mh_parser/vol_split/14 - 2Chronicles/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="iiCh.iii" n="iii" next="iiCh.iv" prev="iiCh.ii" progress="79.83%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="iiCh.iii-p0.1">S E C O N D   C H R O N I C L E
S</h2>
<h3 id="iiCh.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iiCh.iii-p1">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, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.1-2Chr.2.2 Bible:2Chr.2.17 Bible:2Chr.2.18" parsed="|2Chr|2|1|2|2;|2Chr|2|17|0|0;|2Chr|2|18|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:1,2,17,18">ver. 1, 2, 17,
18</scripRef>. II. His request to Huram king of Tyre to furnish him
both with artists and materials, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.3-2Chr.2.10" parsed="|2Chr|2|3|2|10" passage="2Ch 2:3-10">ver. 3-10</scripRef>. III. Huram's obliging answer to,
and compliance with, his request, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.11-2Chr.2.16" parsed="|2Chr|2|11|2|16" passage="2Ch 2:11-16">ver. 11-16</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="iiCh.iii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2" parsed="|2Chr|2|0|0|0" passage="2Ch 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iiCh.iii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.1-2Chr.2.10" parsed="|2Chr|2|1|2|10" passage="2Ch 2:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.2.1-2Chr.2.10">
<h4 id="iiCh.iii-p1.6">Preparations to Build the
Temple. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p1.7">b. c.</span> 1015.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiCh.iii-p2">1 And Solomon determined to build a house for
the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p2.1">Lord</span>, and a house
for his kingdom.   2 And 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.
  3 And 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 a house to dwell therein, <i>even so deal with me.</i>
  4 Behold, I build a house to the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p2.2">Lord</span> my God, to dedicate <i>it</i> to him,
<i>and</i> to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual
showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the
sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p2.3">Lord</span> our God. This <i>is an
ordinance</i> for ever to Israel.   5 And the house which I
build <i>is</i> great: for great <i>is</i> our God above all gods.
  6 But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven
and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who <i>am</i> I then,
that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before
him?   7 Send 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 <i>are</i> with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my
father did provide.   8 Send 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 <i>shall
be</i> with thy servants,   9 Even to prepare me timber in
abundance: for the house which I am about to build <i>shall be</i>
wonderful great.   10 And, 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p3">Solomon's wisdom was given him, not merely
for speculation, to entertain himself (though it is indeed a
princely entertainment), nor merely for conversation, to entertain
his friends, but for action; and therefore to action he immediately
applies himself. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p4">I. His resolution within himself concerning
his business (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.1" parsed="|2Chr|2|1|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>):
<i>He determined to build,</i> in the first place, a <i>house for
the name of the Lord.</i> It is fit that he who is the first should
be served—first a temple and then a palace, a house not so much
for himself, or his own convenience and magnitude, as for the
kingdom, for the honour of it among its neighbours and for the
decent reception of the people whenever they had occasion to apply
to their prince; so that in both he aimed at the public good. Those
are the wisest men that lay out themselves most for the honour of
the name of the Lord and the welfare of communities. We are not
born for ourselves, but for God and our country.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p5">II. His embassy to Huram, king of Tyre, to
engage his assistance in the prosecution of his designs. The
purport of his errand to him is much the same here as we had it
<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.5.2-1Kgs.5.6" parsed="|1Kgs|5|2|5|6" passage="1Ki 5:2-6">1 Kings v. 2</scripRef>, &amp;c.,
only here it is more largely set forth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p6">1. The reasons why he makes this
application to Huram are here more fully represented, for
information to Huram as well as for inducement. (1.) He pleads his
father's interest in Huram, and the kindness he had received from
him (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.3" parsed="|2Chr|2|3|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>As
thou didst deal with David, so deal with me.</i> As we must show
kindness to, so we may expect kindness from, our fathers' friends,
and with them should cultivate a correspondence. (2.) He represents
his design in building the temple: he intended it for a place of
religious worship (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.4" parsed="|2Chr|2|4|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), that all the offerings which God had appointed for
the honour of his name might be offered up there. The house was
built that it might be dedicated to God and used in his service.
