2 Chronicles 2 commentary

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.

CHAPTER 2

2Ch 2:1, 2. Solomon's Laborers for Building the Temple.

1. 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 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.

2Ch 2:3-10. His Message to Huram for Skilful Artificers.

3-6. 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.

7. 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 (Ex 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.

8. Send me ... cedar trees, &c.--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).

10. 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.

2Ch 2:11-18. Huram's Kind Answer.

11. Because the Lord hath loved his people, &c.--This pious language creates a presumption that Huram might have attained some knowledge of the true religion from his long familiar intercourse with David. But the presumption, however pleasing, may be delusive (see on 1Ki 5:7).

13-14. I have sent a cunning man--(See on 1Ki 7:13-51).

17-18. Solomon numbered all the strangers, &c.--(See on 1Ki 5:13; 1Ki 5:18).

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.

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 1Kgs 5:2 (note).

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, [ברוח מימריה 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.

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.

Answered in writing - Though correspondence among persons of distinction was, in these early times, carried on by confidential messengers, yet we find that epistolary correspondence did exist, and that kings could write and read in what were called by the proud and insolent Greeks and Romans barbarous nations. Nearly two thousand years after this we find a king on the British throne who could not sign his own name. About the year of our Lord 700, Withred, king of Kent, thus concludes a charter to secure the liberties of the Church: Ego Wythredus rex Cantiae haec omnia suprascripta et confirmavi, atque, a me dictata propria manu signum sanctae crucis pro ignorantia literarum espressi; "All the above dictated by myself, I have confirmed; and because I cannot write, I have with my own hand expressed this by putting the sign of the holy cross +." - See Wilkins' Concilta.

I have sent a cunning man - His name appears to have been Hiram, or Hiram Abi: see the notes on 1Kgs 7:13, 1Kgs 7:14.

In floats by sea to Joppa - See the note on 1Kgs 5:9, and on the parallel places, for other matters contained in this chapter.

His kingdom - A royal palace for himself and his successors.

Great - For though the temple strictly so called, was but small, yet the buildings belonging to it, were large and numerous.

Contain - When I speak of building an house for our great God, let none think I mean to comprehend God within it, for he is infinite. To sacrifice - To worship him there where he is graciously present.

Made heaven and earth - It seems Huram was not only a friend to the Jewish nation, but a proselyte to their religion, and that he worshipped Jehovah, the God of Israel, (who was now known by that name to the neighbour - nations) as the God that made heaven and earth, and the fountain of power as well as of being.

Of Dan, &c. - A good omen of uniting Jew and Gentile in the gospel - temple.

The strangers - For David had not only numbered his own people, but afterward the strangers, that Solomon might have a true account of them, and employ them about his buildings. Yet Solomon numbered them again, because death might have made a considerable alteration among them since David's numbering.

Hewers in the mountains - He would not employ the free - born Israelites in this drudgery, but the strangers that were proselytes, who having no lands, applied themselves to trades, and got their living by their industry or ingenuity.

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

i. e. A Royal Palace for himself and his Successors. This whole Chapter for the substance of it is contained in 1 King. 5. and in the Notes there it is explained and the seeming Differences reconciled.

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 .

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 Ellipses, the sence being here suspended, is compleated v. 7. so send me, &c. the 4. 5, and 6, verses being inserted by way of Parenthesis to usher in and enforce his following Request.

Marginal references: Or, Hiram. 1 Kin. 5. 1.; 1 Chr. 14. 1.

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 shew-bread , 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.

i. e. To his Honour and Worship.

So called here and Numb. 4. 7. because it was to be there continually, by a constant success on of new Bread when the old was removed: of which see Exod. 25. 30. Levit. 24. 8.

Marginal references: Heb. incense of Spices.

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

For though the Temple strictly so called was but small, yet the Buildings belonging to it both above and under ground, were large and numerous.

6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him ? who am I then that I should build him an house, save onely to burn sacrifice before 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.

i. e. To worship him there where he is graciously present.

