2 Chronicles 2

Solomon prepares to build the temple. He gathers a huge workforce and asks King Hiram of Tyre for cedar and a master craftsman. He also confesses that no building can hold the God he serves. Hiram agrees, and praises the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

2 Chronicles 2:1

Solomon decides to build two houses: one for the LORD’s Name and one for himself. The temple is named first. God’s Name stands for His character and presence, so the house is meant to honor who He is among His people.

BSA: Name (“reputation, character”): The temple is built for who God is and what He is known to be, not merely for a title.

See also: 1 Kings 5:5; Deuteronomy 12:11.

2 Chronicles 2:2

Solomon organizes a vast labor force: carriers, quarry workers and overseers. The work is huge and carefully managed. Building a house for God takes many hands, each with a different task, from heavy lifting to supervising.

BSA: supervisors (“overseers, leaders”): Good work for God needs wise leadership as well as strong backs.

2 Chronicles 2:3

Solomon writes to Hiram of Tyre, reminding him of the friendship he had with David, who received cedar for his palace. Tyre was a coastal trading city famed for its timber and craftsmen. Solomon asks for the same kindness again.

See also: 2 Samuel 5:11.

2 Chronicles 2:4

Solomon explains what the temple is for: incense, the bread set before God, and daily and festival offerings. It is a house of continual worship, set up by God’s own command for Israel. The rhythm of morning, evening, Sabbath and feast fills the life of the nation.

BSA: showbread (“continual bread, sacred bread”): The bread was always set out before God, a constant sign of fellowship with Him. dedicate (“set apart, consecrate”): The house is not merely built but given over wholly to God.

See also: Exodus 25:30; Numbers 28:3-4.

2 Chronicles 2:5

Solomon says the temple will be great, but the reason is not his own glory. It is that his God is greater than all gods. The size of the building is meant to reflect the worth of the One it serves.

BSA: greater (“exalted, superior”): The LORD stands above every rival, so the building should honor Him with its best.

2 Chronicles 2:6

Solomon is humble. If the highest heavens cannot hold God, no human building can. The temple is not a box to contain Him. It is a place for sacrifice and meeting, where a God who is everywhere chooses to meet His people.

BSA: contain (“hold or encompass”): God is bigger than all creation, so the temple can only be a meeting place, never His limit.

See also: 1 Kings 8:27; Isaiah 66:1.

2 Chronicles 2:7

Solomon asks Hiram for one master craftsman skilled in metals and in dyed fabrics. Purple, crimson and blue were costly colors, used also in the tabernacle. This man will work alongside the Judean craftsmen David had already gathered.

BSA: craftsman (“a master artisan”): Solomon asks for someone at the top of his trade, since the work is for God.

See also: Exodus 26:1.

2 Chronicles 2:8-9

Solomon asks for cedar, cypress and algum from Lebanon, where Tyre’s woodcutters were expert. His own men will help. He wants a great supply because the temple will be great and wonderful. He admits his people need the skill of others.

BSA: skill (“are expert, know how”): Solomon honors the know-how of foreign workers and is glad to use it for God’s house.

2 Chronicles 2:10

Solomon offers fair payment in food: wheat, barley, wine and oil. Israel’s fertile land supplied what coastal Tyre needed. The temple is not built by taking from others but by honest exchange, with generous amounts.

See also: 1 Kings 5:11.

2 Chronicles 2:11-12

Hiram answers warmly. He sees that God’s love for His people is why Solomon is king. He blesses the LORD as maker of heaven and earth and praises Solomon’s wisdom. Even a foreign king recognizes God’s hand on Israel.

BSA: loves (“has affection for, is devoted to”): Hiram sees Solomon’s throne as a gift of God’s devoted love toward His people. wise (“endued with prudence and understanding, having discretion”): Solomon’s wisdom is noticed as a gift, not just talent.

See also: 1 Kings 3:12.

2 Chronicles 2:13-14

Hiram sends Huram-abi, a gifted craftsman with a Danite mother and a Tyrian father. He can work in metal, stone, wood and fabric, and carry out any design he is given. His skill is portrayed as a gift, and it is placed in God’s service.

BSA: creativity (“divine, creative”): His ability is seen as something given, much like the gift given to Bezalel for the tabernacle.

Hebrew: בִּינָה (bînāh, H998) — “understanding, insight.” The word describes the ability to discern how things fit together. It is a practical skill, not only an idea, and here it belongs to a craftsman.

See also: Exodus 31:1-5.

2 Chronicles 2:15-16

Hiram asks for the promised grain, oil and wine, and says his men will cut as many logs as needed. They will float them as rafts down the coast to Joppa, the nearest port to Jerusalem. Solomon’s men will then haul them up to the city.

BSA: rafts (“in floats, on flat boats”): The logs were bound together and towed along the sea, a clever way to move heavy timber.

2 Chronicles 2:17-18

Solomon counts the foreign residents in Israel and assigns them the same labor tasks listed earlier. The heavy work falls on them, while Israelites are not treated as forced laborers here. The temple is built by many kinds of people under one plan.

BSA: foreign (“strangers, sojourners, non-Israelites”): These were outsiders living among Israel, and God’s house is built partly through their labor.

See also: 1 Kings 9:20-21.