This we should aim at in all our business, that our havings and
doings may be all to the glory of God. He mentions various
particular services that were there to be performed, for the
instruction of Huram. The mysteries of the true religion, unlike
those of the Gentile superstition, coveted not concealment. (3.) He
endeavors to inspire Huram with very great and high thoughts of the
God of Israel, by expressing the mighty veneration he had for his
holy name: <i>Great is our God above all gods,</i> above all idols,
above all princes. Idols are nothing, princes are little, and both
under the control of the God of Israel; and therefore, [1.] "The
house must be great; not in proportion to the greatness of that God
to whom it is to be dedicated (for between finite and infinite
there can be no proportion), but in some proportion to the great
value and esteem we have for this God." [2.] "Yet, be it ever so
great, it cannot be a habitation for the great God. Let not Huram
think that the God of Israel, like the gods of the nations,
<i>dwells in temples made with hands,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.24" parsed="|Acts|17|24|0|0" passage="Ac 17:24">Acts xvii. 24</scripRef>. No, the <i>heaven of heavens
cannot contain him.</i> It is intended only for the convenience of
his priests and worshippers, that they may have a fit place wherein
to burn sacrifice before him." [3.] He looked upon himself, though
a mighty prince, as unworthy the honour of being employed in this
great work: <i>Who am I that I should build him a house?</i> It
becomes us to go about every work for God with a due sense of our
utter insufficiency for it and our incapacity to do any thing
adequate to the divine perfections. It is part of the wisdom
wherein we ought to walk towards those that are without carefully
to guard against all misapprehension which any thing we say or do
may occasion concerning God; so Solomon does here in his treaty
with Huram.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p7">2. The requests he makes to him are more
particularly set down here. (1.) He desired Huram would furnish him
with a good hand to work (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.7" parsed="|2Chr|2|7|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): <i>Send me a man.</i> He had <i>cunning men</i> with
him in Jerusalem and Judah, whom David provided, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.22.15" parsed="|1Chr|22|15|0|0" passage="1Ch 22:15">1 Chron. xxii. 15</scripRef>. Let them not think but
that Jews had some among them that were artists. But "<i>send me a
man</i> to direct them. There are ingenious men in Jerusalem, but
not such engravers as are in Tyre; and therefore, since temple-work
must be the best in its kind, let me have the best workmen that can
be got." (2.) With good materials to work on (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.8" parsed="|2Chr|2|8|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), cedar and other timber in
abundance (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.8-2Chr.2.9" parsed="|2Chr|2|8|2|9" passage="2Ch 2:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8,
9</scripRef>); for the house must be <i>wonderfully great,</i> that
is, very stately and magnificent, no cost must be spared, nor any
contrivance wanting in it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p8">3. Here is Solomon's engagement to maintain
the workmen (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.10" parsed="|2Chr|2|10|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>),
to give them so much wheat and barley, so much wine and oil. He did
not feed his workmen with bread and water, but with plenty, and
every thing of the best. Those that employ labourers ought to take
care they be not only well paid, but well provided for with
sufficient of that which is wholesome and fit for them. Let the
rich masters do for their poor workmen as they would be done by if
the tables were turned.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiCh.iii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.11-2Chr.2.18" parsed="|2Chr|2|11|2|18" passage="2Ch 2:11-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.2.11-2Chr.2.18">
<h4 id="iiCh.iii-p8.3">Solomon's Treaty with Hiram. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p8.4">b. c.</span> 1015.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiCh.iii-p9">11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in
writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p9.1">Lord</span> hath loved his people, he hath made thee
king over them.   12 Huram said moreover, Blessed <i>be</i>
the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p9.2">Lord</span> 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 a house
for the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.iii-p9.3">Lord</span>, and a house for his
kingdom.   13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with
understanding, of Huram my father's,   14 The son of a woman
of the daughters of Dan, and his father <i>was</i> 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.   15 Now
therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which
my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants:   16
And 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.   17 And Solomon numbered all
the strangers that <i>were</i> in the land of Israel, after the
numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they
were found a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six
hundred.   18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them
<i>to be</i> bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand <i>to
be</i> hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred
overseers to set the people a work.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p10">Here we have, I. The return which Huram
made to Solomon's embassy, in which he shows a great respect for
