Chapter 2

1, 17 Solomon’s labourers for the building of the temple. 3 His embassage to Huram for workmen and provision of stuff. 11 Huram sendeth him a kind answer.

1. Determined to build. Chapters 2–7narrate the building and consecration of the Temple and are in general parallel to 1 Kings 5–8. In the record of Kings, Solomon’s determination to build a house for the Lord is expressed in his message to Hiram of Tyre (1 Kings 5:5).

Name of the Lord. Compare 1 Chron. 22:7, 10; 28:3; 29:16; 1 Kings 5:3, 5. See also Vol. I, pp. 170–173.

House for his kingdom. That is, the royal palace and its various buildings. These are described in 1 Kings 7:1–12, but are only incidentally referred to in 2 Chron. 2:12; 7:11; 8:1.

2. Told out. Literally, “numbered” (see Lev. 15:13), from the Heb. saphar.

Threescore and ten thousand. The information here given is repeated in v. 18. See on 1 Kings 5:15, 16.

3. Huram. Spelled “Hiram” in Kings (1 Kings 5:1, 2, 7, 10, 18), but in Chronicles it is spelled “Huram,” except in 1 Chron. 14:1.

Verses 3–16 deal with Solomon’s arrangements with Hiram of Tyre. This subject is dealt with in 1 Kings 5:1–18. The record in Kings mentions the envoys sent by Hiram to Solomon (1 Kings 5:1), a detail not found in Chronicles. It also includes as part of Solomon’s message, reference to David’s inability to build the Temple because of his wars (1 Kings 5:3). Solomon’s rest from war (1 Kings 5:4), and the Lord’s promise to David (1 Kings 5:5), three items that are not mentioned in the present chapter, but in 1 Chron. 22:8–10. Items found in Chronicles and not occurring in the record in Kings are: the dealings of Hiram with David (2 Chron. 2:3), the part of the sweet incense, continual shewbread, and morning and evening burnt offerings in the Temple services (v. 4), the greatness of the Temple as a house for God (vs. 5, 6), the request for a skilled worker in metal and cloth (v. 7), the kinds of trees desired (v. 8), and the payments to Hiram’s timber cutters (v. 10).

Even so deal with me. These words, not in the Hebrew, have been supplied by the translators. They are implied by the previous clause, “As thou didst deal with David my father.”

4. To the name of the Lord. The Temple was to be built as a dwelling place for Jehovah, that He might be present with His people (see Ex. 25:8) and that His name might be glorified in the earth. In it the various rites and ceremonies instituted for the tabernacle in the wilderness were to be performed.

Sweet incense. Compare Ex. 30:7, 8. The revelator saw the smoke of the incense accompanying the prayers of the saints into the presence of God (Rev. 8:3, 4). The incense represents the merits and intercession of Christ, His perfect righteousness, which alone makes the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God (see PP 353).

Continual shewbread. See on Ex. 25:30; Lev. 24:5–8. The shewbread pointed to Christ, the living bread (see John 6:33–35, 48–51; PP 354).

Burnt offerings. See on Ex. 29:38–41; Num. 28:3–10. The fire for these offerings was to burn continually, and was never to go out, day or night (see Lev. 6:9, 12, 13).

The solemn feasts. Compare 1 Chron. 23:31; Num. 28:16 to 29:39; see on Lev. 23.

5. Is great. The Temple itself was not to be great in physical dimensions, but it was to be a structure of matchless beauty and unrivaled splendor, bedecked with precious stones, adorned with burnished gold, and fitly representing the surpassing beauty of holiness that characterizes God and all things connected with Him.

Above all gods. Compare Ex. 18:11; Deut. 10:17; Ps. 77:13; 95:3; 135:5.

6. Cannot contain him. Solomon repeated this thought in his prayer at the dedication of the Temple (2 Chron. 6:18; 1 Kings 8:27). No structure on earth can adequately represent the grandeur and glory of God. In writing to Hiram of Tyre, Solomon did not hesitate to extol God for His greatness and goodness. If God’s ancient people had not hesitated constantly to magnify the Lord, and had proclaimed His praises to the nations about, many of earth’s inhabitants would soon have come to acknowledge the true God and would have come to worship at His Temple in Jerusalem.