Marginal references: 1 Kin. 8. 27. Chap. 6. 18.; Heb. hath retained, or, obtained strength.

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

See the Notes on v. 5.

Marginal references: Heb. great and wonderful.

13 And now I have sent a cunning man (endued with understanding) of Huram my fathers ;

i. e. Who was my Fathers Chief Workman. Or, Huram Abi, a Man so called; the Prefix Lamed being here onely a Note of the Accusative Case. See more on ch. [illegible: 1+ letters]. 16.

14 The son of a woman of the daughter 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 blew, 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.

Of which see the Notes on 1 King. 7. 14.

So he calls David here, and Solomon in the next Verse, either out of singular respect to their Greatness and true Worth: or because he was indeed Tributary to them: or, at least, his Country was nourished by their Country, as it was afterwards, Act. 12. 20.

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

For David had not onely numbred his own People, for which he smarted, 2 Sam. 24. but afterward he numbred the Strangers, not out of Vanity, but that Solomon might have a true Account of them, and employ them about his Buildings, as he saw fit. Yet Solomon thought fit to number them again, because Death might have made a considerable Alteration among them since Davids numbring of them; and it behoved him to have an exact Account of them.

Marginal references: 1 Kin. 5. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. & 9. [illegible: 1 word]. and ver. 2.; [illegible: 1 span].

2Ch 2:1-2 (Hebrew_Bible_1:18). The account of these is introduced by 1:18: “Solomon thought to build.” אמר 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 לשׁם, see on 1Ki 5:17. למלכוּתו בּית, 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.

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.

2Ch 2:3-10 (Hebrew_Bible_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 כּאשׁר 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.

2Ch 2:11-16 The answer of King Hiram; cf. 1Ki 5:7-11. - Hiram answered בּכתב, in a writing, a letter, which he sent to Solomon. In 1Ki 5:7 Hiram first expresses his joy at Solomon’s request, because it was of importance to him to be on a friendly footing with the king of Israel. In the Chronicle his writing begins with the congratulation: because Jahve loveth His people, hath He made thee king over them. Cf. for the expression, 2Ch 9:8 and 1Ki 10:9. He then, according to both narratives, praises God that He has given David so wise a son. ויּאמר, 2Ch 2:12, means: then he said further. The praise of God is heightened in the Chronicle by Hiram’s entering into Solomon’s religious ideas, calling Jahve the Creator of heaven and earth. Then, further, חכם בּן is strengthened by וּבינה שׂכל יודע, having understanding and discernment; and this predicate is specially referred to Solomon’s resolve to build a temple to the Lord. Then in 2Ch 2:13. he promises to send Solomon the artificer Huram-Abi. On the title אבי, my father, i.e., minister, counsellor, and the descent of this man, cf. the commentary on 1Ki 7:13-14. In 2Ch 2:14 of the Chronicle his artistic skill is described in terms coinciding with Solomon’s wish in 2Ch 2:6, only heightened by small additions. To the metals as materials in which he could work, there are added stone and wood work, and to the woven fabrics בּוּץ (byssus), the later word for שׁשׁ; and finally, to exhaust the whole, he is said to be able כּל־מח ולחשׁב, to devise all manner of devices which shall be put to him, as in Exo 31:4, he being thus raised to the level of Bezaleel, the chief artificer of the tabernacle. עם־חכמיך is dependent upon לעשׂות, as in 2Ch 2:6. The promise to send cedars and cypresses is for the sake of brevity here omitted, and only indirectly indicated in 2Ch 2:16. In 2Ch 2:15, however, it is mentioned that Hiram accepted the promised supply of grain, wine, and oil for the labourers; and 2Ch 2:16 closes with the promise to fell the wood required in Lebanon, and to cause it to be sent in floats to Joppa (Jaffa), whence Solomon could take it up to Jerusalem. The word צרך, “need,” is a ἅπαξ λεγ. in the Old Testament, but is very common in Aramaic writings. רפסדות, “floats,” too, occurs only here instead of דּבבות,   1Ki 5:9, and its etymology is unknown. If we compare 1Ki 5:13-16 with the parallel account in 1Ki 5:8-11, we find that, besides Hiram’s somewhat verbose promise to fell the desired quantity of cedars and cypresses on Lebanon, and to send them in floats by sea to the place appointed by Solomon, the latter contains a request from Hiram that Solomon would give him לחם, maintenance for his house, and a concluding remark that Hiram sent Solomon cedar wood, while Solomon gave Hiram, year by year, 20,000 kor of wheat as food for his house, i.e., the royal household, and twenty kor beaten oil, that is, of the finest oil. In the book of Kings, therefore, the promised wages of grain, wine, and oil, which were sent to the Tyrian woodcutters, is passed over, and only the quantity of wheat and finest oil which Solomon gave to the Tyrian king for his household, year by year, in return for the timber sent, is mentioned. In the Chronicle, on the contrary, only the wages or payment to the woodcutters is mentioned, and the return made for the building timber is not spoken of; but there is no reason for bringing these two passages, which treat of different things, into harmony by alterations of the text. For further discussion of this and of the measures, see on 1Ki 5:11.

