2 Chronicles 2:1-18

2. PREPARATIONS FOR THE TEMPLE (Chapter 2)

TEXT

2 Chronicles 2:1. Now Solomon purposed to build a house for the name of Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom. 2. And Solomon counted out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand men that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. 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 a house to dwell therein, even so deal with me. 4. Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him incense of sweet spices, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt-offerings mornirig and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of Jehovah our God. This is an ordinance forever 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 a house, seeing heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn incense before him? 7. Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that knoweth how to grave all manner of gravings, to be with the skillful 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 know how 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 great and wonderful. 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.

11. Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because Jehovah loveth his people, he hath made thee king over them. 12. Huram said moreover, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with discretion and understanding, that should build a house for Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom. 13. And now I have sent a skillful 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, skillful 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 devise any device; that there may be a place appointed unto him with thy skillful men, and with the skillful 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.
17. And Solomon numbered all the sojourners that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. 18. And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people at work.

PARAPHRASE

2 Chronicles 2:1. Solomon now decided that the time had come to build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself. 2. This required a force of 70,000 laborers, 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, and 3,600 foremen. 3. Solomon sent an ambassador to King Hiram at Tyre, requesting shipments of cedar lumber such as Hiram had supplied to David when he was building his palace. 4. I am about to build a temple for the Lord my God, Solomon told Hiram. It will be a place where I can burn incense and sweet spices before God, and display the special sacrificial bread, and sacrifice burnt offerings each morning, and evening, and on the Sabbaths, and at the new moon celebration and other regular festivals of the Lord our God. For God wants Israel always to celebrate these special occasions. 5. It is going to be a wonderful temple because he is a great God, greater than any other. 6. But who can ever build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heaven would be beautiful enough! And who am I to be allowed to build a temple for God? But it will be a place to worship him.

7. So send me skilled craftsmengoldsmiths and silversmiths, brass and iron workers; and send me weavers to make purple, crimson, and blue cloth; and skilled engravers to work beside the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem who were selected by my father David. 8. Also send me cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees from the Forests of Lebanon, for your men are without equal as lumbermen, and I will send my men to help them. 9. An immense amount of lumber will be needed, for the temple I am going to build will be huge and incredibly beautiful. 10. As to the financial arrangements, I will pay your men 20,000 sacks of crushed wheat, 20,000 barrels of barley, 20,000 barrels of wine, and 20,000 barrels of olive oil.
11. King Hiram replied to King Solomon: It is because the Lord loves his people that he has made you their king! 12. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who made the heavens and the earth and who has given to David such a wise, intelligent, and understanding son to build God's Temple, and a royal palace for himself. 13. I am sending you a master craftsmanmy famous Huramabi! He is a brilliant man, 14. the son of a Jewish woman from Dan in Israel; his father is from here in Tyre. He is a skillful goldsmith and silversmith, and also does exquisite work with brass and iron, and knows all about stonework, carpentry, and weaving; and he is an expert in the dying of purple and blue linen and crimson cloth. He is an engraver besides, and an inventor! He will work with your craftsmen and those appointed by my lord David, your father. 15. So send along the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine you mentioned, 16. and we will begin cutting wood from the Lebanon mountains, as much as you need, and bring it to you in log floats across the sea to Joppa, and from there you can take them inland to Jerusalem.
17. Solomon now took a census of all foreigners in the country (just as his father David had done) and found that there were 153,600 of them. 18. He indentured 70,000 as common laborers, 80,000 as loggers and 3,600 as foremen.

COMMENTARY

As Solomon considered the Temple, he desired to build a house for the name of Jehovah.[48] It should be the kind of building that would give wings to a man's imagination as he thought of the character of Jehovah. Two kinds of houses are suggested in 2 Chronicles 2:1. Solomon would build Jehovah's Temple and he would also build for himself a whole range of palaces. Seventy thousand men would bear burdens. Eighty thousand men would cut timbers in the Lebanon Forests. Men who would oversee these laborers numbered three thousand six hundred. In David's day good relations had been established with the Phoenician people. Solomon turned to Huram (Hiram), king of Tyre and requested provision of cedar timbers. He would, at the same time, assure the Phoenicians that Israel would allow them to keep their territory by the sea. In the word sent to Huram, Solomon emphasized that he was going to build a great house, a house great and wonderful, one that would require the finest building materials Huram could provide. The kinds of religious exercises to be conducted at the Temple involved the burning of incense, the presentation of showbread, the morning and evening sacrifices, the special offerings for sabbath days and feast days. The Phoenician king would not be familiar with all of these services; but their mention would help him understand the importance of this house. Even though Solomon was requesting goods from Gentiles, he boldly affirmed the supremacy of the God of Israel over all other gods. This did not imply that Solomon accepted the belief in other gods. Solomon's God was so great that no house would ever be sufficient to contain Him; yet the king of Israel would build a house worthy of Jehovah's name. He requested Huram to send him materials and workmen for this project. The algum trees mentioned in 2 Chronicles 2:8 were usually imported from India or Ophir. In other places they are called almug trees. Phoenicia imported every kind of merchandise. She could have supplied some of this expensive wood. Solomon agreed to provide Huram with twenty thousand measures (co-equal to about eleven bushels) of wheat and the same amount of barley. Twenty thousand baths (bathequals about ten gallons) of wine and oil were also a part of Solomon's obligation to Huram. The king of Tyre was well pleased with these arrangements. He pronounced blessings in Jehovah's name. He advised Solomon that he had procured the services of a skilled artisan (Hiram, 1 Kings 7:13-14) whose mother was a Danite (perhaps at one time living in Naphtali) and whose father was from Tyre. This man combined the respective skills of Bezalel and Oholiab, the master craftsmen of the Tabernacle. He could work in precious metals or in brass. He was a skilled carpenter. He was expert in the craft of textile fabrics. He was a master engraver. Huram advised Solomon of his complete satisfaction with the proposed contract and of his willingness to do as Solomon had requested. There was a considerable native population in Palestine that had not been removed by Israel. These were called sojourners. In an enumeration, one hundred fifty three thousand six hundred such persons were counted. These were they who were subjected to taskwork by Solomon (2 Chronicles 2:2).

[48] Larue, Gerald A., Old Testament Life and Literature, Allyn and Bacon Inc., Boston, 1968, p. 351. Grosvenor, Melville B., Everyday Life in Bible Times, National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C., 1967, p. 222.