11 And Huram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because Jehovah loved his people, he made thee king over them. 12 And Huram said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, that made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and a house for his kingdom. 13 And now, I send a skilful man, endued with understanding, Huram Abi, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and whose father was a man of Tyre, experienced in working in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in byssus, and in crimson, and for doing any manner of engraving, and for inventing every device which shall be put to him, besides thy skilful men, and the skilful men of my lord David thy father. 15 And now 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 were in the land of Israel, after the account that David his father had taken of them, and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 And he set seventy thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand to be stone-masons in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set 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.