2 chronicles 2 commentary

2 CHRONICLES 2 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Preparations for Building the Temple
1 [a]Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the
Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
CLARKE, "A house for the name of the Lord - A temple for the worship of
Jehovah.
A house for his kingdom - A royal palace for his own use as king of Israel.
GILL, "And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the
Lord,.... For the worship and service of God, and for his honour and glory, being
directed, enjoined, and encouraged to it by his father David:
and an house for his kingdom; for a royal palace for him, and his successors, first
the one, and then the other; and in this order they were built.
HENRY, "Solomon's wisdom was given him, not merely for speculation, to entertain
himself (though it is indeed a princely entertainment), nor merely for conversation, to
entertain his friends, but for action; and therefore to action he immediately applies
himself. Observe,
I. His resolution within himself concerning his business (2Ch_2:1): He determined to
build, in the first place, a house for the name of the Lord. It is fit that he who is the first
should be served - first a temple and then a palace, a house not so much for himself, or
his own convenience and magnitude, as for the kingdom, for the honour of it among its
neighbours and for the decent reception of the people whenever they had occasion to
apply to their prince; so that in both he aimed at the public good. Those are the wisest
men that lay out themselves most for the honour of the name of the Lord and the welfare
of communities. We are not born for ourselves, but for God and our country.
JAMISON, "2Ch_2:1, 2Ch_2:2. Solomon’s laborers for building the Temple.
Solomon determined to build — The temple is the grand subject of this narrative,
while the palace - here and in other parts of this book - is only incidentally noticed. The
duty of building the temple was reserved for Solomon before his birth. As soon as he
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became king, he addressed himself to the work, and the historian, in proceeding to give
an account of the edifice, begins with relating the preliminary arrangements.
K&D, "(1:18). The account of these is introduced by 1:18: “Solomon thought to
build.” ‫ר‬ ַ‫מ‬ ָ‫א‬ with an infinitive following does not signify here to command one to do
anything, as e.g., in 1Ch_21:17, but to purpose to do something, as e.g., in 1Ki_5:5. For
‫יהוה‬ ‫ם‬ ֵ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫,ל‬ see on 1Ki_5:17. ‫כוּת‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ‫ת‬ִ‫י‬ ַ‫,בּ‬ house for his kingdom, i.e., the royal palace.
The building of this palace is indeed shortly spoken of in 2Ch_2:11; 2Ch_7:11, and 2Ch_
8:1, but is not in the Chronicle described in detail as in 1Ki_7:1-12.
(2:1). With 2Ch_2:1 begins the account of the preparations which Solomon made for
the erection of these buildings, especially of the temple building, accompanied by a
statement that the king caused all the workmen of the necessary sort in his kingdom to
be numbered. There follows thereafter an account of the negotiations with King Hiram
of Tyre in regard to the sending of a skilful architect, and of the necessary materials,
such as cedar wood and hewn stones, from Lebanon (2Ch_2:2-15); and, in conclusion,
the statements as to the levying of the statute labourers of Israel (2Ch_2:1) are repeated
and rendered more complete (2Ch_2:16, 2Ch_2:17). If we compare the parallel account
in 1Ki_5:5., we find that Solomon's negotiation with Hiram about the proposed
buildings is preceded (1Ki_5:5) by a notice, that Hiram, after he had heard of Solomon's
accession, had sent him an embassy to congratulate him. This notice is omitted in the
Chronicle, because it was of no importance in the negotiations which succeeded. In the
account of Solomon's negotiation with Hiram, both narratives (2Ch_2:2-15 and 1Ki_
5:16.) agree in the main, but differ in form so considerably, that it is manifest that they
are free adaptations of one common original document, quite independent of each other,
as has been already remarked on 1Ki_5:5. On 2Ch_2:2 see further on 1Ki_5:15.
PULPIT, "In the Hebrew text this verse stands as the last of 2 Chronicles 1:1-17.
Determined. The Hebrew word is the ordinary word for "said;" as, e.g; in the
expression of such frequent occurrence, "The Lord said." Its natural equivalent
here might be, he gave the word, or issued the command, for the building of a house.
For the Name of the Lord; better, to the Name of the Lord (1 Kings 5:3; or in
Hebrew text, 1 Kings 5:18; 1 Chronicles 22:7). The expression," the Name of the
Lord," is of very early date (Genesis 4:26). A name named upon a person at the first
purported as far as possible to mark his nature, either its tout ensemble or some
striking attribute of it. Hence the changed name, sometimes of Divine interposition
(Genesis 17:5, Genesis 17:15; Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10); and much more
noticeably the alterations of the Divine Name, to serve and to mark the progressive
development of the revelation of God to man (Genesis 17:1; Exodus 3:14; Exodus
6:3; Exodus 34:14). So the Name of the Lord stands ever—monogram most sacred—
for himself. A house for his kingdom; i.e. a royal residence for Solomon himself. This
is mere clearly expressed as, "in his own house" (2 Chronicles 7:11; 2 Chronicles
8:1; 1 Kings 9:10, 1 Kings 9:15). The description of this house for himself is given in
1 Kings 7:1-13. But no parallel account exists in Chronicles.
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BENSON, ". And a house for his kingdom — A royal palace for himself and his
successors. The substance of this whole chapter is contained in 1 Kings 5., and is
explained in the notes there, and the seeming differences between the contents of
this and it reconciled.
ELLICOTT, " (1) Determined.—Literally, said, which may mean either
commanded, as in 2 Chronicles 1:2; 1 Chronicles 21:17, or thought, purposed,
resolved, as in 1 Kings 5:5. The context seems to favour the latter sense.
And an house for his kingdom.—Or, for his royalty; that is, as the Vulg. renders, a
palace for himself. Solomon’s royal palace is mentioned again in 2 Chronicles 2:12;
2 Chronicles 7:11; 2 Chronicles 8:1; but the building of it is not related in the
Chronicle. (See 1 Kings 7:1-12.)
POOLE, "Solomon appointeth workmen to build the temple: his embassage to king
Huram for workmen and materials, promising to furnish him with victuals, 2
Chronicles 2:1-10. Huram’s kindness, 2 Chronicles 2:11-16. Solomon numbereth
and divideth the workmen, 2 Chronicles 2:17,18.
i.e. A royal palace for himself and his successors. This whole chapter, for the
substance of it, is contained in 1Ki 5, and in the notes there it is explained, and the
seeming differences reconciled.
TRAPP, " And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD,
and an house for his kingdom.
Ver. 1. And Solomon determined.] Heb., Said. He slighted not the divine oracle nor
his father’s charge; but was still plodding and talking of it to himself till it was done.
To build a house for the name of the Lord.] See 1 Kings 5:3, and compare this
chapter with that: the one giveth light to the other; as glasses set one against another
do cast a mutual light.
And a house for his kingdom.] David had built a fair palace: but Solomon’s far
exceeded it: this was a house for his kingdom. Our William Rufus found much fault
with Westminster Hall for being built too small: and took a plot for one far more
spacious to be added unto it. (a)
COFFMAN, ""And a house for his kingdom" (2 Chronicles 2:1). This refers to the
house Solomon would build for himself.[1] The Chronicler omitted many details that
are found in Kings, simply because those details were already widely known.
"Knowledge of the temple (and many other things) from Kings and other sources is
taken for granted."[2] Therefore, we reject as worthless the speculations of scholars
regarding alleged "reasons" why this or that was abbreviated or left out altogether.
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The 153,600 men mentioned here were slaves, composed of, "Descendants of those
Canaanites whom the children of Israel did not drive out."[3] From Kings it is clear
that Israelites were also conscripted by Solomon for such slave labor and required to
devote one month of every three to his service.
PARKER, ""And Solomon determined" ( 2 Chronicles 2:1).
LITERALLY: "and Solomon said." The word "said" seems to be quite a small word
beside the word "determined," but it is just as good in quality and in music, if we
understand it rightly. We have gone backward in the use of words; we try to make
up by many words what used to be expressed by one; in this regard, civilisation is
not improving, education is enfeebling our expression. In the old time, when a man
said what he was going to do, he had half done it; he never spoke about it until his
mind was made up: now we vapour about what we are going to do, and therefore we
seldom do it; our speech has become a variety of the process known as evaporation.
In other places, the word rendered "determined" is rendered so as to give energy,
full purpose, settled and unchangeable resolution. There was no need for such
expression in this case: Solomon was born to do this work. There is no need for the
rose to say, Now I am going to be beautiful and fragrant. There is no need for the
nightingale to say, Now I have fully made up my mind to be musical and tuneful,
and to fill the air with richest expression and melody. The flower was born to bloom,
and to throw all its fragrance away in generous donation; the nightingale was made
in every bone and feather of it for the sacred singing throat to sing to astonish the
world with music. Solomon came into this work naturally, as it were by birth and
education. His father could latterly talk about nothing else; the old man nearly built
the temple himself, although distinctly told he should not do it; yet he could not let it
alone; if he awoke in the night-time it was to consider what the length of the temple
should be; and if he suddenly came upon his son Solomon it was to deliver an extra
charge as to the building of the holy house. When he wrote to his friends it was to
ask for material for the temple. He would speak upon no other subject; when he lay
upon his bed for the last time he signed and motioned and talked about the temple
that he wanted to build. There is always something we want to do next, and
although God has expressly told us that we should not touch the work we cannot
keep our hands quite still. We will build in the air if we cannot build on the ground;
we will talk, if we cannot actually carve the ivory and prepare the gold. It is
infinitely pathetic to watch David in these later hours; he is told that he should not
do a thing, and he says, I am sure I will not do it; and then he talks about it, and
prepares for it, and offers suggestions respecting it; and if he could get up in the
night-time without God seeing him he would in very deed begin to build what he
had made up his mind he would not build, because God had told him he should not
do it The wondrous pressure there is upon us! The marvellous bias that our life
takes in certain directions which are forbidden! Would God some understood this a
little better! Would God some men would almost try to pray! they might succeed. In
one respect it is the hardest, in another it is the easiest of the miracles, but a miracle
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it Isaiah , that a man trained in a mother tongue in his infancy to talk nonsense and
frivolity, should actually open his lips in prayer. What greater miracle is there, when
it is rightly measured, fully grasped, and really enjoyed? When we say we will build,
we ought to have begun to build. The word "determined" is a weak word in
comparison with the word "said." A man"s word should be his bond; he should not
require to speak loudly in order to be believed: when he says in the simplest tone
that he has done some miracle of faith, love, service, he should not be required to
make oath and say; his word, his whisper should be his oath.
"And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the Lord, and an house
for his kingdom" ( 2 Chronicles 2:1).
That latter expression is not always clearly understood. Solomon built a house for
the name of the Lord, and a house for his own residence. That is the prayer in
action. This is what true men are always doing. No man can build God"s house
without building his own at the same time. We have forgotten that immortal
inspiring truth,—"Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me
shall be lightly esteemed." "Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-
fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses
shall burst out with new wine." No man can give a cup of cold water to a disciple in
the name of a disciple without having his reward. Yet we must be on our guard
against the subtle play of selfishness even here: for if any man should say he will
build his own house by building God"s, he will never have a house of his own to live
in. There must be no investment of consecration; there must be no folly at the altar.
If a man should say he will spend all his life in the church, and let his own house
take care of itself, that house will come to ruin. Here we see the play of wisdom; here
is the need of sentiment being guarded by discipline: otherwise we shall have life
frittered away in an infinite fuss about nothing. Everywhere we must see the wise
man; then shall there be a steady preparation, attention to the perspective of nature
and of life, and a response to all those obligations which touch it at every point, and
which are intended for its development and education and final consolidation in
righteousness. Yet here is the compound action:—Because thou hast asked wisdom
and not riches, thou shalt have riches. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you": therefore, when thou
art building my house I will be building thine. We must not have these things taken
out eclectically, and set in rows like specimens; we must from all the facts draw the
inclusive inference, and that inference must be the basis of our life. God helps those
who help him. He never forgets the man who waits in his house; he is not
unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love: if you have given him
water, he will give you wine; if you have spent a day at his house for his sake, there
is no green pasture in all heaven"s boundless paradise to which you shall not be
welcomed. We never can be before God, greater than God, in gift and eulogy and
blessing.
Solomon having begun to build grew in the idea of what was due to God, and he laid
down the great principle which underlies all true religious enthusiasm—
5