Who am I? At this point in his life Solomon was a man of deep devotion and marked humility. He recognized his own utter insignificance before the greatness of heaven and the splendor and greatness of God.

7. A man cunning to work. A skilled craftsman.

That can skill to grave. That is, skilled in engraving.

Did provide. Compare 1 Chron. 22:14, 15; 28:21.

8. Fir trees. Probably cypresses.

Algum. Spelled “almug” in 1 Kings 10:11, 12. These trees were brought by the ships of Hiram from Ophir and were used for making pillars for the Temple and the palace, also for manufacturing musical instruments (1 Kings 10:11, 12). This tree cannot now be positively identified, but it may have been sandalwood or a kind of juniper.

Timber. Compare 1 Kings 5:6.

10. I will give. The payment was in food. A measure, or cor, was 220 liters, 61/4 bushels; a bath, 22 liters—5.8 U.S. gallons. The arrangement entered into was mutually advantageous, for Hiram needed foodstuffs of which Phoenicia produced little, and of which Israel had an oversupply, and Solomon needed timber, of which he had little and Phoenicia had much.

11. In writing. That Hiram answered in writing is not explicitly stated in Kings.

Hath loved his people. Hiram had come to recognize that the Lord was with David and that the Israelites were indeed loved by Jehovah. David’s faithfulness in acknowledging the Lord must have created an impression upon the nations round about.

12. Blessed be the Lord. Hiram speaks with deference and respect for the God of the Hebrews, who had so greatly blessed David and his son, a further indication (cf. v. 11) that he had become deeply impressed with the religion of Israel.

Made heaven and earth. The Hebrew religion placed emphasis on the truth that God was the Creator of heaven and earth, and presented this fact as one of the outstanding characteristics that distinguished Jehovah from the gods of the nations about. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath was designed to throw this characteristic into bold relief. Thus when Hiram spoke of Jehovah he significantly referred to Him as the Creator of heaven and earth and paid due respect to His exalted position and His holy name (see on 1 Kings 5:7).

13. Huram my father’s. Some prefer to transliterate the entire phrase so as to read Huram-abi.

14. Daughters of Dan. According to 1 Kings 7:14 Hiram is said to have been a “widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali.” This is not necessarily a contradiction, for the mother could have been of the tribe of Dan and the father originally a member of the tribe of Naphtali, who became a naturalized citizen of Tyre.

Skilful to work. These words, as well as all the rest of the verse, seem to apply to Hiram and not to his Tyrian father.

My lord David. The use of this term denotes subserviency, or at least extreme respect (see Gen. 32:4, 5, 18; 42:10; 2 Kings 8:12). David held in vassalage much of Palestine and Syria, from the borders of Egypt to the Euphrates.

15. Hath spoken of. See v. 10.

16. Flotes. That is, rafts.

Joppa. A city on the Mediterranean coast, about 35 mi. northwest of Jerusalem. It was the natural port of Jerusalem. Jonah took ship from here for Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). When the Temple was rebuilt after the return from Babylonian captivity, rafts of cedar logs were again floated to Joppa from Tyre (Ezra 3:7). Joppa is now called Jaffa.

17. The strangers. Non-Israelites. This group doubtless consisted mainly of the descendants of the early Canaanite tribes who were not driven out by Israel (see Judges 1:21–36; 1 Kings 9:20, 21).

Numbered them. Probably the census alluded to in 1 Chron. 22:2 is here referred to. The native inhabitants were reduced to bond service at the time of the conquest (see on Judges 1:28, 30, 33, 35; cf. Joshua 9:27).

This section of Chronicles is parallel to 1 Kings 5:13–18, but with several variations. Nothing is said in Chronicles of the first levy of 30,000 men, of whom 10,000 served each month (1 Kings 5:13, 14). The total of 153,600 strangers is recorded, a detail not mentioned in Kings.

18. Threescore and ten thousand. These items are also recorded in 1 Kings 5:15.

Three thousand and six hundred. See on 1 Kings 5:16 for an explanation of the seeming discrepancy between this number and the 3,300 reported there. The 70,000 bearers of burdens, 80,000 hewers in the mountains, and 3,600 overseers give a total of 153,600 workers (see v. 17).

Ellen G. White comments

1–3PK 35

7 PK 63

13, 14 PK 35

14 PK 63