2 Chronicles 2

Preparations for Building the Temple

1 # 2:1 Verse 2:1 is numbered 1:18 in Hebrew text. Solomon decided to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord, and also a royal palace for himself. 2#2:2 Verses 2:2-18 are numbered 2:1-17 in Hebrew text.He enlisted a force of 70,000 laborers, 80,000 men to quarry stone in the hill country, and 3,600 foremen.

3Solomon also sent this message to King Hiram#2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant spelling of Hiram; also in 2:11. at Tyre:

“Send me cedar logs as you did for my father, David, when he was building his palace. 4I am about to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God. It will be a place set apart to burn fragrant incense before him, to display the special sacrificial bread, and to sacrifice burnt offerings each morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at new moon celebrations, and at the other appointed festivals of the Lord our God. He has commanded Israel to do these things forever.

5“This must be a magnificent Temple because our God is greater than all other gods. 6But who can really build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heavens can contain him! So who am I to consider building a Temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?

7“So send me a master craftsman who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as with purple, scarlet, and blue cloth. He must be a skilled engraver who can work with the craftsmen of Judah and Jerusalem who were selected by my father, David.

8“Also send me cedar, cypress, and red sandalwood#2:8 Or juniper; Hebrew reads algum, perhaps a variant spelling of almug; compare 9:10-11 and parallel text at 1 Kgs 10:11-12. logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are without equal at cutting timber in Lebanon. I will send my men to help them. 9An immense amount of timber will be needed, for the Temple I am going to build will be very large and magnificent. 10In payment for your woodcutters, I will send 100,000 bushels of crushed wheat, 100,000 bushels of barley,#2:10a Hebrew 20,000 cors [4,400 kiloliters] of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley. 110,000 gallons of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil.#2:10b Hebrew 20,000 baths [420 kiloliters] of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”

11King Hiram sent this letter of reply to Solomon:

“It is because the Lord loves his people that he has made you their king! 12Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son, gifted with skill and understanding, who will build a Temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.

13“I am sending you a master craftsman named Huram-abi, who is extremely talented. 14His mother is from the tribe of Dan in Israel, and his father is from Tyre. He is skillful at making things from gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and he also works with stone and wood. He can work with purple, blue, and scarlet cloth and fine linen. He is also an engraver and can follow any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and those appointed by my lord David, your father.

15“Send along the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine that my lord has mentioned. 16We will cut whatever timber you need from the Lebanon mountains and will float the logs in rafts down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea#2:16 Hebrew the sea. to Joppa. From there you can transport the logs up to Jerusalem.”

17Solomon took a census of all foreigners in the land of Israel, like the census his father had taken, and he counted 153,600. 18He assigned 70,000 of them as common laborers, 80,000 as quarry workers in the hill country, and 3,600 as foremen.

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2 Chronicles 2

Solomon’s Letter to Hiram

1Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself, # 2:1 1Kg 5:5; 2Ch 2:12 2so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them. # 2:2 1Kg 5:15–16; 9:23; 2Ch 2:18; 8:10

3Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram # 2:3 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read Huram; 2Sm 5:11; 1Kg 5:1–2,# 2:3 2Sm 5:11; 1Kg 5:1–2 of Tyre: # 2:3–10 1Kg 5:2–6,10–11

Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in. # 2:3 1Ch 14:1 4Now I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, # 2:4 Ex 30:7 for displaying the rows of the Bread of the Presence continuously, # 2:4 Ex 25:30 and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening, # 2:4 Ex 29:38–42 the Sabbaths # 2:4 Nm 28:9–10 and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel permanently. 5The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods. # 2:5 Ex 15:11; 1Ch 16:25 6But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him? # 2:6 1Kg 8:27; 2Ch 6:18 Who am I then that I should build a temple for him except as a place to burn incense before him? 7Therefore, send me an artisan who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the artisans who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, # 2:7 Ex 31:3–5; 2Ch 2:13–14 appointed by my father David. # 2:7 1Ch 22:14–16; 28:21 8Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum # 2:8 = almug in 1Kg 10:11–12,# 2:8 1Kg 10:11–12 logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants # 2:8–9 2Ch 9:10–11 9to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wondrous. 10I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, one hundred twenty thousand bushels # 2:10 Lit 20,000 cors of wheat flour, one hundred twenty thousand bushels of barley, one hundred twenty thousand gallons # 2:10 Lit 20,000 baths of wine, and one hundred twenty thousand gallons of oil.

Hiram’s Reply

11Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter # 2:11 Lit Tyre said in writing and sent it to Solomon:

Because the Lord loves his people, he set you over them as king. # 2:11 1Kg 10:9; 2Ch 9:8

12Hiram also said:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! # 2:12 Ps 33:6; 102:25 He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding, # 2:12 1Kg 5:7 who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself. # 2:12 2Ch 2:1 13I have now sent Huram-abi, # 2:13 Lit Huram my father a skillful man who has understanding. # 2:13–14 1Kg 7:14 14He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your artisans and the artisans of my lord, your father David. 15Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised. # 2:15 2Ch 2:10 16We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem. # 2:16 1Kg 5:8–9

Solomon’s Workforce

17Solomon took a census of all the resident alien men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted, # 2:17 2Sm 24:1–9; 1Ch 21:1–5 and the total was 153,600. 18Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work. # 2:18 1Kg 5:15–16; 2Ch 2:2

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