GUZIK, "2 CHRONICLES 2 - SUPPLIES AND WORKERS FOR THE TEMPLE
A. An overview of the work of building the temple.
1. (2 Chronicles 2:1) Solomon’s determination to build the temple.
Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal
house for himself.
a. Then Solomon determined to build a temple: His determination was fitting
because of all that his father David did to prepare for the building and because of
the charge David gave him to do the work.
i. We might think that the greatest thing about Solomon was his wisdom, his riches,
his proverbs or his writings. Clearly for the Chronicler the most important thing
about Solomon was the temple he built. This was most important because it was
most relevant to a community of returning exiles who struggled to build a new
temple and to make a place for Israel among the nations again.
ii. “Chronicles’ record of Solomon’s achievements moves straight away to the
construction of the temple. Several important items in the account of his reign in
Kings are left out as a result, such as his wisdom in action, administration,
educational reforms, and some building activities (e.g. 1 Kings 3:16; 1Ki_4:34; 1Ki_
7:1-12). These were not unimportant, but, for Chronicles, they were all subsidiary to
the temple.” (Selman)
b. And a royal house for himself: Solomon’s great building works did not end with
temple. He also built a spectacular palace (1 Kings 7:1-12) and more.
BI 1-16, "And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the Lord.
Solomon’s predestined work
Solomon was born to do this work. There is no need for the rose to say, “Now I am going
to be beautiful and fragrant.” There is no need for the nightingale to say, “Now I have
fully made up my mind to be musical and tuneful, and to fill the air with richest
expressions and melody.” The flower was born to bloom, and to throw all its fragrance
away in generous donation; the nightingale was made in every bone and feather of it for
the sacred singing throat to sing to astonish the world with music. Solomon came into
this work naturally, as it were by birth and education. (J. Parker, D.D.)
6

2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and
80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as
foremen over them.
GILL, "And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men,.... Of whom,
and the difference of the last number in this text from 1Ki_5:15, see the notes there. See
Gill on 1Ki_5:15. See Gill on 1Ki_5:16.
HENRY 1-6, "Solomon's wisdom was given him, not merely for speculation, to
entertain himself (though it is indeed a princely entertainment), nor merely for
conversation, to entertain his friends, but for action; and therefore to action he
immediately applies himself. Observe,
I. His resolution within himself concerning his business (2Ch_2:1): He determined to
build, in the first place, a house for the name of the Lord. It is fit that he who is the first
should be served - first a temple and then a palace, a house not so much for himself, or
his own convenience and magnitude, as for the kingdom, for the honour of it among its
neighbours and for the decent reception of the people whenever they had occasion to
apply to their prince; so that in both he aimed at the public good. Those are the wisest
men that lay out themselves most for the honour of the name of the Lord and the welfare
of communities. We are not born for ourselves, but for God and our country.
II. His embassy to Huram, king of Tyre, to engage his assistance in the prosecution of
his designs. The purport of his errand to him is much the same here as we had it 1Ki_
5:2, etc., only here it is more largely set forth.
1. The reasons why he makes this application to Huram are here more fully
represented, for information to Huram as well as for inducement. (1.) He pleads his
father's interest in Huram, and the kindness he had received from him (2Ch_2:3): As
thou didst deal with David, so deal with me. As we must show kindness to, so we may
expect kindness from, our fathers' friends, and with them should cultivate a
correspondence. (2.) He represents his design in building the temple: he intended it for a
place of religious worship (2Ch_2:4), that all the offerings which God had appointed for
the honour of his name might be offered up there. The house was built that it might be
dedicated to God and used in his service. This we should aim at in all our business, that
our havings and doings may be all to the glory of God. He mentions various particular
services that were there to be performed, for the instruction of Huram. The mysteries of
the true religion, unlike those of the Gentile superstition, coveted not concealment. (3.)
He endeavors to inspire Huram with very great and high thoughts of the God of Israel,
by expressing the mighty veneration he had for his holy name: Great is our God above
all gods, above all idols, above all princes. Idols are nothing, princes are little, and both
7

under the control of the God of Israel; and therefore, [1.] “The house must be great; not
in proportion to the greatness of that God to whom it is to be dedicated (for between
finite and infinite there can be no proportion), but in some proportion to the great value
and esteem we have for this God.” [2.] “Yet, be it ever so great, it cannot be a habitation
for the great God. Let not Huram think that the God of Israel, like the gods of the
nations, dwells in temples made with hands, Act_17:24. No, the heaven of heavens
cannot contain him. It is intended only for the convenience of his priests and
worshippers, that they may have a fit place wherein to burn sacrifice before him.” [3.] He
looked upon himself, though a mighty prince, as unworthy the honour of being
employed in this great work: Who am I that I should build him a house? It becomes us
to go about every work for God with a due sense of our utter insufficiency for it and our
incapacity to do any thing adequate to the divine perfections. It is part of the wisdom
wherein we ought to walk towards those that are without carefully to guard against all
misapprehension which any thing we say or do may occasion concerning God; so
Solomon does here in his treaty with Huram.
PULPIT, "The presence of this verse here, and the composition of it, may probably
mark some corruptness of text or error of copyists, as the first two words of it are
the proper first two words of 2 Chronicles 2:17, and the remainder of it shows the
proper contents of 2 Chronicles 2:18, which are not only in other aspects apparently
in the right place there, but also by analogy of the parallel (1 Kings 5:15, 1 Kings
5:16). The contents of this verse will therefore be considered with 2 Chronicles 2:17,
2 Chronicles 2:18.
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:2 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.
Ver. 2. And Solomon told out.] See 1 Kings 5:16-17.
And three thousand and six hundred.] See on 1 Kings 5:16. Solomon might
afterwards add three hundred more, for better despatch.
GUZIK, "2. (2 Chronicles 2:2) The magnitude of the work
Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry
stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
a. Seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone: This
seems to describe the number of Canaanite slave laborers that Solomon used.
i. Ginzberg relates some of the legends surrounding the building of the temple.
“During the seven years it took to build the Temple, not a single workman died who
was employed about it, nor even did a single one fall sick. And as the workmen were
8

sound and robust from first to last, so the perfection of their tools remained
unimpaired until the building stood complete. Thus the work suffered no sort of
interruption.” (Ginzberg)
b. And three thousand six hundred to oversee them: This was the middle
management team administrating the work of building the temple.
i. “The number of thirty-six hundred foremen differs from 1 Kings 5:16 (3,300), but
the LXX of Kings is quite insecure here, and Chronicles may preserve the better
reading.” (Selman)
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram[b] 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.
BARNES, "Huram, the form used throughout Chronicles (except 1Ch_14:1) for the
name both of the king and of the artisan whom he lent to Solomon 2Ch_2:13; 2Ch_4:11,
2Ch_4:16, is a late corruption of the true native word, Hiram (marginal note and
reference).
CLARKE, "Solomon sent to Huram - This man’s name is written ‫חירם‬ Chiram in
Kings; and in Chronicles, ‫חורם‬ Churam: there is properly no difference, only a ‫י‬ yod and
a ‫ו‬ vau interchanged. See on 1Ki_5:2 (note).
GILL, "And Solomon sent to Huram king of Tyre,.... The same with Hiram, 1Ki_
5:1 and from whence it appears, that Huram first sent a letter to Solomon to
congratulate him on his accession to the throne, which is not taken notice of here:
as thou didst deal with my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an
9

