Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Solomon assigns 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters for the construction of the temple; he makes an agreement with Hiram concerning a distinguished architect and timber to be sent.
Vulgate Text: 2 Paralipomenon 2:1-18
1. And Solomon resolved to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself. 2. And he counted seventy thousand men to carry burdens on their shoulders, and eighty thousand to cut stones in the mountains, and overseers of them three thousand six hundred. 3. He also sent to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar wood that he might build himself a house, in which he also dwelt, 4. so do with me, that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my God, that I may consecrate it for burning incense before Him, and for the fumigation of aromatics, and for the perpetual setting forth of the showbread, and for the holocausts morning and evening, and on sabbaths, and on new moons, and on the solemnities of the Lord our God forever, which are commanded to Israel. 5. For the house which I desire to build is great, for our God is great above all gods. 6. Who then can prevail to build Him a worthy house? If heaven and the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him, how great am I, that I should be able to build Him a house? But only for this purpose, that incense may be burned before Him. 7. Send me therefore a skilled man, who knows how to work in gold, and silver, bronze, and iron, purple, scarlet, and violet, and who knows how to engrave carvings, along with the craftsmen whom I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father prepared. 8. Send me also cedar wood, and juniper, and pine from Lebanon; for I know that your servants know how to cut timber from Lebanon, and my servants shall be with your servants, 9. that abundant timber may be prepared for me. For the house which I desire to build is exceedingly great and renowned. 10. Moreover, to the workmen who shall cut the timber, your servants, I will give as provisions twenty thousand measures of wheat, and as many measures of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and also twenty thousand measures of oil. 11. And Hiram king of Tyre said by letter, which he had sent to Solomon: Because the Lord has loved His people, therefore He has made you to reign over them. 12. And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has given to king David a wise, and learned, and prudent, and discerning son, that he might build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself. 13. I have therefore sent you a prudent and most skillful man, Hiram, my father, 14. the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knows how to work in gold and silver, bronze, and iron, and marble, and wood, in purple also and violet, and fine linen, and scarlet; and who knows how to engrave every kind of sculpture and to devise skillfully whatever is needed in the work, along with your craftsmen, and with the craftsmen of my lord David your father. 15. The wheat therefore, and barley, and oil, and wine, which you have promised, my lord, send to your servants. 16. And we will cut timber from Lebanon, as many as you shall need, and we will bring them in rafts by sea to Joppa; and it shall be your part to transport them to Jerusalem. 17. Solomon therefore numbered all the proselyte men who were in the land of Israel, after the enumeration which David his father had made, and there were found one hundred and fifty thousand, and three thousand six hundred. 18. And he made of them seventy thousand to carry burdens on their shoulders, and eighty thousand to cut stones in the mountains; and three thousand six hundred overseers of the people's works.
I have explained this chapter in 3 Kings chapter V.
Verse 2: He Numbered Seventy Thousand Men
2. He numbered seventy thousand men. — These were not Israelites, but proselytes, as is clear from verse 17. OVERSEERS — who would direct, and at the same time urge the workers to hasten the building of the temple and to adorn it elegantly; for this is what the Hebrew word natsach signifies.
Verse 13: Hiram My Father
13. HIRAM MY FATHER — whom, that is to say, I venerate as a father on account of his virtue, wisdom, and industry. See what was said in 3 Kings chapter VII, verse 13. — The Hebrew, Septuagint, and Chaldean have: Hiram of my father, that is to say, the architect and servant [of my father].