2 Crônicas 2

ARC · Chapter 2/36

1E determinou Salomão edificar uma casa ao nome do Senhor, como tambem uma casa para o seu reino.

2E contou Salomão setenta mil homens de carga, e oitenta mil, que cortassem na montanha: e tres mil e seiscentos inspectores sobre elles.

3E Salomão enviou a Hurão, rei de Tyro, dizendo: Como usaste com David meu pae, e lhe mandaste cedros, para edificar-se uma casa em que morasse, assim tambem usa comigo.

4Eis-que estou para edificar uma casa ao nome do Senhor meu Deus, para lhe consagrar, para queimar perante elle incenso aromatico, e para o pão continuo da proposição, e para os holocaustos da manhã e da tarde, para os sabbados, e para as luas novas, e para as festividades do Senhor nosso Deus: o que é perpetuamente a obrigação d'Israel.

5E a casa que estou para edificar ha de ser grande; porque o nosso Deus é maior do que todos os deuses.

6Porém quem teria a força, para lhe edificar uma casa? visto que os céus e até os céus dos céus o não podem conter: e quem sou eu, que lhe edificasse casa, salvo para queimar incenso perante elle?

7Manda-me pois agora um homem sabio para obrar em oiro, e em prata, e em bronze, e em ferro, e em purpura, e em carmezim, e em azul; e que saiba lavrar ao buril, juntamente com os sabios que estão comigo em Judah e em Jerusalem, os quaes David meu pae preparou.

8Manda-me tambem madeira de cedros, faias, e algums do Libano; porque bem sei eu que os teus servos sabem cortar madeira no Libano; e eis-que os meus servos estarão com os teus servos.

9E isso para prepararem muita madeira; porque a casa que estou para fazer ha de ser grande e maravilhosa.

10E eis-que a teus servos, os cortadores, que cortarem a madeira, darei vinte mil coros de trigo malhado, e vinte mil coros de cevada, e vinte mil batos de vinho, e vinte mil batos d'azeite.

11E Hurão, rei de Tyro, respondeu por escripto, e enviou a Salomão, dizendo: Porquanto o Senhor ama o seu povo, te poz sobre elle rei.

12Disse mais Hurão; Bemdito seja o Senhor Deus d'Israel, que fez os céus e a terra; o que deu ao rei David um filho sabio, de grande prudencia e entendimento, que edifique casa ao Senhor, e para o seu reino.

13Agora pois envio um homem sabio de grande entendimento, a saber Hurão Abihu,

14Filho d'uma mulher das filhas de Dan, e cujo pae foi homem de Tyro; este sabe lavrar em oiro, e em prata, em bronze, em ferro, em pedras e em madeira, em purpura, em azul, e em linho fino, e em carmezim, e é capaz para toda a obra do buril, e para todas as engenhosas invenções, qualquer coisa que se lhe propuzer, juntamente com os teus sabios, e os sabios de David, meu senhor, teu pae.

15Agora pois, meu senhor, mande para os seus servos o trigo, e a cevada, e o azeite, e o vinho, de que fallou.

16E nós cortaremos tanta madeira no Libano, quanta houveres mister, e t'a traremos em jangadas pelo mar a Japho, e tu a farás subir a Jerusalem.

17E Salomão contou a todos os homens estranhos, que havia na terra d'Israel, conforme a conta com que os contara David seu pae: e acharam-se cento e cincoenta e tres mil e seiscentos.

18E fez d'elles setenta mil carreteiros, e oitenta mil cortadores na montanha: como tambem tres mil e seiscentos inspectores, para fazerem trabalhar o povo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Solomon plans the construction of the temple and sends a message to Hiram, king of Tyre, asking for cedar wood and a skilled craftsman. Hiram responds favorably, praising Solomon's wisdom and sending the requested resources and craftsman.