house to dwell therein; see 1Ch_14:1, even so deal with me; which words are a
supplement.
JAMISON, "2Ch_2:3-10. Message to Huram for skillful artificers.
Solomon sent to Huram — The correspondence was probably conducted on both
sides in writing (2Ch_2:11; also see on 1Ki_5:8).
As thou didst deal with David my father — This would seem decisive of the
question whether the Huram then reigning in Tyre was David’s friend (see on 1Ki_
5:1-6). In opening the business, Solomon grounded his request for Tyrian aid on two
reasons: 1. The temple he proposed to build must be a solid and permanent building
because the worship was to be continued in perpetuity; and therefore the building
materials must be of the most durable quality. 2. It must be a magnificent structure
because it was to be dedicated to the God who was greater than all gods; and, therefore,
as it might seem a presumptuous idea to erect an edifice for a Being “whom the heaven
and the heaven of heavens do not contain,” it was explained that Solomon’s object was
not to build a house for Him to dwell in, but a temple in which His worshippers might
offer sacrifices to His honor. No language could be more humble and appropriate than
this. The pious strain of sentiment was such as became a king of Israel.
K&D, "(2:2-9). Solomon, through his ambassadors, addressed himself to Huram
king of Tyre, with the request that he would send him an architect and building wood for
the temple. On the Tyrian king Huram or Hiram, the contemporary of David and
Solomon, see the discussion on 2Sa_5:11. According to the account in 1 Kings 5,
Solomon asked cedar wood from Lebanon from Hiram; according to our account, which
is more exact, he desired an architect, and cedar, cypress, and other wood. In 1 Kings 5
the motive of Solomon's request is given in the communication to Hiram, viz., that
David could not carry out the building of the proposed temple on account of his wars,
but that Jahve had given him (Solomon) rest and peace, so that he now, in accordance
with the divine promise to David, desired to carry on the building (1Ki_5:3-5). In the
2Ch_2:2-5, on the contrary, Solomon reminds the Tyrian king of the friendliness with
which he had supplied his father David with cedar wood for his palace, and then
announces to him his purpose to build a temple to the Lord, at the same time stating
that it was designed for the worship of God, whom the heavens and the earth cannot
contain. It is clear, therefore, that both authors have expanded the fundamental
thoughts of their authority in somewhat freer fashion. The apodosis of the clause
beginning with ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֲשׁ‬‫א‬ַ‫כּ‬ is wanting, and the sentence is an anacolouthon. The apodosis
should be: “do so also for me, and send me cedars.” This latter clause follows in 2Ch_
2:6, 2Ch_2:7, while the first can easily be supplied, as is done e.g., in the Vulg., by sic fac
mecum.
PULPIT, "Huram. So the name is spelt, whether of Tyrian king or Tyrian workman,
in Chronicles, except, perhaps, in 1 Chronicles 14:1. Elsewhere the name is written
‫ם‬ ָ‫יר‬ ִ‫,ה‬ or sometimes ‫ירוֹם‬ ִ‫,ח‬ instead of ‫ם‬ ָ‫חוּר‬ . Geseuius draws attention to Josephus's
Greek rendering of the name, ‫̔וי‬́‫,סשלןע‬ with whom agree Menander, an historian of
Ephesus, in a fragment respecting Hiram (Josephus, 'Contra Apion,' 1 Chronicles
1:18); and Dius, a fragment of whose history of the Phoenicians telling of Solomon
10

and Hiram, Josephus also is the means of preserving ('Contra Apion,' 1.17). The
Septuagint write the name ‫קיס‬́‫ב‬‫ל‬ ; the Alexandrian, ‫קויס‬́‫ב‬‫ל‬ ; the Vulgate, Hiram. The
name of Hiram's father was Abibaal. Hiram himself began to reign, according to
Menander, when nineteen years of age, reigned thirty-four years, and died therefore
at the age of fifty-three. Of Hiram and his reign in Tyre very little is known beyond
what is so familiar to us from the Bible history of David and Solomon. The city of
Tyre is among the most ancient. Though it is not mentioned in Homer, yet the
Sidonians, who lived in such close connection with the Tyrians, are mentioned there,
whilst Virgil calls Tyre the Sidonian city, Sidon being twenty miles distant. The
modern name of Tyre is Sur. The city was situate on the east coast of the
Mediterranean, in Phoenicia, about seventy-four geographical miles north of Joppa,
while the road distance from Joppa to Jerusalem was thirty-two miles. The first
Bible mention of Tyre is in Joshua 19:29. After that the more characteristic mentions
of it are 2 Samuel 5:11, with all its parallels; 2 Samuel 24:7; Isaiah 23:1, Isaiah 23:7;
Ezekiel 26:2; Ezekiel 27:1-8; Zechariah 9:2, Zechariah 9:3. Tyre was celebrated for
its working in copper and brass, and by no means only for its cedar and timber
felling. The good terms and intimacy subsisting between Solomon and the King of
Tyre speak themselves very plainly in Bible history, without leaving us dependent on
doubtful history, or tales of such as Josephus ('Ant.,' 8.5. § 3; 'Contra Apion,' 1.17).
For the timber, metals, workmen, given by Hiram to Solomon, Solomon gave to
Hiram corn and oil, ceded to him some cities, and the use of some ports on the Red
Sea (1 Kings 9:11-14, 1 Kings 9:25-28; 1 Kings 10:21-23. See also 1 Kings 16:31). As
thou didst deal with David … and didst send him cedars. To this Zechariah 9:7 and
Zechariah 9:8 are the apodosis manifestly, while Zechariah 9:4, Zechariah 9:5,
Zechariah 9:6 should be enclosed in brackets.
BENSON, "2 Chronicles 2:3. And Solomon sent to Huram — Or Hiram, as he is
called in the first book of Kings where we learn that he first sent to Solomon "
congratulate him on his accession to the throne, and then Solomon sent to him.
ELLICOTT, " (3) And Solomon sent to Huram.—Comp. 1 Kings 5:2-11, from which
we learn that Huram or Hiram had first sent to congratulate Solomon upon his
accession. The account here agrees generally with the parallel passage of the older
work. The variations which present themselves only prove that the chronicler has
made independent use of his sources.
Huram.—In Kings the name is spelt Hiram (1 Kings 5:1-2; 1 Kings 5:7) and Hirom
(1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 5:18, Hebr.). (Comp. 1 Chronicles 14:1.) Whether the Tyrian
name Sirômos (Herod. vii. 98) is another form of Hiram, as Bertheau supposes, is
more than doubtful. It is interesting to find that the king of Tyre bore this name in
the time of Tiglath-pileser II., to whom he paid tribute (B.C. 738), along with
Menahem of Samaria. (Assyr. Hi-ru-um-mu, to which the Hîrôm of 1 Kings 5:10; 1
Kings 5:18 comes very near.)
As thou didst deal . . . dwell therein.—See 1 Chronicles 14:1. The sense requires the
clause, added by our translators, in italics, “Even so deal with me,” after the Vulg.
11

“sic fac mecum.” 1 Kings 5:3 makes Solomon refer to the wars which hindered
David from building the Temple.
POOLE, "Which words may be commodiously understood from the nature of the
thing, and from the following words, such ellipses being frequent in the Hebrew. Or,
without any ellipsis, the sense, being here suspended, is completed 2 Chronicles 2:7,
so send me, &c., the 4th, 5th, and 6th verses being inserted by way of parenthesis, to
usher in and enforce his following request.
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:3 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].
Ver. 3. And Solomon sent to Huram.] See on 1 Kings 5:1.
As thou didst deal with David my father.] By this thankful acknowledgment he
seeketh to ingratiate. Gratiarum actio est ad plus dandum invitatio.
COFFMAN, ""Huram the king of Tyre" (2 Chronicles 2:3). This person is called
Hiram in Kings; "But throughout Chronicles he is called Huram (except in 1
Chronicles 14:1)."[4]
2 Chronicles 2:4 here is a summary of the principal rituals of the ancient tabernacle
and an indication of their continued observance in the projected temple. The entire
Pentateuch is, in a sense, summarized in this single verse, in keeping with the entire
religious constitution of ancient Israel. Extensive sections of Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy are reflected in this single verse. No wonder the critics
hate it. Elmslie looked at it, and wrote, "It looks like a heavy-handed addition."[5]
However, there is absolutely no evidence of any kind that this verse is an
interpolation. It is the previous mind-set of critics that causes them to make such an
allegation.
GUZIK, "B. Solomon’s correspondence with Hiram king of Tyre.
1. (2 Chronicles 2:3-6) Solomon describes the work to Hiram.
Then Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As you have dealt with David my
father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.
Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to
Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt
offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set
feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel. And the temple
which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to
12

build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him?
Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before
Him?
a. Solomon sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As you have dealt with David my
father: Solomon appealed to Hiram based on his prior good relationship with his
father David. This shows us that David did not regard every neighbor nation as an
enemy. David wisely built alliances and friendships with neighbor nations, and the
benefit of this also came to Solomon.
i. “Hiram is an abbreviation of Ahiram which means ‘Brother of Ram,’ or ‘My
brother is exalted,’ or ‘Brother of the lofty one.’ . . . Archaeologists have discovered a
royal sarcophagus in Byblos of Tyre dated about 1200 B.C. inscribed with the king’s
name, ‘Ahiram.’ Apparently it belonged to the man in this passage.” (Dilday,
commentary on 1 Kings)
b. Then Solomon sent to Hiram: “According to Josephus, copies of such a letter
along with Hiram’s reply were preserved in both Hebrew and Tyrian archives and
were extant in his day (Antiquities, 8.2.8).” (Dilday)
c. I am building a temple for the name of the LORD my God: Of course, Solomon
did not build a temple for a name but for a living God. This is a good example of
avoiding direct mention of the name of God in Hebrew writing and speaking. They
did this out of reverence to God.
i. Solomon also used this phrase because he wanted to explain that he didn’t think
the temple would be the house of God in the way pagans thought. This is especially
shown in his words, who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven
of heavens cannot contain Him? By the standards of the paganism of his day,
Solomon’s conception of God was both Biblical and high.
ii. “He never conceived it as a place to which God would be confined. He did expect,
and he received, manifestations of the Presence of God in that house. Its chief value
was that it afforded man a place in which he should offer incense; that is, the symbol
of adoration, praise, worship, to God.” (Morgan)
iii. God is, “good without quality, great without quantity, everlasting without time,
present everywhere without place, containing all without extent . . . he is within all
things, and contained of nothing: without all things, and sustained of nothing.”
(Trapp)
13

