11 And 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.' 12 And 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. 13 'And now, I have sent a wise man having understanding, of Huram my father, 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. 15 'And, now, the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, as my lord said, let him send to his servants, 16 and 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.' 17 And 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; 18 and 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.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Chronicles 2:11-18
Chapter Contents
Solomon's message to Huram respecting the temple, His treaty with Huram.
Solomon informs Huram of the particular services to be performed in the temple. The mysteries of the true religion, unlike those of the Gentile superstitions, sought not concealment. Solomon endeavoured to possess Huram with great and high thoughts of the God of Israel. We should not be afraid or ashamed to embrace every opportunity to speak of God, and to impress others with a deep sense of the importance of his favour and service. Now that the people of Israel kept close to the law and worship of God, the neighbouring nations were willing to be taught by them in the true religion, as the Israelites had been willing in the days of their apostacy, to be infected with the idolatries and superstitions of their neighbours. A wise and pious king is an evidence of the Lord's special love for his people. How great then was God's love to his believing people, in giving his only-begotten Son to be their Prince and their Saviour.