2 Chronicles 2:7 Kommentaari

Solomon's trading, which we read of in the close of the foregoing chapter, and the encouragement he gave both to merchandise and manufacturers, were very commendable. But building was the work he was designed for, and to that business he is here applying himself. Here is, I. Solomon's determination to build the temple and a royal palace, and his appointing labourers to be employed herein (Ch2 2:1, Ch2 2:2, Ch2 2:17, Ch2 2:18). II. His request to Huram king of Tyre to furnish him both with artists and materials (Ch2 2:3-10). III. Huram's obliging answer to, and compliance with, his request (Ch2 2:11-16).

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, Ch2 2:1, to which Hiram returned an agreeable answer, Ch2 2:11, and for this service Solomon numbered all the strangers in Israel, Ch2 2:17.

Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon,.... Of the two first of these, and which Hiram sent, see Kg1 5:10. The algum trees are the same with the almug trees, Kg1 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 Beckius (c) 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 Kg1 5:6. (c) In Targum in loc.

Solomon determines to build a temple, Ch2 2:1. The number of his workmen, Ch2 2:2. Sends to Huram for artificers and materials, Ch2 2:3-10. Huram sends him a favorable answer, and makes an agreement with him concerning the labor to be done, and the wages to be paid to his men, Ch2 2:11-16. The number of strangers in the land, and how employed, Ch2 2:17, Ch2 2:18.

Send me - a man cunning to work - A person of great ingenuity, who is capable of planning and directing, and who may be over the other artists.

SOLOMON'S LABORERS FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE. (Ch2 2:1-2) Solomon determined to build--The temple is the grand subject of this narrative, while the palace--here and in other parts of this book--is only incidentally noticed. The duty of building the temple was reserved for Solomon before his birth. As soon as he became king, he addressed himself to the work, and the historian, in proceeding to give an account of the edifice, begins with relating the preliminary arrangements.

Send me now therefore a man cunning to work--Masons and carpenters were not asked for. Those whom David had obtained (Ch1 14:1) were probably still remaining in Jerusalem, and had instructed others. But he required a master of works; a person capable, like Bezaleel (Exo 35:31), of superintending and directing every department; for, as the division of labor was at that time little known or observed, an overseer had to be possessed of very versatile talents and experience. The things specified, in which he was to be skilled, relate not to the building, but the furniture of the temple. Iron, which could not be obtained in the wilderness when the tabernacle was built, was now, through intercourse with the coast, plentiful and much used. The cloths intended for curtains were, from the crimson or scarlet-red and hyacinth colors named, evidently those stuffs, for the manufacture and dyeing of which the Tyrians were so famous. "The graving," probably, included embroidery of figures like cherubim in needlework, as well as wood carving of pomegranates and other ornaments.

The Building of the Temple - 2 Chronicles 3-5:1 (Cf. 1 Kings 6; 7:13-51.) The description of the building begins with a statement of the place where and of the time when the temple was built (Ch2 3:1-2). Then follows an account of the proportions of the building, a description of the individual parts, commencing on the outside and advancing inwards. First we have the porch (Ch2 3:3, Ch2 3:4), then the house, i.e., the interior apartment or the holy place (Ch2 3:5-7), then the holiest of all, and cherubim therein (Ch2 3:8-13), and the veil of partition between the holy place and the most holy (Ch2 3:14). After that we have the furniture of the court, the pillars of the porch (Ch2 3:15-17), the brazen altar (Ch2 4:1), the brazen sea (Ch2 4:2-5), the ten lavers (Ch2 4:6), the furniture of the holy place, candlesticks and tables (Ch2 4:7, Ch2 4:8), and of the two courts (Ch2 4:9, Ch2 4:10), and finally a summary enumeration of the brazen and golden utensils of the temple (Ch2 4:11, Ch2 4:12). The description in 1 Kings 6 and 7 is differently arranged; the divine promise which Solomon received while the building was in progress, and a description of the building of the palace, being inserted: see on 1 Kings 6 and 7.