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2 CHR ONICL ES 3
page 385
the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at
the standard price. 17 At that time chariots from
Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver,* and horses for 150 pieces of silver.* They
were then exported to the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of Aram.
Preparations for Building the Temple
1*Solomon decided to build a Temple to
honor the name of the Lord, and also a
royal palace for himself. 2*He enlisted a force of
70,000 laborers, 80,000 men to quarry stone in
the hill country, and 3,600 foremen.
3 Solomon also sent this message to King Hiram* at Tyre:
2
“Send me cedar logs as you did for my
father, David, when he was building his
palace. 4 I am about to build a Temple to
honor the name of the Lord my God. It will
be a place set apart to burn fragrant incense
before him, to display the special sacrificial
bread, and to sacrifice burnt offerings each
morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at
new moon celebrations, and at the other
appointed festivals of the Lord our God. He
has commanded Israel to do these things
forever.
5 “This must be a magnificent Temple
because our God is greater than all other
gods. 6 But who can really build him a
worthy home? Not even the highest heavens
can contain him! So who am I to consider
building a Temple for him, except as a place
to burn sacrifices to him?
7 “So send me a master craftsman who
can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron,
as well as with purple, scarlet, and blue
cloth. He must be a skilled engraver who
can work with the craftsmen of Judah and
Jerusalem who were selected by my father,
David.
8 “Also send me cedar, cypress, and red
sandalwood* logs from Lebanon, for I know
that your men are without equal at cutting
timber in Lebanon. I will send my men to
help them. 9 An immense amount of timber
1:17a Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or
6.8 kilograms in weight. 1:17b Hebrew 150 [shekels], about
3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight. 2:1 Verse 2:1 is numbered
1:18 in Hebrew text. 2:2 Verses 2:2-18 are numbered 2:1-17 in
Hebrew text. 2:3 Hebrew Huram, a variant spelling of Hiram;
also in 2:11. 2:8 Or juniper; Hebrew reads algum, perhaps a
variant spelling of almug; compare 9:10-11 and parallel text
at 1 Kgs 10:11-12. 2:10a Hebrew 20,000 cors [4,400 kiloliters]
of crushed wheat, 20,000 cors of barley. 2:10b Hebrew
20,000 baths [420 kiloliters] of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive
oil. 2:16 Hebrew the sea. 3:1 Hebrew reads Ornan, a variant
spelling of Araunah; compare 2 Sam 24:16. 3:2 Hebrew on the
second [day] of the second month. This day of the ancient
Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in April or May. 3:3a The
“old standard of measurement” was a cubit equal to 18 inches
[46 centimeters]. The new standard was a cubit of approximately
21 inches [53 centimeters]. 3:3b Hebrew 60 cubits [27.6 meters]
long and 20 cubits [9.2 meters] wide. 3:4a Hebrew 20 cubits
[9.2 meters]; also in 3:8, 11, 13. 3:4b As in some Greek and
Syriac manuscripts, which read 20 cubits [9.2 meters]; Hebrew
reads 120 [cubits], which is 180 feet or 55 meters.
will be needed, for the Temple I am going
to build will be very large and magnificent.
10 In payment for your woodcutters, I will
send 100,000 bushels of crushed wheat,
100,000 bushels of barley,* 110,000 gallons
of wine, and 110,000 gallons of olive oil.*”
11 King Hiram sent this letter of reply to Solomon:
“It is because the Lord loves his people
that he has made you their king! 12 Praise
the Lord, the God of Israel, who made the
heavens and the earth! He has given King
David a wise son, gifted with skill and
understanding, who will build a Temple
for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.
13 “I am sending you a master craftsman
named Huram-abi, who is extremely
talented. 14 His mother is from the tribe
of Dan in Israel, and his father is from
Tyre. He is skillful at making things from
gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and he also
works with stone and wood. He can work
with purple, blue, and scarlet cloth and
fine linen. He is also an engraver and
can follow any design given to him. He
will work with your craftsmen and those
appointed by my lord David, your father.
15 “Send along the wheat, barley, olive oil,
and wine that my lord has mentioned. 16 We
will cut whatever timber you need from the
Lebanon mountains and will float the logs
in rafts down the coast of the Mediterranean
Sea* to Joppa. From there you can transport
the logs up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon took a census of all foreigners in
the land of Israel, like the census his father had
taken, and he counted 153,600. 18 He assigned
70,000 of them as common laborers, 80,000 as
quarry workers in the hill country, and 3,600 as
foremen.
Solomon Builds the Temple
So Solomon began to build the Temple of
the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah,
where the Lord had appeared to David, his
father. The Temple was built on the threshing
floor of Araunah* the Jebusite, the site that
David had selected. 2 The construction began in
midspring,* during the fourth year of Solomon’s
reign.
3 These are the dimensions Solomon used for
the foundation of the Temple of God (using the
old standard of measurement).* It was 90 feet
long and 30 feet wide.* 4 The entry room at the
front of the Temple was 30 feet* wide, running across the entire width of the Temple,
and 30 feet* high. He overlaid the inside with
pure gold.
5 He paneled the main room of the Temple
with cypress wood, overlaid it with fine gold,
3