Solomon and a readiness to serve him. Meaner people may learn of
these great ones to be neighbourly and complaisant. 1. He
congratulates Israel on having such a king as Solomon was
(<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.11" parsed="|2Chr|2|11|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>Because
the Lord loved his people, he has made thee king.</i> Note, A wise
and good government is a great blessing to a people, and may well
be accounted a singular token of God's favour. He does not say,
<i>Because he loved</i> thee (though that was true, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.12.24" parsed="|2Sam|12|24|0|0" passage="2Sa 12:24">2 Sam. xii. 24</scripRef>) <i>he made thee
king,</i> but because he <i>loved his people.</i> Princes must look
upon themselves as preferred for the public good, not for their own
personal satisfaction, and should rule so as to prove that they
were given in love and not in anger. 2. He blesses God for raising
up such a successor to David, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.12" parsed="|2Chr|2|12|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. It should seem that Huram was
not only very well affected to the Jewish nation, and well pleased
with their prosperity, but that he was proselyted to the Jewish
religion, and worshipped Jehovah, <i>the God of Israel</i> (who was
now known by that name to the neighbouring nations), as <i>the God
that made heaven and earth,</i> and as the fountain of power as
well as being; for he sets up kings. Now that the people of Israel
kept close to the law and worship of God, and so preserved their
honour, the neighbouring nations were as willing to be instructed
by them in the true religion as Israel had been, in the days of
their apostasy, to be infected with the idolatries and
superstitions of their neighbours. This made them high, that they
lent to many nations and did not borrow, lent truth to them, and
did not borrow error from them; as when they did the contrary it
was their shame. 3. He sent him a very ingenious curious workman,
that would not fail to answer his expectations in every thing, one
that had both Jewish and Gentile blood meeting in him; for his
mother was an Israelite (Huram thought she was of the tribe of Dan,
and therefore says so here, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.14" parsed="|2Chr|2|14|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>, but it seems she was of the tribe of Naphtali,
<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.7.14" parsed="|1Kgs|7|14|0|0" passage="1Ki 7:14">1 Kings vii. 14</scripRef>), but his
father was a Tyrian—a good omen of uniting Jew and Gentile in the
gospel temple, as it was afterwards when the building of the second
temple was greatly furthered by Darius (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.6.1-Ezra.6.12" parsed="|Ezra|6|1|6|12" passage="Ezr 6:1-12">Ezra vi.</scripRef>), who is supposed to have been the
son of Esther—an Israelite by the mother's side. 4. He engaged for
the timber, as much as he would have occasion for, and undertook to
deliver it at Joppa, and withal signified his dependence upon
Solomon for the maintenance of the workmen as he had promised,
<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.7" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.15-2Chr.2.16" parsed="|2Chr|2|15|2|16" passage="2Ch 2:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15, 16</scripRef>. This
agreement we had, <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p10.8" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.5.8-1Kgs.5.9" parsed="|1Kgs|5|8|5|9" passage="1Ki 5:8,9">1 Kings v. 8,
9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.iii-p11">II. The orders which Solomon gave about the
workmen. He would not employ the free-born Israelites in the
drudgery work of the temple itself, not so much as to be overseers
of it. In this he employed the strangers who were proselyted to the
Jewish religion, who had not lands of inheritance in Canaan as the
Israelites had, and therefore applied to trades, and got their
living by their ingenuity and industry. There were, at this time,
vast numbers of them in the land (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.17" parsed="|2Chr|2|17|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), who, if they were of any of
the devoted nations, perhaps fell within the case, and therefore
fell under the law, of the Gibeonites, to be hewers of wood for the
congregation: if not, yet being in many respects well provided for
by the law of Moses, and put upon an equal footing with the native
Israelites, they were bound in gratitude to do what they could for
the service of the temple. Yet, no doubt, they were well paid in
money or money's worth: the law was, <i>Thou shalt not oppress a
stranger.</i> The distribution of them we have here (<scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.2" parsed="|2Chr|2|2|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>, and again <scripRef id="iiCh.iii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.2.18" parsed="|2Chr|2|18|0|0" passage="2Ch 2:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>), in all 150,000. Canaan
was a fruitful land, that found meat for so many mouths more than
the numerous natives; and the temple was a vast building, that
found work for so many hands. Mr. Fuller suggests that the
expedient peculiar to this structure, of framing all beforehand,
must needs increase the work. I think it rather left so much the
more room for this vast multitude of hands to be employed in it;
for in the forest of Lebanon they might all be at work together,
without crowding one another, which they could not have been upon
Mount Sion. And, if there had not been such vast numbers employed,
so large and curious a fabric, which was begun and ended in seven
years, might, for aught I know, have been as long in building as
St. Paul's.</p>
</div></div2>