2Ch 2:17-18

In 2Ch 2:17 and 2Ch 2:18 the short statement in 2Ch 2:2 as to Solomon’s statute labourers is again taken up and expanded. Solomon caused all the men to be numbered who dwelt in the land of Israel as strangers, viz., the descendants of the Canaanites who were not exterminated, “according to the numbering (ספר occurs only here) as his father David had numbered them.” This remark refers to 1Ch 22:2, where, however, it is only said that David commanded the strangers to be assembled. But as he caused them to be assembled in order to secure labourers for the building of the temple, he doubtless caused them to be numbered; and to this reference is here made. The numbering gave a total of 153,000 men, of whom 70,000 were made bearers of burdens, 80,000 חצב, i.e., probably hewers of stone and wood בּהר, i.e., on Lebanon, and 3600 foremen or overseers over the workmen, את־העם להעביד, to cause the people to work, that is, to hold them to their task. With this cf. 1Ki 5:15., where the number of the overseers is stated at 3300. This difference is explained by the fact that in the Chronicle the total number of overseers, of higher and lower rank, is given, while in the book of Kings only the number of overseers of the lower rank is given without the higher overseers. Solomon had in all 550 higher overseers of the builders (Israelite and Canaanite), - cf. 1Ki 9:23; and of these, 250 were Israelites, who alone are mentioned in 2Ch 8:10, while the remaining 300 were Canaanites. The total number of overseers is the same in both accounts, - 3850; who are divided in the Chronicle into 3600 Canaanitish and 250 Israelitish, in the book of Kings into 3300 lower and 550 higher overseers (see on 1Ki 5:16). It is, moreover, stated in 1Ki 5:12. that Solomon had levied a force of 30,000 statute labourers from among the people of Israel, with the design that a third part of them, that is, 10,000 men, should labour alternately for a month at a time in Lebanon, looking after their own affairs at home during the two following months. This levy of workmen from among the people of Israel is not mentioned in the Chronicle.

Preparations to Build the Temple. (b. c. 1015.)

1 And Solomon determined to build a house for the name of the Lord , and a house for his kingdom. 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. 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 a house to dwell therein, even so deal with me. 4 Behold, I build a 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 showbread, 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. 5 And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods. 6 But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? 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. 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, 9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great. 10 And, 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.

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 (v. 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 1 Kings v. 2, &c., 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 (v. 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 (v. 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 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, Acts xvii. 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.

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 (v. 7): Send me a man. He had cunning men with him in Jerusalem and Judah, whom David provided, 1 Chron. xxii. 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 (v. 8), cedar and other timber in abundance (v. 8, 9); for the house must be wonderfully great, that is, very stately and magnificent, no cost must be spared, nor any contrivance wanting in it.

