2 Chronicles 2:1-2

The author wrote for the *Jews who had just come back from *exile to their own country. In their opinion, the most important thing that Solomon did was to build the *temple. Like Solomon, those *Jews built a new *temple. But their *temple could not be as great as the one that Solomon built (Haggai 2:3). Solomon’s *temple is the main subject of the first 7 Chapter s of 2 Chronicles.

The *LORD told David that his son would build the *temple. So, the *LORD gave this task to Solomon even before he was born. His father David encouraged him to build the *temple. And David provided all that he could for the work. As soon as he became king, Solomon started work on this *temple.

There was a total of 153 600 foreigners in *Israel (2:17). Solomon made them do much of the heavy work. 70 000 foreigners had to carry heavy loads. 80 000 worked in the hill country where they cut stone. 3600 controlled the other workers. In addition to these workers, Solomon forced 30 000 *Israelites to be workers. These *Israelites worked one month in each period of three months. So, 10 000 Israelites were working each month (1 Kings 5:13-14). Originally, they were pleased about these arrangements. They worked willingly for the *LORD, for the king, and for their country. But later, these arrangements caused problems. The *Israelites complained and in the end the *kingdom divided (2 Chronicles 10:4; 2 Chronicles 10:19).

In addition to the *temple, Solomon built a palace for himself. He built the *temple and the palace during a period of 20 years (8:1).

Verse 3 Tyre was a port on the Mediterranean Sea. It had the best harbour in the area. The people there made ships and they were famous because of their commerce. Tyre was north of the country called *Israel. It was a very important city in the country called Phoenicia. Hiram was the king of Tyre.

Hiram had been a friend of David. When Solomon became king, Hiram sent some of his officials to Solomon. They came to greet Solomon on behalf of King Hiram. So, Solomon sent a message to Hiram. Hiram had traded with David. He had sent to David *cedar wood and skilled workers to help to build David’s palace (1 Chronicles 14:1). Now Solomon asked Hiram to trade with him.

Verse 4 Solomon told Hiram why he wanted the *cedar wood. Solomon had decided to build a *temple for God. It must be a strong and permanent building. So, he wanted to build with the best materials. In the *temple, there would be constant *worship to the *LORD. Solomon would *dedicate the *temple to *Israel’s God.

In the *temple, the priests would burn *incense twice a day (Exodus 30:6-8). There would be a special *altar for the *incense. The priests would put the holy bread on the special table each week. They would take the old bread. Only the priests could eat the old bread (Leviticus 24:8-9).

There would be daily *sacrifices by fire. And there would be extra *sacrifices on the *Sabbath days and at the new moon. (That is, at the beginning of each month.)

There would be *sacrifices by fire on the *LORD’s special days. There were at least 5 periods of these special days. There were the *Passover and *Pentecost. Then there was the week when the people had to live in shelters. There was the day to sound *trumpets. And there was the day for people to remember that God forgives *sin (Numbers 28:9-Numbers 29:39).

Verses 5-6 Solomon told Hiram that *Israel’s God is greater than all other gods. Hiram was not an *Israelite but he did respect the *LORD (2:12). Because God is so great, the *temple had to be magnificent. However, God is so great that the earth is not big enough to contain him. Even the heavens are too small for him. Heaven is the *throne of his *glory. So of course, God would not live in a mere building on the earth. ‘This is what the *LORD says: “Heaven is my *throne. The earth acts as a place to rest my feet. You cannot build a house for me where I can live. With my own hands, I made all these things.” ’ (see Isaiah 66:1-2.)

God does not need a place to live on earth. The only reason to build a *temple is in order to make a place where his people can *worship him. So the *temple was a place to *sacrifice to the *LORD. And the *LORD said that he would meet with his people there.

Verse 7 The workers from *Israel did not have the skill of the workers from the country called Phoenicia. In every way, the men from Phoenicia were better builders than the *Israelites. Phoenicia was the country to the north of *Israel. Hiram was the king of Tyre in Phoenicia. So, Solomon asked Hiram to send to him a man who had the right skills. This man would be the master of the work. He would lead the team of men who were working on the *temple.

Solomon wanted a man who had the skills to work with metals and with special types of cloth. King David had used workers from Phoenicia whose skills were with wood and stone (1 Chronicles 14:1). These workers may have stayed in Jerusalem. But they may have trained *Israelites to be able to do the work in wood and stone (1 Chronicles 22:15).

