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2 Chronicles 2

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Solomon Resolves to Build the Temple 1–2

1
And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and an house for his kingdom. ​
2
And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them. ​

Solomon Requests Aid from Huram of Tyre 3–10

3
And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me. ​
4
Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. ​
5
And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.
6
But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? ​
7
Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide. ​
8
Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
9
Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.
10
And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil. ​

Huram’s Response and Agreement 11–16

11
Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them. ​
12
Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom. ​
13
And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,
14
The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father. ​
15
Now therefore 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. ​

Organizing the Forced Labor 17–18

17
And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. ​
18
And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Chronicles 2

Verse 1

an house for the name of the LORD — The temple is for his name, as the LORD said: 'He shall build an house for my name' (1 Chr 22:10), after 'the place which the LORD your God shall choose… to put his name there' (Deut 12:5). 'Determined' is amar, 'said', and the 'house for his kingdom' is the king's own house.

Verse 2

threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens — The three gangs are 70,000 bearers (sabbal), 80,000 hewers 'in the mountain' and 3,600 overseers, which makes 153,600, the number of the strangers in v.17. 'Oversee' is natsach, the verb of the Levites set 'to set forward the work of the house of the LORD' (1 Chr 23:4).

Verse 3

Huram the king of Tyre — Huram is the Hiram of 1 Kings 5:1, who 'was ever a lover of David'. He had 'sent messengers to David, and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters, to build him an house' (1 Chr 14:1; 2 Sam 5:11). Solomon asks him to 'deal' with him as he had with David.

Verse 4

the continual shewbread — Solomon names the provisions of the law: 'sweet incense' every morning (Ex 30:7), the shewbread 'before me alway' (Ex 25:30) and the burnt offerings 'day by day continually' (Ex 29:38), with those for sabbaths, new moons and feasts. 'Continual' is tamid, and the whole is called 'an ordinance for ever to Israel'.

Verse 6

the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him — The words return in Solomon's prayer (1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chr 6:18) and echo Moses: 'the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God' (Deut 10:14). Stephen cites the same truth in Acts 7:48: 'the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands.'

Verse 7

a man cunning to work — 'Cunning' is chakam, wise or skilled, the word for the 'wise hearted' who made the tabernacle (Ex 35:10). Blue and purple, with scarlet, are the colours of its curtains (Ex 26:1), and of Bezaleel the LORD said, 'I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom' (Ex 31:3). 'Grave' is to engrave.

Verse 10

twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat — These are the wages of the hewers, in four goods each of twenty thousand: wheat, barley, and of wine and oil by the bath. Huram asks for them again in v.15 as 'the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine'. In 1 Kings 5:11 the gift to Hiram's household is given separately.

Verse 11

answered in writing — The reply is a letter (ketav). Huram says the LORD 'hath loved his people' and so made Solomon king, as the queen of Sheba says later, 'because thy God loved Israel' (2 Chr 9:8). He uses the divine name, as he does in 1 Kings 5:7, 'Blessed be the LORD this day'.

Verse 12

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth — The title is the one Israel itself uses: 'Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth' (Ps 124:8). Solomon is called wise, with 'prudence' (sekel) and 'understanding' (binah), as David had prayed, 'the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding' (1 Chr 22:12).

Verse 14

the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan — Aholiab of Dan had helped Bezaleel on the tabernacle (Ex 31:6), and this craftsman's mother was of Dan, his father a man of Tyre. 1 Kings 7:13–14 calls him Hiram, a 'widow's son' whose father was 'a man of Tyre', 'filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass'.

Verse 16

in floats by sea to Joppa — The cedar came down from Lebanon to the sea and by sea to the point Solomon named (1 Kings 5:9), and 'thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem'. 'Carry it up' is alah, the verb for going up to Jerusalem. Ezra 3:7 shows the same route for the second temple: 'cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa'.

Verse 17

all the strangers that were in the land of Israel — The gerim are the resident foreigners David had gathered for the work of the house (1 Chr 22:2). Solomon numbers them again 'after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them', and the 153,600 found is the sum of the work gangs in vv.2 and 18.

Verse 18

overseers to set the people a work — The figures repeat v.2: 70,000 bearers, 80,000 hewers and 3,600 overseers. 'Overseers' is natsach, the verb of v.2, and 'work' is avad, to serve. The same pairing of bearers of burdens and overseers appears in the repairs under Josiah (2 Chr 34:12–13).