2 Chronicles 2

Preparations for Building the Temple

1 Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself.

2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.

3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram^[a] king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in.

4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the LORD our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.

5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods.

6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?

7 “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.

8 “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum^[b] logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours

9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent.

10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors^[c] of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors^[d] of barley, twenty thousand baths^[e] of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”

11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king.”

12 And Hiram added: “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself.

13 “I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill,

14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.

15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised,

16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”

17 Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600.

18 He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.

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.

Cross References

• 1. S Deuteronomy 12:5
• 2. Ecclesiastes 2:4
• 3. ver 18; 2 Chronicles 10:4
• 4. S 2 Samuel 5:11
• 5. S 1 Chronicles 14:1
• 6. ver 1; S Deuteronomy 12:5
• 7. S Exodus 30:7
• 8. Exodus 25:30
• 9. Exodus 29:42; 2 Chronicles 13:11; 2 Chronicles 29:28
• 10. S Leviticus 23:38; Numbers 28:9-10
• 11. S Numbers 28:14
• 12. 1 Chronicles 22:5; Psalms 135:5
• 13. S Exodus 12:12; S 1 Chronicles 16:25
• 14. S 1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 6:18; Jeremiah 23:24
• 15. S Exodus 3:11
• 16. ver 13-14; S Exodus 35:31; 1 Chronicles 22:16
• 17. Ezra 3:7
• 18. 1 Kings 10:9; 2 Chronicles 9:8
• 19. Nehemiah 9:6; Psalms 8:3; Psalms 33:6; Psalms 96:5; Psalms 102:25; Psalms 146:6
• 20. S 1 Kings 7:13
• 21. S Exodus 31:6
• 22. S Exodus 35:31
• 23. Exodus 35:35
• 24. ver 10; Ezra 3:7
• 25. S Joshua 19:46; John 1:3
• 26. 1 Chronicles 22:2
• 27. S 2 Samuel 24:2
• 28. ver 2; 1 Chronicles 22:2; 2 Chronicles 8:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "Huram," a variant of "Hiram" ; also in verses 11 and 12
• [b]. Probably a variant of "almug"
• [c]. That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,200 metric tons of wheat
• [d]. That is, probably about 3,000 tons or about 2,700 metric tons of barley
• [e]. That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters

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.