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.
BARNES, "The symbolic meaning of “burning incense” is indicated in Rev_8:3-4.
Consult the marginal references to this verse.
The solemn feasts - The three great annnual festivals, the Passover, the Feast of
Weeks (Pentecost), and the Feast of tabernacles Lev. 23:4-44; Deut. 16:1-17.
GILL, "Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God,.... Am about
to do it, and determined upon it, see 2Ch_2:1,
to dedicate it to him; to set it apart for sacred service to him:
and to burn before him sweet incense; on the altar of incense:
and for the continual shewbread; the loaves of shewbread, which were continually
on the shewbread table; which, and the altar of incense, both were set in the holy place
in the tabernacle, and so to be in the temple:
and for the burnt offerings morning and evening; the daily sacrifice: on the
sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our
God: at which seasons, besides the daily sacrifice, additional burnt offerings were
offered, and all on the brasen altar in the court: this is an ordinance
for ever unto Israel: to offer the above sacrifices, even for a long time to come, until
the Messiah comes; and therefore Solomon suggests, as Jarchi and Kimchi think, that a
good strong house ought to be built.
K&D, "2Ch_2:4
“Behold, I will build.” ‫ֵה‬‫נּ‬ ִ‫ה‬ with a participle of that which is imminent, what one
14

intends to do. ‫ל‬ ‫ישׁ‬ ִ‫דּ‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫,ל‬ to sanctify (the house) to Him. The infinitive clause which
follows (‫וגו‬ ‫יר‬ ִ‫ט‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫)ל‬ defines more clearly the design of the temple. The temple is to be
consecrated by worshipping Him there in the manner prescribed, by burning incense,
etc. ‫ים‬ ִ‫מּ‬ ַ‫ס‬ ‫ת‬ ֶ‫ר‬ֹ‫ט‬ ְ‫,ק‬ incense of odours, Exo_25:6, which was burnt every morning and
evening on the altar of incense, Exo_30:7. The clauses which follow are to be connected
by zeugma with ‫יר‬ ִ‫ט‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫,ל‬ i.e., the verbs corresponding to the objects are to be supplied
from ‫:הקטיר‬ “and to spread the continual spreading of bread” (Exo_25:30), and to offer
burnt-offerings, as is prescribed in Num 28 and 29. ‫וגו‬ ‫ֹאת‬‫ז‬ ‫ם‬ ָ‫ל‬ ‫ע‬ ְ‫,ל‬ for ever is this
enjoined upon Israel, cf. 1Ch_23:31.
PULPIT, "In the nine headings contained in this verse we may consider that the
leading religious observances and services of the nation are summarized. To dedicate
it. The more frequent rendering of the Hebrew word here used is "to hallow," Or
"to sanctify."
(a) with meat offering consisting of three-tenths of an ephah of flour mixed with oil
for each bullock; two-tenths of an ephah of flour mixed with oil for the ram; one-
tenth of an ephah of flour similarly mixed for each lamb;
(b) with drink offering, of half a hin of wine to each bullock; the third part of a hin
to the ram; and the fourth part of a hin to each lamb. A kid of the goats for a sin
offering, which in fact was offered before the burnt offering. And all these were to
be additional to the continual offering of the day, with its drink offering (see also
Isaiah 66:23; Ezekiel 46:3; Amos 8:5).
BENSON, "2 Chronicles 2:4. To dedicate it to him — To his honour and worship.
For the continual show-bread — So called here and Numbers 4:7, because it stood
before the Lord continually, by a constant succession of new bread, when the old
was removed. See Exodus 25:30; Leviticus 24:8.
ELLICOTT, " (4) I build.—Am about to build (bôneh).
To the name of the Lord.—1 Kings 3:2; 1 Chronicles 16:35; 1 Chronicles 22:7.
To dedicate.—Or, consecrate. (Comp. Leviticus 27:14; 1 Kings 9:3; 1 Kings 9:7.) The
italicised and should be omitted, as the following words define the purpose of the
dedication, viz., for burning before him, &c. Comp. Vulgate: “Ut consecrem eam ad
adolendum incensum coram illo.” (See Exodus 25:6; Exodus 30:7-8.)
And for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings.—In the Hebrew this
is loosely connected with the verb rendered to burn, as part of its object: for offering
before him incense of spices and a continual pile (of shewbread) and burnt offerings.
(See Leviticus 24:5; Leviticus 24:8; Numbers 28:4.)
15

On the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts.—1 Chronicles
23:31. “Solemn feasts:” set seasons. These special sacrifices are prescribed in
Numbers 28:9 to Numbers 29:40
This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.—Literally, for ever this is (is obligatory)
upon Israel, viz., this ordinance of offerings. (Comp. the similar phrase, 1
Chronicles 23:31; and the formula, “a statute for ever,” so common in the Law,
Exodus 12:14; Exodus 29:9.)
POOLE. " To dedicate it to him, i.e. to his honour and worship.
For the continual shew-bread; so called here and Numbers 9:7, because it was to be
there continually, by a constant succession of new bread when the old was removed;
of which see Exodus 25:30 Leviticus 24:8.
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:4 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.
Ver. 4. To dedicate it to him, &c.] Not to be impiae gentis arcanum, as Florus basely
slandereth this temple.
5 “The temple I am going to build will be great,
because our God is greater than all other gods.
BARNES, "See 1Ki_6:2 note. In Jewish eyes, at the time that the temple was built, it
may have been “great,” that is to say, it may have exceeded the dimensions of any single
separate building existing in Palestine up to the time of its erection.
Great is our God ... - This may seem inappropriate as addressed to a pagan king.
But it appears 2Ch_2:11-12 that Hiram acknowledged Yahweh as the supreme deity,
probably identifying Him with his own Melkarth.
GILL, "And the house which I build is great,.... Not so very large, though that,
with all apartments and courts belonging to it, he intended to build, was so; but because
16

magnificent in its structure and decorations:
for great is our God above all gods; and therefore ought to have a temple to exceed
all others, as the temple at Jerusalem did.
K&D 5-6, "2Ch_2:5-6
In order properly to worship Jahve by these sacrifices, the temple must be large,
because Jahve is greater than all gods; cf. Exo_18:11; Deu_10:17.
No one is able ( ַ‫ח‬ ‫כּ‬ ‫ר‬ַ‫צ‬ָ‫ע‬ as in 1Ch_29:14) to build a house in which this God could
dwell, for the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. These words are a reminiscence of
Solomon's prayer (1Ki_8:27; 2Ch_6:18). How should I (Solomon) be able to build Him a
house, scil. that He should dwell therein? In connection with this, there then comes the
thought: and that is not my purpose, but only to offer incense before Him will I build a
temple. ‫יר‬ ִ‫ט‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ה‬ is used as pars pro toto, to designate the whole worship of the Lord. After
this declaration of the purpose, there follows in Deu_10:6 the request that he would
send him for this end a skilful chief workman, and the necessary material, viz., costly
woods. The chief workman was to be a man wise to work in gold, silver, etc. According to
2Ch_4:11-16 and 1Ki_7:13., he prepared the brazen and metal work, and the vessels of
the temple; here, on the contrary, and in 2Ch_2:13 also, he is described as a man who
was skilful also in purple weaving, and in stone and wood work, to denote that he was an
artificer who could take charge of all the artistic work connected with the building of the
temple. To indicate this, all the costly materials which were to be employed for the
temple and its vessels are enumerated. ‫ָן‬‫ו‬ְ‫גּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫,א‬ the later form of ‫ן‬ ָ‫ָמ‬‫גּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫,א‬ deep-red purple,
see on Exo_25:4. ‫יל‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ַ‫,כּ‬ occurring only here, 2Ch_2:6, 2Ch_2:13, and in 2Ch_3:14, in
the signification of the Heb. ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫ת‬ַ‫ע‬ַ‫ל‬ ‫,תּ‬ crimson or scarlet purple, see on Exo_25:4. It is
not originally a Hebrew word, but is probably derived from the Old-Persian, and has
been imported, along with the thing itself, from Persia by the Hebrews. ‫ת‬ ֶ‫ל‬ֵ‫כ‬ ְ‫,תּ‬ deep-blue
purple, hyacinth purple, see on Exo_25:4. ‫ים‬ ִ‫תּוּה‬ ִ‫פּ‬ ַ‫ח‬ ֵ‫תּ‬ַ‫,פּ‬ to make engraved work, and
Exo_28:9, Exo_28:11, Exo_28:36, and Exo_39:6, of engraving precious stones, but used
here, as ַ‫תּוּח‬ ִ‫ל־פּ‬ָ‫,כּ‬ 2Ch_2:13, shows, in the general signification of engraved work in
metal or carved work in wood; cf. 1Ki_6:29. ‫ים‬ ִ‫מ‬ ָ‫כ‬ֲ‫ח‬ ַ‫ם־ה‬ ִ‫ע‬ depends upon ‫ת‬ ‫ֲשׂ‬‫ע‬ַ‫:ל‬ to work
in gold ..., together with the wise (skilful) men which are with me in Judah. ‫ין‬ ִ‫כ‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֲשׁ‬‫א‬,
quos comparavit, cf. 1Ch_28:21; 1Ch_22:15.
PULPIT, "2 Chronicles 2:5, 2 Chronicles 2:6
The contents of these verses beg some special observation, in the first place, as
having been judged by the writer of Chronicles matter desirable to be retained and
put in his work. To find a place for this subject amid his careful selection, and
rejection in many cases, of the matter at his command, is certainly a decision in
harmony with his general design in this work. Then, again, they may be remarked
on as spoken to another king, who, whether it were to be expected or no, was, it is
plain, a sympathizing hearer of the piety and religious resolution of Solomon (2
Chronicles 2:12). This is one of the touches of history that does not diminish our
17

regret that we do not know more of Hiram. He was no "proselyte," but he had the
sympathy of a convert to the religion of the Jew. Perhaps the simplest and most
natural explanation may just be the truest, that Hiram for some long time had seen
"the rising" kingdom, and alike in David and Solomon in turn, "the coming" men.
He had been more calmly and deliberately impressed than the Queen of Sheba
afterwards, but not less effectually and operatively impressed. And once more the
passage is noteworthy for the utterances of Solomon in themselves. As
parenthetically testifying to a powerful man, who could be a powerful helper of
Solomon's enterprise, his outburst of explanation, and of ardent religious purpose,
and of humble godly awe, is natural. But that he should call the temple he purposed
to build "so great," as we cannot put it down either to intentional exaggeration or to
sober historic fact, must the rather be honestly set down to such considerations as
these, viz. that in point of fact, neither David nor Solomon were "travelled men," as
Joseph and Moses, for instance. Their measures of greatness were largely dependent
upon the existing material and furnishing of their own little country. And further,
Solomon speaks of the temple as great very probably from the point of view of its
simple religious uses (note end of 2 Chronicles 2:6) as the place of sacrifice in
especial rather than as a place, for instance, of vast congregations and vast
processions. Then, too, as compared with the tabernacle, it would loom "great,"
whether for size or for its enduring material. Meantime, though Solomon does
indeed use the words (2 Chronicles 2:5)," The house.; is great," yet, throwing on the
words the light of the remaining clause of the verse, and of David's words in 1
Chronicles 29:1, it is not very certain that the main thing present to his mind was
not the size, but rather the character of the house, and the solemn character of the
enterprise itself (1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 6:18). Who am I … save only to burn
sacrifice before him? The drift of Solomon's thought is plain—that nothing would
justify mortal man, if he purported to build really a palace of residence for him
whom the heaven of heavens could not contain, but that he is justified all the more
in "not giving sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, until he had found out a
place" (Psalms 132:4, Psalms 132:5) where man might acceptably, in God's
appointed way, draw near to him. If "earth draw near to heaven," it may be
confidently depended on that heaven will not be slow to bend down its glory,
majesty, grace, to earth.
BENSON, "2 Chronicles 2:5. The house which I build is great — Though the
temple, strictly so called, was small, yet the buildings belonging to it were large and
numerous. For great is our God above all gods — Above all idols, above all princes.
Idols are nothing, princes are little, and both are under the control of the God of
Israel. Therefore the house must be great; not indeed in proportion to the greatness
of that God to whom it is to be dedicated, for between finite and infinite there can be
no proportion; but in some proportion to the exalted conceptions we have of him,
and the great esteem we have for him.
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:5 And the house which I build [is] great: for great [is] our
God above all gods.
18

