2 Chronicles
Chapter 2
Solomon and Huram1He put 70,000 men to work transporting materials, 80,000 to quarry in the hill country, and 3,600 supervisors in charge of them.
Solomon then sent this message to Huram, king of Tyre: “Deal with me as you dealt with my father, David, when you sent him cedars to build a house to live in.
I am now building a house to honor the Lord, my God, to acknowledge his holiness, by burning incense of scented spices in his presence, by the loaves that are perpetually set out, by offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbath, New Moon, and the solemn festivals of the Lord our God—and this forever in Israel.
The house I am building will be large, for our God is greater than all gods.
Yet no one can build a temple for God since heaven, even the highest heaven, cannot contain him. And I cannot build him a house for anything more than to burn incense in his presence.
So send me a man skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, scarlet, crimson, violet, and the art of engraving too. He will work with the skilled men that my father, David, provided here in Judah and Jerusalem.
Also, send me boards of cedar, cypress, and cabinet wood from Lebanon, as I know your servants are experts in felling the trees of Lebanon. My servants will work with yours.
They will prepare wood in bulk for me, since the house I wish to build is to be of astounding size.
For the woodmen who are to fell the trees, I assign twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil—this is for the maintenance of your servants.”
In a letter sent to King Solomon, Huram, king of Tyre, replied, “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you king.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has made the heavens and the earth, and given King David a wise son, full of understanding and skill, who will build a house for the Lord and a palace for himself and his court.
And I am also sending you a skilled craftsman, Huram-abi,
the son of a Danite woman by a Tyrian father. He is skilled in engraving and executing any design suggested, using a variety of materials, including gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, scarlet, violet, fine linen, and crimson. Let him be put to work with your artisans and those of my lord David, your father.
So now let my lord send his servants the wheat, barley, oil, and wine, as already suggested.
For our part, we will cut down all the cedar trees you need from Lebanon and bring them to you in rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will transport them to Jerusalem.”
Solomon took a count of all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, following the census that David, his father, had taken. It was found there were one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred.
He assigned seventy thousand of these for carrying loads, eighty thousand as stonecutters in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred as overseers to ensure the people worked.
Commentaries
The Reign of Solomon.
In these chapters, the Chronicler shares his view of Solomon’s reign, based on the account in 1 Kings 1-11. He omits any negative details about the king or anything that contradicts his greatness. He highlights the building of the Temple, dedicating five chapters (2-7) to it. Solomon is shown as the ideal king of Israel, the leader who fulfills David’s dream and God’s plan by constructing the Temple. He is described as the wise king who excels in construction, leadership, and trade. Chapters 1-9 begin (1:14-17) and end (9:1-28) with celebrations of Solomon’s wealth and wisdom.
Construction of the Temple.
The Chronicler omits the story from 1 Kings 3:15-5:14 and emphasizes the main goal of Solomon’s reign: building the Temple, with only a brief mention of the royal palace (2:11). Starting in chapter 3, he details Solomon’s building projects, including furnishings and utensils, following the account in 1 Kings 6 and later. He uses hyperbolic figures and measurements, especially regarding gold quantities. Some details indicate the author was imagining the Temple being rebuilt after the exile (3:14; Ez 40:5).
Preparations.
Diplomatic correspondence between Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre, highlights the artistic direction (2:12ff) and foreign labor (2:16) involved in the construction of the Temple. The model given to David by God is honored. Verse 2:11 briefly references the construction of the royal palace (1 Kgs 5:21).