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2
Chronicles Chapter Two
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 2
Solomon
intending to build a temple for God, and a palace for himself, sent to Hiram,
king of Tyre, to furnish him with materials and workmen, 2 Chronicles 2:1,
to which Hiram returned an agreeable answer, 2 Chronicles 2:11,
and for this service Solomon numbered all the strangers in Israel, 2 Chronicles 2:17.
2 Chronicles
2:1 Then Solomon
determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal
house for himself.
YLT
1And Solomon saith to build
a house for the name of Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom,
And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the Lord,.... For the
worship and service of God, and for his honour and glory, being directed,
enjoined, and encouraged to it by his father David:
and an house for his kingdom; for a royal palace for
him, and his successors, first the one, and then the other; and in this order
they were built.
2 Chronicles
2:2 2 Solomon
selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone
in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
YLT
2and Solomon numbereth
seventy thousand men bearing burden, and eighty thousand men hewing in the
mountain, and overseers over them -- three thousand and six hundred.
And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men,.... Of whom,
and the difference of the last number in this text from 1 Kings 5:15, see
the notes there. See Gill on 1 Kings 5:15. See
Gill on 1 Kings 5:16.
2 Chronicles 2:3 3 Then Solomon sent to Hiram[a] king of
Tyre, saying:
As you have dealt with David my father, and
sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.
YLT
3And Solomon sendeth unto
Huram king of Tyre, saying, `When thou hast dealt with David my father, then
thou dost send to him cedars to build for him a house to dwell in;
And Solomon sent to Huram king of Tyre,.... The same
with Hiram, 1 Kings 5:1 and
from whence it appears, that Huram first sent a letter to Solomon to
congratulate him on his accession to the throne, which is not taken notice of
here:
as thou didst deal with my father, and didst send him cedars to
build him an house to dwell therein; see 1 Chronicles 14:1,
even so deal with me; which words are a supplement.
2 Chronicles
2:4 4 Behold,
I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to
dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual
showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the
New Moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an
ordinance forever to Israel.
YLT
4lo, I am building a house
to the name of Jehovah my God, to sanctify [it] to Him, to make perfume before
Him, perfume of spices, and a continual arrangement, and burnt-offerings at
morning and at evening, at sabbaths, and at new moons, and at appointed seasons
of Jehovah our God; to the age this [is] on Israel.
Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God,.... Am about
to do it, and determined upon it, see 2 Chronicles 2:1,
to dedicate it to him; to set it apart for
sacred service to him:
and to burn before him sweet incense; on the altar
of incense:
and for the continual shewbread; the loaves of shewbread,
which were continually on the shewbread table; which, and the altar of incense,
both were set in the holy place in the tabernacle, and so to be in the temple:
and for the burnt offerings morning and evening; the daily
sacrifice: on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of
the Lord our God: at which seasons, besides the daily sacrifice, additional burnt
offerings were offered, and all on the brasen altar in the court: this is an
ordinance
for ever unto Israel: to offer the above
sacrifices, even for a long time to come, until the Messiah comes; and
therefore Solomon suggests, as Jarchi and Kimchi think, that a good strong
house ought to be built.
2 Chronicles
2:5 5 And
the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all
gods.
YLT
5`And the house that I am
building [is] great, for greater [is] our God than all gods;
And the house which I build is great,.... Not so
very large, though that, with all apartments and courts belonging to it, he
intended to build, was so; but because magnificent in its structure and
decorations:
for great is our God above all gods; and therefore ought to
have a temple to exceed all others, as the temple at Jerusalem did.
2 Chronicles
2:6 6 But
who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens
cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple,
except to burn sacrifice before Him?
YLT
6and who doth retain
strength to build to Him a house, for the heavens, even the heavens of the
heavens, do not contain Him? and who [am] I that I do build to Him a house,
except to make perfume before Him?
But who is able to build him an house,.... Suitable
to the greatness of his majesty, especially as he dwells not in temples made
with hands:
seeing the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain him? see 1 Kings 8:27,
who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn
sacrifice before him? since God was an immense and infinite Being, be would have Hiram
to understand that he had no thought of building an house, in which he could be
circumscribed and contained, only a place in which he might be worshipped, and
sacrifices offered to him.