Ver. 5. And the house which I build is great.] Excellently great, as he afterwards
saith. [2 Chronicles 2:9]
For great is our God.] And must therefore be served like himself.
Above all gods.] Whether deputed, as princes, or reputed, as idols.
PARKER, ""And the house which I build is great" ( 2 Chronicles 2:5).
Why is it great? For the sake of vanity, display, ostentation; to make heathen people
stare in blankest wonder because of the greatness of thy resources? No—"The house
which I build is great: for great is our God." That is philosophy. He has really now
received the wisdom; he talks like a sagacious king; he has seen the reality of things,
and how nobly he talks—"the house which I build is great: for great is our God
above all gods." That is the explanation of all honest enthusiasm. A volume is needed
here, rather than a suggestion:—The house which I build is great; for great is our
God: the sacrifice which I offer is great; for great is the God to whom it is offered:
the consecration is great; for great is the cross: the missionary toil and effort is
great; for great is the love of God which it represents. The religious must always be
greater than the material, and must account for the material. However stupendous
the temple, we must write upon its portals, Here is One greater than the temple.
However magnificent the oblation we lay upon the altar, we should say, The fire that
burns it, in every spark, is greater than any jewel we have laid upon the altar to be
consumed. Here is a rational consecration. Why do you build your little hut?
Because you have a little God. If the hut is all you can build, if it is the measure of
your resources, and if all the while you are saying concerning it, Would God it were
ten thousand times better than it is! then it shall be as acceptable as was the temple
of Solomon. But it you are seeking to evade sacrifice by the plea that God needs not
any effort of yours, or is not pleased with any expenditure or display of yours, then
renounce your Christian name and preface your surname by the word Iscariot. Let
us have no lying in the sanctuary I Let us go out rather into the broad wilderness in
the night-time, and babble our lies to the careless winds,—but do not let us tell lies
in the house of God! How often has the Christian cause suffered in the village, in the
little town, because some man has said he is opposed to display. He is not opposed to
the display of his selfishness, he is opposed to the display of some other man"s
unselfishness. Solomon here must be regarded as the wise man. "The house which I
build is great: for great is our God above all gods." Our theology determines our
architecture. Our theology determines our expenditure. Search in the garden for a
flower for Christ—which will you bring?—the one you can spare the best? Never!
He stands there waiting the flower. How your eyes quicken into new expression!
What eagerness there is in your whole gait and posture! How you turn the flowers
over, so to say, that you may gather the loveliest and the best! and how on the road
to him you pray God that even yet it may grow into some fairer loveliness, and be
charged with some more heavenly fragrance.
19

Let us take another view of this verse.
Solomon"s conception of his work was great and worthy—"And the house which I
build is great"—Why? "For [because] great is our God." Here is more than a local
incident; here indeed is the whole philosophy of Christian service. A great religion
means a great humanity; a great God means a great worship; a great faith means a
great consecration. Solomon"s temple therefore was an embodied theology; it was
no fancy work, the creation of dainty fingers, meant merely to please an eye that
hungered for beauty. Solomon was not gratifying an aesthetic taste when he sent for
a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in
purple and crimson and blue; or when he sent for cedar trees, fir trees, and algum
trees out of Lebanon: his æstheticism, as we should say in modern phrase, was but
an aspect of his theology. The sweet incense was not for a pampered nostril; the
ceiling panelled with fir was not merely a picture to look upon; and the gold of
Parvaim was not a mere display of wealth, a merely ostentatious show of civic plate.
When the house was garnished with precious stones for beauty, and the beams
overlaid with gold, and the walls were engraved with cherubims whose wings all but
moved, and when the images of the cherubims outstretched their wings one towards
the other, and when Jachin and Boaz were reared before the temple, there was but
one meaning, one interpretation: so also with the chain, the altar, the mercy seat, the
myriad oxen, the ten lavers, the ten candlesticks of gold, the pomegranates, and all
the founders" work cast in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredathah, there
was but one purpose, one thought, one answer—the house is great, because the God
it is meant for is great. We have forgotten the reason, and therefore we have
descended to commonplace—any hut will do for God! This enables us to get rid of a
plea that is often adopted by an idle sentimentalism, to the effect that any house,
how frail and unpretending soever, will do for divine worship: God does not look for
finery; any place, however simple, and however poor, and however small, will do to
worship in. So it will, if it be all that the worshippers can offer; then the offering
shall be as the widow"s mites, and as the cup of cold water; the gift shall be glorified
by the receiver: but where it is the fault of idleness, indifference, avarice, coldness of
heart, worldliness, a misgiving faith, it will be as a house without light, a skeleton
unblessed and rejected. God will judge between poverty that wants to give, and
wealth that wants to withhold. Solomon"s policy in temple building was rational.
Solomon had a great conception of God, so Hebrews , having an abundance of
resources, would build no mean house for him. The king of one nation will not
receive the monarch of another in a common meeting room, but will have it
decorated and enriched, and the metropolis of his country shall yield treasure and
beauty, that the eye of the visiting monarch may be delighted with things pleasant to
behold. England is not affronted because a foreign Court prepares sumptuously to
receive England"s Queen but for a moment"s interview. There is a fitness in all
things. God will meet us under the plainest roof, if it is all we can supply; he will
make it beautiful; but if we say, "Any place will do for God," you may make the
appointment but he will not be there.
Then Solomon feels that he has begun to do the impossible. We never come to our
20

best selves until we come to this kind of madness. So long as we work easily within
our hand-reach we are doing nothing: there must come upon us persuasions that we
have undertaken a madman"s work if we are to rise to the dignity of our vocation;
we must feel that any house we can build is utterly unworthy of the guest who is to
be asked to accept the unworthy hospitality.
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?
BARNES, "Save only to burn sacrifice before him - Solomon seems to mean
that to build the temple can only be justified on the human - not on the divine - side.
“God dwelleth not in temples made with hands;” He cannot be confined to them; He
does in no sort need them. The sole reason for building a temple lies in the needs of
man: his worship must he local; the sacrifices commanded in the Law had of necessity to
be offered somewhere.
CLARKE, "Seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens - “For the lower heavens,
the middle heavens, and the upper heavens cannot contain him, seeing he sustains all
things by the arm of his power. Heaven is the throne of his glory, the earth his footstool;
the deep, and the whole world, are sustained by the spirit of his Word, [‫מימריה‬ ‫ברוח‬
beruach meqmereih]. Who am I, then, that I should build him a house?” - Targum.
Save only to burn sacrifice - It is not under the hope that the house shall be able to
contain him, but merely for the purpose of burning incense to him, and offering him
sacrifice, that I have erected it.
GILL, "But who is able to build him an house,.... Suitable to the greatness of his
majesty, especially as he dwells not in temples made with hands:
21

seeing the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain him? see 1Ki_8:27,
who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice
before him? since God was an immense and infinite Being, be would have Hiram to
understand that he had no thought of building an house, in which he could be
circumscribed and contained, only a place in which he might be worshipped, and
sacrifices offered to him.
BENSON, "2 Chronicles 2:6. But who is able to build him a house — No house, be it
ever so great, can be a habitation for him. Behold, the heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain him — Nor does he, like the gods of the nations, dwell in
temples made with hands. When, therefore, I speak of building a great house for the
great God, let none be so foolish as to imagine that I mean to include or comprehend
God within it, for he is infinite. Who am I, then, that I should build him a house —
He looked upon himself, though a mighty prince, as utterly unworthy of the honour
of being employed in this great work. Save only to burn sacrifice before him — As if
he had said, We have not such low notions of our God as to suppose we can build a
house that will contain him: we only intend it for the convenience of his priests and
worshippers, that they may have a suitable place wherein to assemble and offer
sacrifices and prayers, and perform other religious duties to him. Thus Solomon
guards Hiram against any misapprehension concerning God, which his speaking of
building him a house might otherwise have occasioned. And it is one part of the
wisdom wherein we ought to walk toward them that are without, in a similar
manner carefully to guard against all misapprehension which anything we may say
or do may occasion concerning any truth or duty of religion.
ELLICOTT, " (6) But who is able.—Literally, who could keep strength? (See 1
Chronicles 29:14.)
The heaven . . . cannot contain him.—This high thought occurs in Solomon’s prayer
(1 Kings 8:27; 2 Chronicles 6:18).
Who am I then . . . before him?—That is, I am not so ignorant of the infinite nature
of Deity, as to think of localising it within an earthly dwelling. I build not for His
residence, but for His worship and service. (Comp. Isaiah 40:22.)
To burn sacrifice.—Literally, to burn incense. Here, as in 2 Chronicles 2:4, used in a
general sense.
POOLE, "
The heaven of heavens cannot contain him: when I speak of building a great house
for our great God, let none be so foolish to think that I mean to include or
comprehend God within it, for he is infinite.
22

