2 Chronicles 2

Solomon decided to build a house for the name of the LORD, and also a royal palace for himself.

1And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.

Note"A house for the name of the LORD" means a temple. In Hebrew idiom a god's "name" placed on a building marks it as belonging to him and as the spot where he can be approached; it is not a claim that he lives inside. The second "house" is an ordinary royal residence, a palace, and the two building projects run together through the chapter.

2He assigned 70,000 men to carry loads, 80,000 men to cut stone in the mountains, and 3,600 men to supervise them.

2And 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.

NoteThe King James "told out" means "counted out" or "mustered," not "told" in the modern sense. The men were conscripted labor, drafted for state work rather than hired; verse 17 identifies who they were.

3Solomon sent word to Huram the king of Tyre and said, "Do for me what you did for my father David, when you sent him cedar logs so he could build himself a house to live in.

3And 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.

NoteTyre was a wealthy Phoenician seaport on the coast of what is now Lebanon, north of Israel, known across the ancient world for its shipping, its dyed cloth and its builders. Its king is called Huram here and Hiram in 1 Kings; both spell the same name. The cedar of the Lebanon mountains was the prestige building timber of the region (tall, straight, fragrant and resistant to rot) and had to be imported, since Israel had no comparable forests.

4Here is what I am doing: I am building a house for the name of the LORD my God, to set it apart for him. There we will burn sweet-smelling incense before him, keep the bread always laid out on its table, and offer burnt offerings every morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at the new moons, and at the appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is a rule for Israel to keep forever.

4Behold, 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.

NoteFour items of temple routine are listed. Incense is fragrant gum resin burned to produce sweet smoke. The "continual shewbread" ("bread of the Presence") was twelve loaves kept permanently on a table inside the sanctuary and replaced each Sabbath. A burnt offering is an animal burned whole on the altar rather than eaten. The new moon, the first day of each lunar month, was a festival day in Israel, as it was elsewhere in the ancient Near East, and the "solemn feasts" are the fixed annual festivals of the religious calendar, chiefly Passover, Weeks and Booths.

5The house I am building will be great, because our God is greater than all gods.

5And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.

6But who is really able to build a house for him, when the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot hold him? So who am I to build him a house, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?

6But 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?

Note"The heaven and heaven of heavens" is a Hebrew way of saying "the sky and the very highest sky", a doubled phrase for the largest space imaginable. Solomon's point is about scale: the building cannot be a container for God, only a place to make offerings.

7So now send me a man skilled at working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn, and who knows how to engrave. He will work with the skilled men I already have in Judah and Jerusalem, the ones my father David provided.

7Send 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.

Note"Cunning" in 1611 English meant skilled or expert, with no suggestion of slyness; the same word is used of craftsmen throughout the chapter. Purple, crimson and blue refer to dyed yarn, not to paint or metal. These dyes were extremely costly (purple and blue extracted in tiny quantities from murex sea snails, crimson from a scale insect) and were the standard materials of royal and sacred furnishings. "Brass" in the King James means bronze, an alloy of copper and tin; true brass was not in use.

8Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, because I know your servants know how to cut timber there. My own servants will work alongside yours,

8Send 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,

Note"Fir" here is more likely cypress or juniper. Algum (spelled almug in 1 Kings) is a timber that has never been securely identified; suggestions include a juniper and, on the strength of its later use for musical instruments and stair-work, sandalwood.

9so they can get plenty of timber ready for me, because the house I am about to build will be very large and grand.

9Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.

10And I will give your servants, the men who cut the timber, 20,000 measures of ground wheat, 20,000 measures of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil."

10And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

NoteThe "measures" are cors, each roughly 220 liters (about 6 bushels) of grain, though ancient measures varied. A bath is the liquid equivalent, about 22 liters or 6 gallons. So the payment amounts to something on the order of 120,000 gallons each of wine and olive oil, with grain to match, payment in food rather than coin, which had not yet been invented in this region.

11Then Huram the king of Tyre sent Solomon a written reply: "The LORD has made you king over his people because he loves them."

11Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.

12Huram also said, "Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth. He has given King David a wise son, a man with good sense and understanding, who will build a house for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.

12Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.

13So now I am sending you Huram-abi, a skilled man with great understanding,

13And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s,

NoteThe King James "of Huram my father's" reflects a difficulty in the Hebrew: the words can be read as a description ("Huram, my master craftsman") or, as most modern translations take them, as the man's actual name, Huram-abi, distinct from King Huram who is writing the letter. The element abi means "my father" and was used as an honorific for a senior expert or adviser.

14the son of a woman from the tribe of Dan, whose father was a man of Tyre. He is skilled at working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and crimson yarn and fine linen. He can do any kind of engraving and can carry out any design that is given to him. He will work with your skilled men and with those of my lord David, your father.

14The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.

NoteA woman "of the daughters of Dan" means a woman of the Israelite tribe of Dan; the parallel account in 1 Kings 7:14 says her tribe was Naphtali, and the two traditions differ. Fine linen is high-grade woven flax, the fabric used for priestly garments and sanctuary hangings. "To find out every device which shall be put to him" means he can work out how to execute any design he is handed.

15So now let my lord send his servants the wheat, the barley, the olive oil, and the wine that he promised.

15Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:

16We will cut as much wood from Lebanon as you need, and we will float it to you by sea, tied into rafts, as far as Joppa. From there you can carry it up to Jerusalem."

16And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.

Note"In floats" means as rafts: the logs were lashed together and towed or floated down the coast rather than carried in ships. Joppa (modern Jaffa, now part of Tel Aviv) was the nearest usable harbor to Jerusalem, about 35 miles away. "Carry it up" is literal, Jerusalem stands roughly 2,500 feet above the coastal plain, so the last stage was an overland haul uphill.

17Solomon counted all the foreigners living in the land of Israel, following the count his father David had made, and there were 153,600 of them.

17And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.

Note"Strangers" in the King James means resident foreigners (non-Israelites settled in the land, chiefly descendants of the peoples living there before Israel), not visitors or unknown persons. Chronicles is careful to say the conscripted labor force was drawn from this group. A census was a means of assessing manpower for taxation, military service and forced labor, which is why David's earlier numbering of the people is remembered as a grave matter elsewhere in Chronicles.

18He made 70,000 of them load carriers, 80,000 of them stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 of them supervisors to keep the people working.

18And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.