2 Chronicles
2:7 7 Therefore
send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron,
in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men
who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
YLT
7`And now, send to me a wise
man to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple,
and crimson, and blue, and knowing to grave gravings with the wise men who
[are] with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father prepared;
Send now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver,
and in brass, and in iron,.... There being many things relating to the
temple about to be built, and vessels to be put into it, which were to be made
of those metals:
and in purple, and crimson, and blue; used in
making the vails for it, hung up in different places:
and that can skill to grave; in wood or stone:
with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom
my father David did provide; see 1 Chronicles 22:15.
2 Chronicles
2:8 8 Also
send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your
servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be
with your servants,
YLT
8and send to me cedar-trees,
firs, and algums from Lebanon, for I have known that thy servants know to cut
down trees of Lebanon, and lo, my servants [are] with thy servants,
Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of
Lebanon,.... Of the two first of these, and which Hiram sent, see 1 Kings 5:10. The
algum trees are the same with the almug trees, 1 Kings 10:11 by a
transposition of letters; these could not be coral, as some Jewish writers
think, which grows in the sea, for these were in Lebanon; nor Brazil, as
Kimchi, so called from a place of this name, which at this time was not known;
though there were trees of almug afterwards brought from Ophir in India, as
appears from the above quoted place, as well as from Arabia; and it seems, as
BeckiusF3In Targum in loc. observes, to be an Arabic word, by the
article "al" prefixed to it:
for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; better than
his:
and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants; to help and
assist them in what they can, and to learn of them, see 1 Kings 5:6.
2 Chronicles
2:9 9 to
prepare timber for me in abundance, for the temple which I am about to build shall
be great and wonderful.
YLT
9even to prepare for me
trees in abundance, for the house that I am building [is] great and wonderful.
Even to prepare me timber in abundance,.... Since he
would want a large quantity for raftering, cieling, wainscoting, and flooring
the temple:
for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great; as to its
structure and ornaments.
2 Chronicles
2:10 10 And
indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty
thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand
baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
YLT
10`And lo, to hewers, to those
cutting the trees, I have given beaten wheat to thy servants, cors twenty
thousand, and barley, cors twenty thousand, and wine, baths twenty thousand,
and oil, baths twenty thousand.'
Behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber,
twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat,.... Meaning, not what
was beaten out of the husk with the flail, as some; nor bruised or half broke
for pottage, as others; but ground into flour, as R. JonahF4Apud
Kimchium in loc. interprets it; or rather, perhaps, it should be rendered
"food"F5So Kimchi, מכת
"pro" מכלת "ineuria librariorum",
Schindler, Lex. Pentaglott. col. 73. that is, for his household, as in 1 Kings 5:11, and
the hire of these servants is proposed to be given in this way, because wheat
was scarce with the Tyrians, and they were obliged to have it from the Jews, Acts 12:20,
and twenty thousand measures of barley; the measures
of both these were the cor, of which see 1 Kings 5:11,
and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of
oil; which measure was the tenth part of a "cor". According
to the Ethiopians, a man might consume four of these measures in the space of a
monthF6Ludolf. Lexic. Ethiop. p. 197. .
2 Chronicles
2:11 11 Then
Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon: Because the Lord loves His
people, He has made you king over them.
YLT
11And Huram king of Tyre
saith in writing, and sendeth unto Solomon: `In the love of Jehovah to His
people He hath given thee king over them.'
Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to
Solomon,.... In which letter he told him he had considered the contents
of his, and would grant him all that he desired, see 1 Kings 5:8.
because the Lord hath loved his people; he hath made thee king
over them; which are much the same words the queen of Sheba said to
Solomon; see Gill on 1 Kings 10:9.
2 Chronicles
2:12 12 Hiram[b] also said:
Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise
son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal
house for himself!
YLT
12And Huram saith, `Blessed
[is] Jehovah, God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth, who hath given
to David the king a wise son, knowing wisdom and understanding, who doth build
a house for Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom.