To burn sacrifice before him, i.e. to worship him there where he is graciously
present.
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:6 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?
Ver. 6. Seeing the heavens and heaven of heavens.] He is ανεπιγραπτος
incomprehensible, incircumscriptible: good without quality, great without quantity,
everlasting without time, present everywhere without place, containing all things
without extent: he filleth all places without compression or straitening of another, or
the contraction, extension, condensation, or rarefaction of himself: he is within all
things, and contained of nothing: without all things, and sustained of nothing.
COFFMAN 6-7, ""The heaven of heavens cannot contain him (God)" (2 Chronicles
2:6). "The notion that God could be confined in a house or a box is an error which
skeptics have falsely attributed to the people of God during the O.T. period; but
they knew that God was Lord of heaven and earth, and so declared it many times, as
Solomon did here."[6] Moreover, it was not a discovery by Solomon. He had most
certainly learned it from David, whose Psalms often gave voice to the same truth.
The Chronicler's accurate record here of Solomon's words refutes the critic's
allegations on this matter also, as well as denying their foolish fairy tale regarding a
late date for the Pentateuch.
"That knoweth how to grave all manner of gravings" (2 Chronicles 2:7). The words
here rendered grave and gravings are read as engrave and engravings in the RSV.
"And in purple, and crimson, and blue" (2 Chronicles 2:7) Thus, in the color
scheme, "The temple, in this respect, as well as in others, conformed to the pattern
of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:4; 26:1, etc.)."[7] (See our Commentary, Vol. 8, of the
N.T. Series (Hebrews), p. 172, for a discussion of the significance of these colors.)
"Algum-trees out of Lebanon" (2 Chronicles 2:8). Curtis wrote that these were
probably, "Sandalwood or ebony."[8]
"Wheat ... barley ... wine ... and oil" (2 Chronicles 2:10). The translation of the
quantities of all these supplies into their modern equivalent is of no importance, and
is also impossible.
PARKER, ""Who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of
heavens cannot contain him?" ( 2 Chronicles 2:6).
The man who has that conception will build a house sooner or later; he is under the
23

influence of the right degree and quality of inspiration; he does not come pompously
forth from his throne, saying, I will do this with the ease of a king: when he looks
upon his wealth he sees only its poverty; when he counts his weapons he counts but
so many broken straws. Who can do it? Yet even here Solomon is as wise as ever, for
he says, All I can do is to burn sacrifices before him—"save only to burn sacrifice
before him:" it will only be a little useful place after all: when my father and the
allied kings and myself and my counsellors have done all that lies in our power, it
will simply come to a place to burn sacrifice in. Woe be unto us when we think the
house is greater than the God. Yet in this "only," we have all we want. Here is the
beginning of piety, here is the dawn of worship, here is the daystar that will melt
into the noonday glory. We build God a house, and it is only to sing hymns in, but in
the singing of a hymn a man may see Christ; it is only to hear a brother man explain
so far as he can, poor soul, what he reads in the infinite word, but when the
infirmest expositor is true to his text a light flashes out of it that dims the sun; it is
only a meeting house where we can lay hand to hand in brotherliness and
fellowship, and bow our heads in common plaint and cry and prayer. That is
enough. We are not to be discouraged because we can only begin: we should be
encouraged because we can in reality make some kind of commencement. Blessed is
that servant who shall be found trying to make the best of God"s house when his
Lord cometh. This is but decency and justice, that we should plainly say in most
audible words that we have in God"s house received benefits which we could not
have received in any other place: what upliftings of heart, what sudden
illuminations of mind, what calls from the spirit world! What a glorious house! So
much so that, amid much frivolity and much merchandise that ends in nothing, we
have come back after all to our earliest memories, and men who have fought the
world"s battles and won them have asked in the eleventh hour of their existence to
have sung to them the little hymns which they sung in the nursery. Thus we come
home, thus we come back to the starting-point; we begin with the cradle, and we end
with it. We are born into some other world, not at the point of our deceptive illusory
greatness, but at the point of our childlikeness when we have little and know how
little it is. Let the house of God make this claim for itself, and nothing can destroy it.
We do not come to God"s house for new Revelation , for intellectual excitements and
entertainments; we come to it—save only to burn incense or sacrifice, save only to
confess sin, save only to look at the cross, save only to begin our lesson, save only to
rehearse our lesson with a view to its more perfect utterance otherwhere: but it is
enough, it is a line to start with. No man can dislodge you out of your simplicity.
When your faith becomes a metaphysical puzzle some controversialist may break
through and steal it: when it is a sweet rest on Christ, a child"s trust in God, moth
and rust cannot corrupt, and thieves cannot break through and steal. If we claim too
much for the house of God our claim may be disputed and finally extinguished; but
if we accept the sanctuary as but a beginning, any temple we can build here as but a
doorway into the true temple, no man can take from us our heritage.
PARKER, "Then Solomon falls back and says the best is but poor—
24

"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" ( 2
Chronicles 2:6).
That is not despair; that is the beginning of greater strength. Solomon once more
shows the true wisdom when he says, "save only to burn sacrifice before him"; that
is the little I can do, and that I am prepared to do; when the whole house is set up,
all I can do is to burn the little incense; I would do more if I could, I would sing like
an angel, I would be hospitable as God himself; I would see all mysteries, and solve
all problems, and reveal the kingdom to all who wish to see it; but at present I am
the victim of limitation, and my whole function comes to incense-or sacrifice-
burning: but that little I will do; I shall be here early in the morning and late at
night and all the time between; this altar shall smoke with an offering to God. Let us
do the little we can do. Our best religious worship here is but a hint: but therein is
not only its littleness but its significance. When a man stumbles in prayer, and
proceeds in prayer, notwithstanding all stumbling, he means by that effort—Some
day I will pray. When a man lays down a religious dogma and says, It is badly
expressed; now I have written it I do not like it, because it does not tell one ten-
thousandth part of what is in my heart, yet that is the only symbol I can think of or
invent or create; well then, let it stand. God will take its meaning, not its literary
totality. Looking at it, he will say, It is an emblem, a type, a symbol, a hint, an
algebraic sign, pointing towards the unknown and the present impossible. Do what
you can, and God will do the rest.
Solomon can do everything himself, we should imagine, because he is so great a
man. Probably there never was so great a king in his time and within the world as
known to him. Solomon therefore will begin, continue, and end, and make all things
according to his own will without the assistance of any one. So we should say, but in
so saying we talk foolishly.
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.
25

BARNES, "See 1Ki_5:6, note; 1Ki_7:13, note.
Purple ... - “Purple, crimson, and blue,” would be needed for the hangings of the
temple, which, in this respect, as in others, was conformed to the pattern of the
tabernacle (see Exo_25:4; Exo_26:1, etc.). Hiram’s power of “working in purple,
crimson,” etc., was probably a knowledge of the best modes of dyeing cloth these colors.
The Phoenicians, off whose coast the murex was commonly taken, were famous as
purple dyers from a very remote period.
Crimson - ‫כרמיל‬ karmı̂̂yl, the word here and elsewhere translated “crimson,” is
unique to Chronicles and probably of Persian origin. The famous red dye of Persia and
India, the dye known to the Greeks as κόκκος kokkos, and to the Romans as coccum, is
obtained from an insect. Whether the “scarlet” ‫שׁני‬ shânı̂y of Exodus (Exo_25:4, etc.) is
the same or a different red, cannot be certainly determined.
CLARKE, "Send me - a man cunning to work - A person of great ingenuity, who
is capable of planning and directing, and who may be over the other artists.
GILL, "Send now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver,
and in brass, and in iron,.... There being many things relating to the temple about to
be built, and vessels to be put into it, which were to be made of those metals:
and in purple, and crimson, and blue; used in making the vails for it, hung up in
different places:
and that can skill to grave; in wood or stone:
with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my
father David did provide; see 1Ch_22:15.
HENRY 7-9, "2. The requests he makes to him are more particularly set down here.
(1.) He desired Huram would furnish him with a good hand to work (2Ch_2:7): Send me
a man. He had cunning men with him in Jerusalem and Judah, whom David provided,
1Ch_22:15. Let them not think but that Jews had some among them that were artists.
But “send me a man to direct them. There are ingenious men in Jerusalem, but not such
engravers as are in Tyre; and therefore, since temple-work must be the best in its kind,
let me have the best workmen that can be got.” (2.) With good materials to work on
(2Ch_2:8), cedar and other timber in abundance (2Ch_2:8, 2Ch_2:9); for the house
must be wonderfully great, that is, very stately and magnificent, no cost must be spared,
26

nor any contrivance wanting in it.
JAMISON, "Send me now therefore a man cunning to work — Masons and
carpenters were not asked for. Those whom David had obtained (1Ch_14:1) were
probably still remaining in Jerusalem, and had instructed others. But he required a
master of works; a person capable, like Bezaleel (Exo_35:31), of superintending and
directing every department; for, as the division of labor was at that time little known or
observed, an overseer had to be possessed of very versatile talents and experience. The
things specified, in which he was to be skilled, relate not to the building, but the
furniture of the temple. Iron, which could not be obtained in the wilderness when the
tabernacle was built, was now, through intercourse with the coast, plentiful and much
used. The cloths intended for curtains were, from the crimson or scarlet-red and
hyacinth colors named, evidently those stuffs, for the manufacture and dyeing of which
the Tyrians were so famous. “The graving,” probably, included embroidery of figures like
cherubim in needlework, as well as wood carving of pomegranates and other ornaments.
K&D, "2Ch_2:7
The materials Hiram was to send were cedar, cypress, and algummim wood from
Lebanon. ‫ים‬ ִ‫גוּמ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫,א‬ 2Ch_2:7 and 2Ch_9:10, instead of ‫ים‬ִ‫גּ‬ ֻ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫,א‬ 1Ki_10:11, probably
means sandal wood, which was employed in the temple, according to 1Ki_10:12, for
stairs and musical instruments, and is therefore mentioned here, although it did not
grow in Lebanon, but, according to 1Ki_9:10 and 1Ki_10:11, was procured at Ophir.
Here, in our enumeration, it is inexactly grouped along with the cedars and cypresses
brought from Lebanon.
PULPIT, "Send me … a man cunning to work, etc. The parenthesis is now ended.
By comparison of 2 Chronicles 2:3, it appears that Solomon makes of Hiram's
services to David his father a very plea why his own requests addressed now to
Hiram should be granted. If we may be guided by the form of the expressions used
in 1 Chronicles 14:1 and 2 Samuel 5:11, 2 Samuel 5:12, Hiram had in the first
instance volunteered help to David, and had not waited to be applied to by David.
This would show us more clearly the force of Solomon's plea. Further, if we note the
language of 1 Kings 5:1, we may be disposed to think that it fills a gap in our present
connection, and indicates that, though Solomon appears here to have had to take the
initiative, an easy opportunity was opened, in the courteous embassy sent him in the
persons of Hiram's "servants." That the king of this most privileged, separate, and
exclusive people of Israel (and he the one who conducted that people to the very
zenith of their fame) should have to apply and be permitted to apply to foreign and,
so to say, heathen help, in so intrinsic a matter as the finding of the "cunning" and
the "skill" of head and hand for the most sacred and distinctive chef d'oeuvre of the
said exclusive nation, is a grand instance of nature breaking all trammels, even
when most divinely purposed, and a grand token of the dawning comity of nations,
of free-trade under the unlikeliest auspices, and of the brotherhood of humanity,
never more broadly illustrated than when on an international scale. The competence
27

