]. Ch 2:1 in Heb
• [e]. Lit "numbered"
• [f]. In 1 Kin 5:18, "Hiram"
• [g]. Lit "offer up in smoke"