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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)