of the Phoenicians and the people of Sidon and those over whom Hiram immediately
reigned in the working of the metals, and furthermore in a very wide range of other
subjects, is well sustained by the allusions of very various authorities. The man who
was sent is described in 1 Kings 5:13, 1 Kings 5:14, infra, as also 1 Kings 7:13,1
Kings 7:14. Purple, … crimson, … blue. It is not absolutely necessary to suppose
that the same Hiram, so skilled in working of gold, silver, brass, and iron, was the
authority sent for these matters of various coloured dyes for the cloths that would
later on be required for curtains and other similar purposes in the temple. So far,
indeed, as the literal construction of the words go, this would seem to be what is
meant, and no doubt may have been the case, though unlikely. The purple ( ‫ָן‬‫ו‬ ְ‫גּ‬ ְ‫ד‬ ַ‫א‬ ). A
Chaldee form of this word ( ‫ָא‬‫נ‬ָ‫ו‬ ְ‫גּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫)א‬ occurs three times in Daniel 5:7, Daniel 5:16,
Daniel 5:29, and appears in each of those cases in our Authorized Version as
"scarlet." Neither of these words is the word used in the numerous passages of
Exodus, Numbers, Judges, Esther, Proverbs, Canticles, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, nor,
indeed, in verse 13, infra and 2 Chronicles 3:14. In all these places, numbering
nearly forty, the word is ‫ן‬ָ‫ָב‬‫ג‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫א‬ . The purple was probably obtained from some shell-
fish on the coast of the Mediterranean. The crimson ( ‫יל‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫.)כַר‬ Gesenius says that this
was a colour obtained from multitudinous insects that tenanted one kind of the flex
(Coccus ilicis), and that the word is from the Persian language. The Persian kerm,
Sanscrit krimi, Armenian karmir, German carmesin, and our own "crimson," keep
the same framework of letters or sound to a remarkable degree. This word is found
only here, 2 Chronicles 3:13, infra, and 2 Chronicles 3:14. The crimson of Isaiah
1:18 and Jeremiah 4:30, and the scarlet of some forty places in the Pentateuch and
other books, come as the rendering of the word ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ . The blue ( ‫ֶת‬‫ל‬ֵ‫כ‬ ְ‫.)תּ‬ This is the
same word as is used in some fifty other passages in Exodus, Numbers, and in later
books. This colour was obtained from a shell-fish (Helix ianthina) found in the
Mediterranean, the shell of which was blue. Can skill to grave. The word "to grave"
is the piel conjugation of the very familiar Hebrew verb ‫ח‬ ַ‫ת‬ָ‫,פּ‬ "to open." Out of
twenty-nine times that the verb occurs in some part of the piel conjugation, it is
translated "grave" nine times, "loosed" eleven times, "put off" twice, "ungirded"
once, "opened" four times, "appear" once, and "go free" once. Perhaps the
"opening" the ground with the plough (Isaiah 28:24 ) leads most easily on to the
idea of "engraving.'' Cunning men whom … David … did provide, As we read in 1
Chronicles 22:15; 1 Chronicles 28:21.
BENSON, "2 Chronicles 2:7. Send me therefore a man cunning to work in gold,
&c. — There were admirable artists, in all the works here referred to, at Tyre; some
of whom Solomon desired to be sent to him, that they might assist those whom
David had provided, but who were not so skilful as those of Tyre.
ELLICOTT, " (7) Send me now . . .—And now send me a wise man, to work in the
gold and in the silver (1 Chronicles 22:15; 2 Chronicles 2:13).
And in (the) purple, and crimson, and blue.—No allusion is made to this kind of art
in 2 Chronicles 4:11-16, nor in 1 Kings 7:13 seq., which describe only metallurgic
works of this master, whose versatile genius might easily be paralleled by famous
28

names of the Renaissance.
Purple (’argĕwân).—Aramaic form. (Heb. ’argâmân, Exodus 25:4.)
Crimson (karmîl).—A word of Persian origin, occurring only here and in 2
Chronicles 2:13, and 2 Chronicles 3:14. (Comp. our word carmine.)
Blue (tĕkçleth).—Dark blue, or violet (Exodus 25:4, and elsewhere.)
Can skill.—Knoweth how.
To grave.—Literally, to carve carvings; whether in wood or stone. (1 Kings 6:29;
Zechariah 3:9; Exodus 28:9, on gems.)
With the cunning men.—The Hebrew connects this clause with the infinitive to
work at the beginning of the verse. There should be a stop after the words to grave.
Whom David my father did provide (prepared, 1 Chronicles 29:2).—1 Chronicles
22:15; 1 Chronicles 28:21.
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:7 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.
Ver. 7. Send me now therefore a man.] See 1 Kings 7:13-14.
PARKER, ""Send me now therefore a man" ( 2 Chronicles 2:7).
What, king Solomon wanting a man! Why does he not build the temple himself? No
temple should be built by any one man. Blessed be God, everything that is worth
doing is done by cooperation, by acknowledged reciprocity of labour. Your
breakfast-table was not spread by yourself, although it could not have been spread
without you. Thank God there are no mere monographs in revelation. Sometimes we
may almost bless God that we cannot identify the authorship of some books in the
Bible. It is better that many hands should have written the Book than that some
brilliant author should have retired into immortality on the ground of his being the
only genius that could have written so marvellous a volume. We do not read Hamlet
because William Shakespeare wrote it; we need not care whether Bacon or
Shakespeare wrote it: there it is. No one man could have written what Shakespeare
is said to have written. Thank God we are not yet permitted to see omniscience
gathered up and focalised in any one genius. All good books are rich with
quotations, sometimes acknowledged, and sometimes not acknowledged because
unconscious. Every man has a hundred men in him. One queen boasted that she
carried the blood of a hundred kings. Solomon therefore sends to Hiram king of
29

Tyre, saying, "Send me now therefore a man." Has Tyre to help Jerusalem? Has the
Gentile to help the Jew? Has the Englishman to feed at a table on which the
Chinaman has laid something? Are our houses curtained and draped by foreign
countries? Wondrous is this thought, that no one land is absolutely complete in
itself: we still need the sea; we cannot get rid of ships,—"we will cut wood out of
Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in flotes by sea to
Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem." We are not permitted to enjoy the
narrow parochial comfort of doing everything for ourselves. When the man comes
from Tyre he will be as much a king as Solomon; not nominally, but in the cunning
of his fingers, in the penetration of his eye, in his knowledge of brass and iron, and
purple and crimson and blue, and in his skill to grave things of beauty on facets of
hardness. Every man has his own kingship. Every man has something that no other
man has. A recognition of this fact, and a proper use of all its suggestions, would
create for us a democracy hard to distinguish from a theocracy, for each man would
say to his brother, "What hast thou that thou hast not received?" and each man
would say for himself, "By the grace of God I am what I am."
GUZIK, "2. (2 Chronicles 2:7-10) Solomon’s request to Hiram.
Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and
iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men
who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. Also
send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your
servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with
your servants, to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the temple which I am
about to build shall be great and wonderful. And indeed I will give to your servants,
the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty
thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths
of oil.
a. Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver: Solomon
wanted the temple to be the best it could be, so he used Gentile labor when it was
better. This means that Solomon was willing to build this great temple to God with
“Gentile” wood and using “Gentile” labor. This was a temple to the God of Israel,
but it was not only for Israel.
i. “The leading craftsmen for the Tent, Bezalel and his assistant Oholiab, were both
similarly skilled in a range of abilities (cf. Exodus 31:1-6; Exo_35:30 to Exo_36:2).”
(Selman)
ii. “Despite a growing number of ‘skilled craftsmen’ in Israel, their techniques
remained inferior to those of their northern neighbors, as is demonstrated
archaeologically by less finely cut building stones and by the lower level of Israelite
culture in general.” (Payne)
30

b. To prepare timber for me in abundance: The cedar trees of Lebanon were
legendary for their excellent timber. This means Solomon wanted to build the temple
out of the best materials possible.
i. “The Sidonians were noted as timber craftsmen in the ancient world, a fact
substantiated on the famous Palmero Stone. Its inscription from 2200 B.C. tells us
about timber-carrying ships that sailed from Byblos to Egypt about four hundred
years previously. The skill of the Sidonians was expressed in their ability to pick the
most suitable trees, know the right time to cut them, fell them with care, and then
properly treat the logs.” (Dilday)
8 “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum[c] logs
from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are
skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will
work with yours
GILL, "Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of
Lebanon,.... Of the two first of these, and which Hiram sent, see 1Ki_5:10. The algum
trees are the same with the almug trees, 1Ki_10:11 by a transposition of letters; these
could not be coral, as some Jewish writers think, which grows in the sea, for these were
in Lebanon; nor Brazil, as Kimchi, so called from a place of this name, which at this time
was not known; though there were trees of almug afterwards brought from Ophir in
India, as appears from the above quoted place, as well as from Arabia; and it seems, as
Beckius (c) observes, to be an Arabic word, by the article "al" prefixed to it:
for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; better than his:
and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants; to help and assist them in
what they can, and to learn of them, see 1Ki_5:6.
JAMISON, "Send me ... cedar trees, etc. — The cedar and cypress were valued as
being both rare and durable; the algum or almug trees (likewise a foreign wood), though
not found on Lebanon, are mentioned as being procured through Huram (see on 1Ki_
10:11).
31

