The big picture
Building God's house now becomes a set of requests and assigned tasks. Solomon, king of Israel, God's people, writes to Huram, king of the coastal city of Tyre. His father David had received timber from the same royal partner. Solomon needs wood and skill, but he also explains why the house is being built. It will serve worship; even the highest heaven cannot hold the God to whom it is dedicated.
In this chapter
- A Great House Cannot Contain God 2 Chronicles 2:1-6
Solomon plans both God's house and a royal house.
- Timber and Skilled Workers Are Requested 2 Chronicles 2:7-10
Solomon asks Huram for a craftsman skilled in metals, dyed cloth and engraving.
- Huram Promises Skill and Sea Transport 2 Chronicles 2:11-16
Huram replies in writing and blesses Israel's God as maker of heaven and earth.
- Foreign Residents Receive the Heavy Work 2 Chronicles 2:17-18
Solomon counts the foreign residents living in Israel, following David's earlier count of them.
Central truth
Solomon gathers skilled help and labour for a great house of worship while admitting that no building can contain God.
Scripture beside the summary
2 Chronicles · King James Version · 182 Chronicles 2:1-6
A Great House Cannot Contain God
Solomon plans both God's house and a royal house. He assigns carriers, stonecutters and overseers, then asks Huram for the kind of help given to David. The temple will hold incense, sacred bread and offerings at daily and yearly times. Solomon says it must be great because God is greater than all gods. Yet he knows that even heaven cannot contain God. He asks who he is to build such a house. Its purpose is to offer worship before God, not to put God inside walls that limit him.
In everyday life
The observatory director plans a room for studying the night sky. She chooses good instruments but reminds the builders that the room cannot contain what it helps people examine. Its scale must serve its purpose without pretending to master the subject. Solomon's house is for worship of God, whose greatness exceeds even the heavens.
Notice
2 Chronicles 2:6 Solomon questions his own ability to build for God while still planning the work. The house has a worship purpose without being a container for God's presence.
2 Chronicles 2:1-6
King James Version1And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.
2And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.
3And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.
4Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.
5And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.
6But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?
2 Chronicles 2:7-10
Timber and Skilled Workers Are Requested
Solomon asks Huram for a craftsman skilled in metals, dyed cloth and engraving. This man will work with the skilled people David has already provided. Solomon also asks for several kinds of timber from Lebanon, the wooded region where Huram's servants cut trees. His own workers will help them prepare enough wood for the large building. In return, he promises wheat, barley, wine and oil for the cutters. The request joins the desired materials with the people and food needed to obtain them. A grand plan still depends on supplied workers.
In everyday life
A furniture maker places an order for seasoned timber and asks a specialist to join the carving team. She adds meals and lodging to the budget before the workers arrive. Skill cannot be treated as though it appears without people who need support. The project depends on both hands and supplies. Solomon's request serves a house dedicated to God.
Notice
2 Chronicles 2:10 The promised food and drink are directed to the timber cutters. Solomon's request accounts for the workers' needs alongside the wood required by the building.
2 Chronicles 2:7-10
King James Version7Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
8Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
9Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.
10And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
2 Chronicles 2:11-16
Huram Promises Skill and Sea Transport
Huram replies in writing and blesses Israel's God as maker of heaven and earth. He sees Solomon's wise rule as a sign of God's love for the people. He sends a craftsman with family ties to Dan, an Israelite tribe, and Tyre. The man can work in many materials and devise intricate work. Huram accepts the promised food and offers to float timber by sea to Joppa, a port. Solomon must carry it inland to Jerusalem. The reply provides both expertise and a route for the heavy materials.
In everyday life
The freight broker confirms a supplier's offer and traces each stage on a wall map. A sea carrier will reach the port, but the buyer must arrange the inland trucks. Naming that boundary prevents a costly gap between delivery and use. Cooperation needs a clear handoff. Huram also praises Israel's God and supplies temple craftsmanship.
Notice
2 Chronicles 2:16 The timber's route ends at the port for Huram's men. Solomon's part begins with carrying it inland, so the agreement states where one group's duty meets the other's.
2 Chronicles 2:11-16
King James Version11Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.
12Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.
13And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s,
14The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.
15Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:
16And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 2:17-18
Foreign Residents Receive the Heavy Work
Solomon counts the foreign residents living in Israel, following David's earlier count of them. The total is one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred. He assigns seventy thousand to carrying loads and eighty thousand to cutting stone in the mountains. The remaining thirty-six hundred oversee the work. The list describes a vast labour force organised under royal command. It does not say these residents volunteered. The temple project relies not only on honoured craftsmen but also on many people doing heavy work, with a smaller group appointed to direct them.
In everyday life
The labour inspector reads a construction roster and asks who has been assigned to the heaviest jobs. The finished building's drawings say little about the people carrying loads each day. She checks duties and supervision before praising the project's scale. The workforce deserves attention as well as the design. Solomon assigns foreign residents through royal authority.
Notice
2 Chronicles 2:18 The total is divided into carriers, stonecutters and overseers. Naming each group makes heavy labour visible. A claim that the temple was built would leave those workers unseen.
2 Chronicles 2:17-18
King James Version17And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.
18And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
2 Chronicles 2:1 begins with “And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and an house for his kingdom.”
Where the chapter turns
2 Chronicles 2:11 forms a natural hinge: “Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them.”
The final note
2 Chronicles 2:18 leaves the reader with “And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words house, build, LORD, cunning, David, father help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