Huram said, moreover, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made
heaven and earth,.... Huram seems to have had some good notions of the divine
Being, not only as the God of the people of Israel, in a peculiar sense, but as
the Former and Maker of all things:
who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence
and understanding; see 1 Kings 5:7.
that might build an house for the Lord, and for his kingdom; as in 2 Chronicles 2:1.
2 Chronicles
2:13 13 And
now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram[c] my master[d] craftsman
YLT
13`And now, I have sent a
wise man having understanding, of Huram my father,
And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding,.... In such
things as Solomon required he should, 2 Chronicles 2:7.
of Huram my father's; a workman of his, whom
he employed, and so might be depended upon as a good artificer; though rather
Huram is the artificer's name:
and Abi, we render "my father", his surname, that is,
"Huram Abi"; and this is the opinion of several learned menF7Luther.
Emanuel Sa, Piscator, Schmidt, Beckius in Targum in loc. , and is very
probable; for certain it is, that his name was Huram or Hiram, 1 Kings 7:13, and
so he is called "Huram his father, or Huram Abif", 2 Chronicles 4:16.
2 Chronicles
2:14 14 (the
son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre),
skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and
blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any
plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men
of my lord David your father.
YLT
14(son of a woman of the
daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre), knowing to work in gold, and
in silver, in brass, in iron, in stones, and in wood, in purple, in blue, and
in fine linen, and in crimson, and to grave any graving, and to devise any
device that is given to him, with thy wise men, and the wise men of my lord
David thy father.
The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan,.... Here
follows an account of the descent of the artificer, and of his skill in working;
of what seeming disagreement there may be in this account, with that in 1 Kings 7:14; see
Gill on 1 Kings 7:14.
2 Chronicles
2:15 15 Now
therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord has
spoken of, let him send to his servants.
YLT
15`And, now, the wheat, and
the barley, the oil, and the wine, as my lord said, let him send to his
servants,
Now therefore, the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine,
which my lord hath spoken of,.... In his letter to him, 2 Chronicles 2:10
as for the phrase "my lord", which some think is used, because Hiram
was tributary to Solomon, it may only be a respectful way of speaking:
let him send unto his servants; Hiram accepted thereof
as a proper reward for the work of his servants.
2 Chronicles
2:16 16 And
we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in
rafts by sea to Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.
YLT
16and we -- we cut trees out
of Lebanon, according to all thy need, and bring them in to thee -- floats by
sea, to Joppa, and thou dost take them up to Jerusalem.'
And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shall need,.... Both
cedar and fir, 1 Kings 5:8,
and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; a port in the
Mediterranean sea, the same that Jonah went down to; see Gill on 1 Kings 5:9,
and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem; in land
carriages, about forty miles off.
2 Chronicles
2:17 17 Then
Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after
the census in which David his father had numbered them; and there were found to
be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.
YLT
17And Solomon numbereth all
the men, the sojourners who [are] in the land of Israel, after the numbering
with which David his father numbered them, and they are found a hundred and
fifty thousand, and three thousand, and six hundred;
And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of
Israel,.... Which, according to Kimchi, were the remains of the
Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites, see 2 Chronicles 8:8,
yet not idolaters, or they would not have been suffered by David and Solomon to
have dwelt in the land, but were such as were become proselytes of the gate:
after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; not at the
time Israel was numbered by him, but in order to provide workmen for the
building of the temple, 1 Chronicles 22:2,
and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and six hundred; men able to
bear burdens, and hew timber.
2 Chronicles
2:18 18 And
he made seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand
stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make
the people work.
YLT
18and he maketh of them
seventy thousand burden-bearers, and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain,
and three thousand and six hundred overseers, to cause the people to work.
And he set threescore and ten thousand of them,.... Which is
repeated from 2 Chronicles 2:2,
to show how the above number of strangers were disposed of; 70,000 of them
bearers of burdens, 80,000 of them hewers of wood, and 3,600 overseers of the
workmen, in all 153,600; an emblem of the Gentiles employed in building the
spiritual temple, the church, Zechariah 6:15.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)