K&D, "2Ch_2:8-9
The infinitive ‫ין‬ ִ‫כ‬ ָ‫ה‬ ְ‫וּל‬ cannot be regarded as the continuation of ‫ת‬ ‫ר‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫,ל‬ nor is it a
continuation of the imperat. ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ‫ח‬ַ‫ל‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ (2Ch_2:7), with the signification, “and let there be
prepared for me” (Berth.). It is subordinated to the preceding clauses: send me cedars,
which thy people who are skilful in the matter hew, and in that my servants will assist, in
order, viz., to prepare me building timber in plenty (the ‫ו‬ is explic). On 2Ch_2:8 cf. 2Ch_
2:4. The infin. abs. ‫א‬ֵ‫ל‬ ְ‫פ‬ ַ‫ה‬ is used adverbially: “wonderfully” (Ew. §280, c). In return,
Solomon promises to supply the Tyrian workmen with grain, wine, and oil for their
maintenance - a circumstance which is omitted in 1Ki_5:10; see on 2Ch_2:14. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ְ‫הֹט‬ַ‫ל‬ is
more closely defined by ‫ים‬ ִ‫צ‬ֵ‫ע‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ת‬ ְ‫ר‬ֹ‫כ‬ ְ‫,ל‬ and ְ‫ל‬ is the introductory ְ‫:ל‬ “and behold, as to
the hewers, the fellers of trees.” ‫ב‬ ַ‫ט‬ ָ‫,ח‬ to hew (wood), and to dress it (Deu_29:10; Jos_
9:21, Jos_9:23), would seem to have been supplanted by ‫ב‬ַ‫צ‬ ָ‫,ח‬ which in 2Ch_2:2, 2Ch_
2:18 is used for it, and it is therefore explained by ‫ים‬ ִ‫צ‬ֵ‫ע‬ ָ‫ה‬ ‫ת‬ ַ‫ר‬ָ‫.כּ‬ “I will give wheat ‫ת‬ ‫כּ‬ ַ‫מ‬ to
thy servants” (the hewers of wood). The word ‫ת‬ ‫כּ‬ ַ‫מ‬ gives no suitable sense; for “wheat of
the strokes,” for threshed wheat, would be a very extraordinary expression, even apart
from the facts that wheat, which is always reckoned by measure, is as a matter of course
supposed to be threshed, and that no such addition is made use of with the barley. ‫ת‬ ‫כּ‬ ַ‫מ‬
is probably only an orthographical error for ‫ת‬ ֶ‫ל‬ֹ‫כּ‬ ַ‫,מ‬ food, as may be seen from 1Ki_5:11.
PULPIT, "Algum trees, out of Lebanon. These trees are called algum in the three
passages of Chronicles in which the tree is mentioned, viz. here and 2 Chronicles
9:10, 2 Chronicles 9:11, but in the three passages of Kings, almug, viz. 1 Kings 10:11,
1 Kings 10:12 bis. As we read in 1 Kings 10:11; 2 Chronicles 9:10, 2 Chronicles 9:11,
that they were exports from Ophir, we are arrested by the expression, "out of
Lebanon," here. If they were accessible in Lebanon, it is not on the face of it to be
supposed they would be ordered from such a distance as Ophir. Lastly, there is very
great difference of opinion as to what the tree was in itself. In Smith's 'Bible
Dictionary,' vol. 3. appendix, p. 6; the subject is discussed more fully than it can be
here, and with some of its scientific technicalities. Celsius has mentioned fifteen
woods for which the honour has been claimed. More modern disputants have
suggested five, of these the red sandalwood being considered, perhaps, the likeliest.
So great an authority as Dr. Hooker pronounces that it is a question quite
undetermined. But inasmuch as it is so undetermined, it would seem possible that, if
it were a precious wood of the smaller kind (as e.g. ebony with us), and, so to say, of
shy growth in Lebanon, it might be that it did grow in Lebanon, but that a very
insufficient supply of it there was customarily supplemented by the imports received
from Ophir. Or, again, it may be that the words, "out of Lebanon," are simply
misplaced (1 Kings 5:8), and should follow the words, "fir trees." The rendering
"pillars" in 1 Kings 10:12 for "rails" or "props" is unfortunate, as the other quoted
uses of the wood for "harps" and "psalteries" would all betoken a small as well as
32

very hard wood. Lastly, it is a suggestion of Canon Rawlinson that, inasmuch as the
almug wood of Ophir came via Phoenicia and Hiram, Solomon may very possibly
have been ignorant that "Lebanon" was not its proper habitat. Thy servants can
skill to cut timber. This same testimony is expressed yet more strongly in 1 Kings
5:6, "There is not any among us that can skill to hew timber like the Sidoniaus."
Passages like 2 Kings 19:23; Isaiah 14:8; Isaiah 37:24, go to show that the verb
employed in our text is rightly rendered "hew," as referring to the felling rather
than to any subsequent dressing and sawing up of the timber. It is, therefore, rather
more a point of interest to learn in what the great skill consisted which so threw
Israelites into the shade, while distinguishing Hiram's servants. It is, of course, quite
possible that the "hewing," or "felling," may be taken to infer all the subsequent
cutting, dressing, etc. Perhaps the skill intended will have included the best selection
of trees, as well as the neatest and quickest laying of them prostrate, and if beyond
this it included the sawing and dressing and shaping of the wood, the room for
superiority of skill would be ample. My servants (so Isaiah 37:2, Isaiah 37:18; 1
Kings 5:15).
ELLICOTT, " (8) Fir trees.—The word bĕrôshîm is now often rendered cypresses.
But Professor Robertson Smith has well pointed out that the Phoenician Ebusus (the
modern Iviza) is the “isle of bĕrôshîm,” and is called in Greek πετυου ̑ σαι, i.e., “Pine
islets.” Moreover a species of pine is very common on the Lebanon.
Algum trees.—Sandal wood; Heb. ’algummîm, which appears a more correct
spelling of the native Indian word (valgûka) than the ’almuggîm of 1 Kings 10:11.
(See Note on 2 Chronicles 10:10.)
Out of Lebanon.—The chronicler knew that sandal wood came from Ophir, or
Abhîra, at the mouth of the Indus (2 Chronicles 10:10; comp. 1 Kings 10:11). The
desire to be concise has betrayed him into an inaccuracy of statement. Or must we
suppose that Solomon himself believed that the sandal wood, which he only knew as
a Phoenician export, really grew, like the cedars and firs, on the Lebanon? Such a
mistake would be perfectly natural; but the divergence of this account from the
parallel in 1 Kings leaves it doubtful whether we have in either anything more than
an ideal sketch of Solomon’s message.
For I know that thy servants . . .—Comp. the words of Solomon as reported in 1
Kings 5:6.
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:8 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,
Ver. 8. Send me also cedar trees.] Which are strong, longlasting, and odoriferous.
Fir trees, and algum trees.] See on 1 Kings 5:8.
33

My servants shall be with thy servants.] See on 1 Kings 5:6.
9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the
temple I build must be large and magnificent.
GILL, "Even to prepare me timber in abundance,.... Since he would want a large
quantity for raftering, cieling, wainscoting, and flooring the temple:
for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great; as to its
structure and ornaments.
ELLICOTT, " (9) Even to prepare me timber in abundance.—Rather, And they
shall prepare, or, let them prepare. (A use of the infinitive, to which the chronicler is
partial: see 1 Chronicles 5:1; 1 Chronicles 9:25; 1 Chronicles 13:4; 1 Chronicles
15:2; 1 Chronicles 22:5.) So Syriac, “Let them be bringing to me.”
Shall be wonderful great.—See margin; and LXX., μέγας καὶ ἔνδοξος, “great and
glorious;” Syriac, “an astonishment” (temhâ).
TRAPP, "2 Chronicles 2:9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house
which I am about to build [shall be] wonderful great.
Ver. 9. Wonderful great.] Yet was it not so great as the temple at Ephesus, but far
more wonderful. See on 2 Chronicles 2:5.
10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who
cut the timber, twenty thousand cors[d] of ground
wheat, twenty thousand cors[e] of barley, twenty
34

thousand baths[f] of wine and twenty thousand
baths of olive oil.”
BARNES, "Beaten wheat - The Hebrew text is probably corrupt here. The true
original may be restored from marginal reference, where the wheat is said to have been
given “for food.”
The barley and the wine are omitted in Kings. The author of Chronicles probably filled
out the statement which the writer of Kings has given in brief; the barley, wine, and
ordinary oil, would be applied to the sustenance of the foreign laborers.
GILL, "Behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty
thousand measures of beaten wheat,.... Meaning, not what was beaten out of the
husk with the flail, as some; nor bruised or half broke for pottage, as others; but ground
into flour, as R. Jonah (d) interprets it; or rather, perhaps, it should be rendered "food"
(e) that is, for his household, as in 1Ki_5:11, and the hire of these servants is proposed to
be given in this way, because wheat was scarce with the Tyrians, and they were obliged
to have it from the Jews, Act_12:20,
and twenty thousand measures of barley; the measures of both these were the cor,
of which see 1Ki_5:11,
and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil; which
measure was the tenth part of a "cor". According to the Ethiopians, a man might
consume four of these measures in the space of a month (f).
HENRY, "3. Here is Solomon's engagement to maintain the workmen (2Ch_2:10), to
give them so much wheat and barley, so much wine and oil. He did not feed his workmen
with bread and water, but with plenty, and every thing of the best. Those that employ
labourers ought to take care they be not only well paid, but well provided for with
sufficient of that which is wholesome and fit for them. Let the rich masters do for their
poor workmen as they would be done by if the tables were turned.
JAMISON, "behold, I will give to thy servants ... beaten wheat — Wheat,
stripped of the husk, boiled, and saturated with butter, forms a frequent meal with the
laboring people in the East (compare 1Ki_5:11). There is no discrepancy between that
passage and this. The yearly supplies of wine and oil, mentioned in the former, were
intended for Huram’s court in return for the cedars sent him; while the articles of meat
and drink specified here were for the workmen on Lebanon.
35

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