2 Chronicles Chapter 2
1 Now Solomon decided to build a house for the LORD's name, and a house for his kingdom.
2 Solomon counted out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand men who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.
3 Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, "As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me.
4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, to burn before him incense of sweet spices, for the continual show bread, and 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.
5 "The house which I am building will be great; for our God is greater than all gods.
6 But who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can't contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?
7 "Now therefore send me a man skilful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue, and who knows how to engrave engravings, to be with the skilful men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
8 "Send me also cedar trees, cypress trees, and algum trees out of Lebanon; for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. Behold, my servants will be with your servants,
9 even to prepare me timber in abundance; for the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful.
10 Behold, I will give to your servants, the cutters who cut timber, twenty thousand cors of beaten wheat, twenty thousand baths of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil."
11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, "Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you king over them."
12 Huram continued, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, who would build a house for the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.
13 Now I have sent a skilful man, endowed with understanding, of Huram my father's,
14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, in timber, and in purple, in blue, in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any kind of engraving and to devise any device; that there may be a place appointed to him with your skilful men, and with the skilful men of my lord David your father.
15 "Now therefore the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants;
16 and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you need. We will bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa; then you shall carry it up to Jerusalem."
17 Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census with which David his father had counted them; and they found one hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred.
18 He set seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to assign the people their work.
Footnotes
- Verse 4 (Behold)
- "Behold" means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
- Verse 10 (Cor)
- 1 cor is the same as a homer, or about 55.9 U. S. gallons (liquid) or 211 litres or 6 bushels, so 20,000 cors of wheat would weigh about 545 metric tonnes
- Verse 10 (Bath)
- 1 bath is one tenth of a cor, or about 5.6 U. S. gallons or 21 litres or 2.4 pecks. 20,000 baths of barley would weigh about 262 metric tonnes.
Version: World English Bible
- About World English Bible (WEB)
- WEB Glossary
- WEB Web Site (source documents)
- Bible on one web page
- Download WEB (for MS Word)
Audio
To Listen to this Chapter
The mp3 Audio File should start to play in a new Tab. Then return to this Tab to follow the text whilst listening.
2 Chronicles Chapter 2 Guide
The king's devotion to the highest work of his life was, however, unhindered, and the second chapter gives us the story of how he commenced his preparations for doing that work by new commercial treaties with his father's old friend Huram. This was an alliance of a totally different nature. Huram recognized the truth about Israel, that it was a God-governed people, and in responding to Solomon's message plainly declared this to be the case. In Solomon's friendship for his father's friend there was everything that was noble and helpful.
In the record of Solomon's appeal to Huram, king of Tyre, for a skilled worker and for timber, we find his question, "Who is able to build Him a house?" It affords evidence of the greatness and truth of Solomon's conception of God, as the words immediately following show: "seeing heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him." Yet he was about to build a house for God. He declared its value as he understood it, "only to burn incense before Him." Solomon was under no delusion about God, and therefore made no mistake about the Temple. He never conceived of 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.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
2 Chronicles Chapter 2 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- Solomon's message to Huram respecting the temple, His treaty with Huram.
Verses 1-18
Solomon informs Huram of the particular services to be performed in the temple. The mysteries of the true religion, unlike those of the Gentile superstitions, sought not concealment. Solomon endeavoured to possess Huram with great and high thoughts of the God of Israel. We should not be afraid or ashamed to embrace every opportunity to speak of God, and to impress others with a deep sense of the importance of his favour and service. Now that the people of Israel kept close to the law and worship of God, the neighbouring nations were willing to be taught by them in the true religion, as the Israelites had been willing in the days of their apostacy, to be infected with the idolatries and superstitions of their neighbours. A wise and pious king is an evidence of the Lord's special love for his people. How great then was God's love to his believing people, in giving his only-begotten Son to be their Prince and their Saviour.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.