3. Here is Solomon's engagement to maintain the workmen (v. 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.

Solomon's Treaty with Hiram. (b. c. 1015.)

11 Then 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. 12 Huram 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 a house for the Lord , and a house for his kingdom. 13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued 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, 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. 15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants: 16 And 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. 17 And 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 a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. 18 And 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.

Here we have, I. The return which Huram made to Solomon's embassy, in which he shows a great respect for Solomon and a readiness to serve him. Meaner people may learn of these great ones to be neighbourly and complaisant. 1. He congratulates Israel on having such a king as Solomon was (v. 11): Because the Lord loved his people, he has made thee king. Note, A wise and good government is a great blessing to a people, and may well be accounted a singular token of God's favour. He does not say, Because he loved thee (though that was true, 2 Sam. xii. 24) he made thee king, but because he loved his people. Princes must look upon themselves as preferred for the public good, not for their own personal satisfaction, and should rule so as to prove that they were given in love and not in anger. 2. He blesses God for raising up such a successor to David, v. 12. It should seem that Huram was not only very well affected to the Jewish nation, and well pleased with their prosperity, but that he was proselyted to the Jewish religion, and worshipped Jehovah, the God of Israel (who was now known by that name to the neighbouring nations), as the God that made heaven and earth, and as the fountain of power as well as being; for he sets up kings. Now that the people of Israel kept close to the law and worship of God, and so preserved their honour, the neighbouring nations were as willing to be instructed by them in the true religion as Israel had been, in the days of their apostasy, to be infected with the idolatries and superstitions of their neighbours. This made them high, that they lent to many nations and did not borrow, lent truth to them, and did not borrow error from them; as when they did the contrary it was their shame. 3. He sent him a very ingenious curious workman, that would not fail to answer his expectations in every thing, one that had both Jewish and Gentile blood meeting in him; for his mother was an Israelite (Huram thought she was of the tribe of Dan, and therefore says so here, v. 14, but it seems she was of the tribe of Naphtali, 1 Kings vii. 14), but his father was a Tyrian—a good omen of uniting Jew and Gentile in the gospel temple, as it was afterwards when the building of the second temple was greatly furthered by Darius (Ezra vi.), who is supposed to have been the son of Esther—an Israelite by the mother's side. 4. He engaged for the timber, as much as he would have occasion for, and undertook to deliver it at Joppa, and withal signified his dependence upon Solomon for the maintenance of the workmen as he had promised, v. 15, 16. This agreement we had, 1 Kings v. 8, 9.

II. The orders which Solomon gave about the workmen. He would not employ the free-born Israelites in the drudgery work of the temple itself, not so much as to be overseers of it. In this he employed the strangers who were proselyted to the Jewish religion, who had not lands of inheritance in Canaan as the Israelites had, and therefore applied to trades, and got their living by their ingenuity and industry. There were, at this time, vast numbers of them in the land (v. 17), who, if they were of any of the devoted nations, perhaps fell within the case, and therefore fell under the law, of the Gibeonites, to be hewers of wood for the congregation: if not, yet being in many respects well provided for by the law of Moses, and put upon an equal footing with the native Israelites, they were bound in gratitude to do what they could for the service of the temple. Yet, no doubt, they were well paid in money or money's worth: the law was, Thou shalt not oppress a stranger. The distribution of them we have here (v. 2, and again v. 18), in all 150 000. Canaan was a fruitful land, that found meat for so many mouths more than the numerous natives; and the temple was a vast building, that found work for so many hands. Mr. Fuller suggests that the expedient peculiar to this structure, of framing all beforehand, must needs increase the work. I think it rather left so much the more room for this vast multitude of hands to be employed in it; for in the forest of Lebanon they might all be at work together, without crowding one another, which they could not have been upon Mount Sion. And, if there had not been such vast numbers employed, so large and curious a fabric, which was begun and ended in seven years, might, for aught I know, have been as long in building as St. Paul's.