Verses 8-10 Solomon asked for *cedar wood from Lebanon. The *cedar trees in Lebanon were famous. They were very large trees. *Cedar wood was much better to build with than the wood from any trees in *Israel.

Also, he asked for *pine and *algum wood. We do not know what the *algum tree was. It was probably the same as the tree called almug. Hiram imported the wood from that tree. Solomon used that wood in both the *temple and in his palace (1 Kings 10:11-12).

Hiram’s men had the skill to cut down the *cedar trees in Lebanon. Solomon would send his men to help in the task. He needed a vast quantity of wood for the *temple.

Solomon said that he would pay Hiram’s men. He would pay them with wheat, *barley, wine and oil.

The amount of wheat and *barley was 20 000 *cors of each. This is an amount equal to 1 150 000 gallons (4400 *kilolitres). There would be 20 000 *baths each of the wine and the oil. This is equal to 115 000 gallons (440 *kilolitres).

Verses 11-12 King Hiram sent his reply to Solomon. Hiram had seen how the *LORD had been with David. He saw how the *LORD loved *Israel. Because of that, the *LORD had made Solomon to be the king of *Israel.

Solomon was a more powerful king than Hiram was. So, we do not know how much of this letter shows Hiram’s real beliefs. His words may be very polite because he was writing to a more important king. But he does agree that the God of *Israel is greater than any other god.

Hiram praised the *LORD, the God of *Israel. He wrote that the *LORD created heaven and earth. The name *LORD was a special name for the God of *Israel.

Verses 13-14 Hiram sent Huram-Abi who was a skilled workman. His mother was an *Israelite but his father came from Tyre. His mother came from the *tribe of Dan. But she was the widow of a man from the *tribe of Naphtali (1 Kings 7:14).

Huram-Abi’s skills included work with precious metals, wood, stone and cloth.

People made purple cloth from a deep red colour. This colour came from a kind of shellfish (a fish with a shell). That fish lives near the coast of Tyre. They called this material ‘royal purple’ because of its quality and its cost.

Verses 15-16 Then Hiram asked Solomon to send what he had promised to send. Hiram’s men would cut the wood. They would then float it on the sea. And they would bring it to the port called Joppa. Joppa was the nearest port to Jerusalem. The distance between Joppa and Jerusalem was about 40 miles (64 kilometres).

Verses 17-18 David had counted the foreigners in *Israel. He appointed some foreigners to cut stones ready for the *temple (1 Chronicles 22:2). Now Solomon counted the foreigners and he organised their work. He gave responsibility to 3600 foreigners. Those 3600 leaders had authority over the other foreigners.

Construction of the *temple – 2 Chronicles 3:1-4:22

(UK) temple ~ a special building for the *worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the *worship of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
lord ~ someone with authority, such as the king.
cedar ~ a kind of tree; or the wood from that tree.
dedicate ~ to give to God in a special way.
incense ~ something that gives a sweet smell when it burns. The priests burned it when they praised God in the temple.
temple ~ a special building for the *worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the *worship of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
sacrifice ~ something that people give to God. If it was an animal, the priests would burn all or part of it on an *altar. That was to say thank you to God. People also offered sacrifices when they asked God to forgive their *sins. Jesus died as a sacrifice for our *sins. To sacrifice is to give a sacrifice.
Sabbath ~ The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week, that is, Saturday. God told the *Israelites to keep this day as a special day. He said that they must not work on that day. They should *worship God instead.
pine ~ a tree.
algum ~ a tree and the wood from that tree. It was an especially precious kind of wood.
cor ~ a quantity of grain equal to 57.5 gallons (220 litres).
barley ~ a grain.
bath ~ a quantity of liquid equal to 5.75 gallons (about 22 litres).
tribe ~ The 12 families of the sons of Jacob became the 12 tribes of *Israel.
linen ~ a type of material that is like cotton. Linen is a very good quality material.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
lord ~ someone with authority, such as the king.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
exile ~ people who have to live in a foreign country are in exile. Such a person is an exile. The exile means the time when the Jews were in exile.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
Passover ~ a special *feast when the Jews remember how God brought them out of Egypt.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
Pentecost ~ a special *feast to thank God for the harvest of grain.
throne ~ the special chair for the king. Sometimes this word is a word picture for the rule of that king and his descendants.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or of a nation.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
cedar ~ a kind of tree; or the wood from that tree.
kilolitre ~ a quantity of liquid equal to 1000 litres. It is about 260 gallons.