Explanation

The international cooperation depicted here shows that building the temple was not an isolated project, but involved trade, diplomacy, and technical knowledge shared between neighboring nations. Hiram, a pagan king, publicly acknowledges the greatness of the God of Israel, saying, 'Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth' — another example of how Israel's faith made an impression even on foreigners. The craftsman sent, Huram-Abi, had a mixed heritage (an Israelite mother, a father from Tyre), symbolizing how advanced technical skills often came from cultural exchange rather than isolation.

Fun facts

  • The city of Tyre, in present-day Lebanon, was famous in antiquity for its excellence in navigation, maritime trade, and cedar woodworking, making it one of the most important commercial powers of the eastern Mediterranean.
  • The number of workers mobilized for the project — 70,000 carriers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills — gives a sense of the magnitude of the temple's construction, comparable to the great building projects of empires of that era.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Crônicas 2:1Solomon decides to build two projects at the same time: a house for the name of the Lord (the temple) and a palace for himself — the project that dominates the chapters that follow.
  2. 2 Crônicas 2:2Seventy thousand carriers, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains, and over three thousand overseers: that is the size of the operation Solomon sets up just to gather material and labor before he even starts building the temple.
  3. 2 Crônicas 2:3Solomon asks Huram of Tyre for help the same way David, his father, had asked before — showing that this trade partnership between the two courts goes back a long way.
  4. 2 Crônicas 2:4Solomon explains to Huram what the temple is for: incense, the showbread, daily sacrifices, sabbaths, new moons, and feasts — Israel’s entire calendar of worship depends on this building.
  5. 2 Crônicas 2:5Solomon justifies the temple’s ambitious size with simple logic: since his God is greater than any other god, the house must be great too.
  6. 2 Crônicas 2:6In the middle of his own request for help, Solomon admits that no building can truly “contain” God — he is only asking for a place to burn incense before Him.
  7. 2 Crônicas 2:7Solomon asks Huram for a craftsman skilled in metals, colored fabrics, and carving — qualified labor that Israel did not have, but Tyre did.
  8. 2 Crônicas 2:8Besides the craftsman, Solomon asks for cedar and other timber from Lebanon, admitting that Tyre’s workers are better at that kind of cutting than his own.
  9. 2 Crônicas 2:9Solomon repeats that the work will be great and “wonderful” — stressing the project’s scale to justify the request for so much material and labor.
  10. 2 Crônicas 2:10As payment for the work, Solomon offers an enormous quantity of wheat, barley, wine, and oil to Tyre’s woodcutters — the deal is commercial, not a free favor.
  11. 2 Crônicas 2:11Huram answers by letter accepting the request, opening with a compliment: the reason Solomon is king is God’s love for His own people, Israel.
  12. 2 Crônicas 2:12Huram blesses the Lord, the God of Israel, acknowledging that it was He who gave David a wise son capable of building both the temple and the kingdom itself.
  13. 2 Crônicas 2:13Huram announces that he is sending the requested craftsman, called Huram-abi — a name that appears in two slightly different forms between Chronicles and Kings.
  14. 2 Crônicas 2:14This craftsman is the son of an Israelite mother (from the tribe of Dan) and a father from Tyre, and he masters practically every kind of artistic work — metals, stone, wood, colored fabrics, carving.
  15. 2 Crônicas 2:15Huram asks Solomon to keep his end of the deal and send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine that were agreed on.
  16. 2 Crônicas 2:16The logistical plan is to cut the timber in Lebanon, raft it by sea to the port of Joppa, and from there Solomon takes charge of hauling it inland to Jerusalem.
  17. 2 Crônicas 2:17This census of more than one hundred fifty thousand foreigners living in Israel — descendants of the peoples already in the land before the conquest — shows where much of the construction’s heavy labor came from. As with other counts in the book, such high numbers spark debate among scholars over the best way to read them.
  18. 2 Crônicas 2:18This verse repeats, with identical numbers, the organization of foreign labor already described at the start of the chapter — carriers, stonecutters, and overseers.

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