2 Chronicles 2
The Message
The Temple Construction Begins
2 Solomon gave orders to begin construction on the house of worship in honor of God and a palace for himself.
2 Solomon assigned seventy thousand common laborers, eighty thousand to work the quarries in the mountains, and thirty-six hundred foremen to manage the workforce.
3-4 Then Solomon sent this message to King Hiram of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs, the same kind you sent David my father for building his palace. I’m about to build a house of worship in honor of God, a holy place for burning perfumed incense, for setting out holy bread, for making Whole-Burnt-Offerings at morning and evening worship, and for Sabbath, New Moon, and Holy Day services of worship—the acts of worship required of Israel.
5-10 “The house I am building has to be the best, for our God is the best, far better than competing gods. But who is capable of building such a structure? Why, the skies—the entire cosmos!—can’t begin to contain him. And me, who am I to think I can build a house adequate for God—burning incense to him is about all I’m good for! I need your help: Send me a master artisan in gold, silver, bronze, iron, textiles of purple, crimson, and violet, and who knows the craft of engraving; he will supervise the trained craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem that my father provided. Also send cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon; I know you have lumberjacks experienced in the Lebanon forests. I’ll send workers to join your crews to cut plenty of timber—I’m going to need a lot, for this house I’m building is going to be absolutely stunning—a showcase temple! I’ll provide all the food necessary for your crew of lumberjacks and loggers: 130,000 bushels of wheat, 120,000 gallons of wine, and 120,000 gallons of olive oil.”
11 Hiram king of Tyre wrote Solomon in reply: “It’s plain that God loves his people—he made you king over them!”
12-14 He wrote on, “Blessed be the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, and who gave King David a son so wise, so knowledgeable and shrewd, to build a temple for God and a palace for himself. I’ve sent you Huram-Abi—he’s already on his way—he knows the construction business inside and out. His mother is from Dan and his father from Tyre. He knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, in purple, violet, linen, and crimson textiles; he is also an expert engraver and competent to work out designs with your artists and architects, and those of my master David, your father.
15-16 “Go ahead and send the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine you promised for my work crews. We’ll log the trees you need from the Lebanon forests and raft them down to Joppa. You’ll have to get the timber up to Jerusalem yourself.”
17-18 Solomon then took a census of all the foreigners living in Israel, using the same census-taking method employed by his father. They numbered 153,600. He assigned 70,000 of them as common laborers, 80,000 to work the quarries in the mountains, and 3,600 as foremen to manage the work crews.
2 Chronicles 2
Lexham English Bible
Solomon Petitions the King of Tyre
2 [a] And Solomon planned to build a house for the name of Yahweh and a royal palace for himself.[b] 2 And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to bear burdens[c] and eighty thousand quarriers[d] in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred men to supervise them. 3 And Solomon sent word to Huram[e] king of Tyre, saying, “As you have dealt with David my father and sent cedar to him to build for himself a house in which to live, please deal with me. 4 Look, I am building a house for the name of Yahweh my God to dedicate to him, to offer sweet spices of incense before him, and for the regular rows of bread, and burnt offerings for mornings, evenings, Sabbaths, and new moon festivals, and for appointed feasts of Yahweh our God which are everlasting for Israel. 5 And the house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 Now who indeed has adequate strength to build a house for him? For the heavens and the highest heavens[f] are not able to contain him. Now who am I that I would build a house for him, except to burn incense before him? 7 So then, send to me skilled men to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue fabric, knowledgeable in engraving, with the skilled men who are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father has established. 8 Send me trees of cedar, cypress, and algum from Lebanon, for I myself know that your servants are knowledgeable in cutting the trees of Lebanon. Now see, my servants will be with your servants 9 to prepare trees in abundance for me, for the house that I am building will be great and wonderful. 10 Now see, I will provide twenty thousand dry measures of crushed wheat, twenty thousand dry measures of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil to the woodcarvers and those who cut timber.”
11 Then Huram[g] king of Tyre answered in a letter, and he sent word to Solomon: “Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made you king over them.” 12 Then Huram[h] said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who has made the heavens and the earth, who has given to King David a wise son knowing discretion and understanding, who will build for Yahweh a house and a royal palace for himself. 13 So now I have sent a skilled man, knowledgeable and with understanding: my master[i] Huram, 14 a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, knowledgeable for working with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and with purple, blue, and crimson fabric, and with fine linen, for engraving any engraving and devising any plan that is given to him, with your skilled men and the skilled men of my lord David your father. 15 Now as for the wheat, barley, oil, and wine that my lord mentioned, let him send that to his servants. 16 And we ourselves will cut trees from Lebanon according to all your need, and we will bring them to you on rafts over the sea to Joppa, so that you may bring them up to Jerusalem.”
17 Then Solomon counted all the resident alien men who were in the land of Israel after the census that David his father had taken of them. And there were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand. 18 And he appointed from them seventy thousand to bear burdens,[j] eighty thousand to quarry[k] in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 2:1 2 Chronicles 2:1–18 in the English Bible is 1:18–2:17 in the Hebrew Bible
- 2 Chronicles 2:1 Literally “house for his kingdom”
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 Literally “carriers”
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 Literally “stone craftsmen”
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 This is the spelling in Hebrew, though many translations have “Hiram”
- 2 Chronicles 2:6 Literally “the heavens of the heavens”
- 2 Chronicles 2:11 This is the spelling in Hebrew, though many translations have “Hiram”
- 2 Chronicles 2:12 This is the spelling in Hebrew, though many translations have “Hiram”
- 2 Chronicles 2:13 Or “my father”
- 2 Chronicles 2:18 Literally “carriers”
- 2 Chronicles 2:18 Literally “stone craftsmen”
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
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