1 Kings 7:14

He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:13-47 The two brazen pillars in the porch of the temple, some think, were to teach those that came to worship, to depend upon God only, for strength and establishment in all their religious exercises. Jachin, God will fix this roving mind. It is good that the heart be established with grace. Boaz, In him is our strength, who works in us both to will and to do. Spiritual strength and stability are found at the door of God's temple, where we must wait for the gifts of grace, in use of the means of grace. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in the laver of Christ's blood, and of regeneration. We must wash often, for we daily contract pollution. There are full means provided for our cleansing; so that if we have our lot for ever among the unclean it will be our own fault. Let us bless God for the fountain opened by the sacrifice of Christ for sin and for uncleanness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Hiram's mother, while by birth of the tribe of Dan, had had for her first husband a man of the tribe of Naphtali. (Compare this verse and margin reference.)

All his work - The work that he personally did for Solomon seems to have been limited to metal-work, and indeed to works in brass. (See below, 1 Kings 7:45, and compare 2 Chronicles 4:16.)

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali—In 2Ch 2:14 his mother is said to have been of the daughters of Dan. The apparent discrepancy may be reconciled thus: Hiram's mother, though belonging to the tribe of Dan, had been married to a Naphtalite, so that when married afterwards to a Tyrian, she might be described as a widow of the tribe of Naphtali. Or, if she was a native of the city Dan (Laish), she might be said to be of the daughters of Dan, as born in that place; and of the tribe of Naphtali, as really belonging to it.

a worker in brass—This refers particularly to the works described in this chapter. But in 2Ch 2:13 his artistic skill is represented as extending to a great variety of departments. In fact, he was appointed, from his great natural talents and acquired skill, to superintend the execution of all the works of art in the temple.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

A widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali.

Object. She was one of the daughters of Dan, 2 Chronicles 2:14.

Answ. So indeed Hiram king of Tyre there affirms; but he might easily mistake or be misinformed, especially being no Israelite, nor a careful observer of the distinction of tribes. Or she might be of Dan by her father, and of Naphtali by her mother, or by her husband, who was of that tribe, and therefore she was truly

a widow of Naphtali. His father was a man of Tyre; either by his descent, being a Tyrian by birth; or by education and habitation, he or his father being given to the study of these arts, and having planted themselves at Tyre for their improvement therein. However that was, it was a singular providence of God, that there was at that time so excellent a workman fit for so great and glorious works.

All works in brass, and of gold, and stone, and purple, and blue, &c., as is affirmed, 2 Chronicles 2:14. But only his skill in brass is here mentioned, because he speaks only of the brazen things which he made.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali,.... In 2 Chronicles 2:14, his mother is said to be of the daughters of Dan, as she might be, and yet her son of the tribe of Naphtali; for either she was of the city of Dan, which is placed in the tribe of Naphtali (m), or her mother was of the tribe of Dan; and therefore she is said to be of the daughters of Dan, when her father was of the tribe of Naphtali, as it is expressed by the Targum on 2 Chronicles 2:14, and in which way most of the Jewish commentators reconcile this; or she was of Dan, and her husband of Naphtali besides, if there was any mistake, it must be ascribed, not to the sacred historians, but to the king of Tyre, whose words they are in the above place, and who might not be so well acquainted with the tribe this man and his parents were of:

and his father was a man of Tyre; not a Tyrian by birth, but one who had dwelt there a while, and therefore so called, as Obededom, for a like reason, is called the Gittite:

a worker in brass; and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass; which might be true both of the father and of the son, and especially of the son, who had improved upon his father's knowledge and instructions; and who was skilful to work in other things besides brass, as gold, silver, iron, stone, timber, purple, blue and fine linen, crimson, and all sorts of engraving, and every device that could be put to him by the most ingenious workmen that either David or Solomon had, 2 Chronicles 2:14, but this is only mentioned, because it was in such work he was only employed by Solomon; and it seems, by the mode of expression, that, besides his natural genius, and his diligence and industry, he was filled with wisdom from God more immediately for this service, as Bezaleel and Aholiab were for the service of the tabernacle:

and he came to King Solomon, and wrought all his work; in brass, as follows.

(m) Vid. Adrichom. Theat. T. S. p. 105. Fuller's Pisgah-Sight, 107.

Geneva Study Bible

He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and {i} he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.

(i) Thus when God will have his glory set forth, he raises up men, and gives them excellent gifts for the accomplishment of the same, Ex 31:2,3.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. He was a widow’s son] The Hebrew says the son of a widow woman and there is no reason why the literal expression should be relegated to the margin, as in A. V.

of the tribe of Naphtali] In 2 Chronicles 2:14 he is called ‘the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan.’ The two may be reconciled if we suppose the woman to have belonged to Dan, and her first husband to have been of the tribe of Naphtali.

a worker in brass] This had been the trade of the father, which his son followed and in which he gained such distinction. There seems to have been a fitness in the circumstance that Hiram, by birth half an Israelite, should be employed on the work of Solomon’s temple.

and he was filled with wisdom] Compare the similar language used (Exodus 31:3; Exodus 36:1) about Bezaleel and Aholiab. Only in that place there is added to the qualifications ‘the spirit of God.’

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - He was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali [In 2 Chronicles 2:14 he is described as the "son of a woman of the daughters of Daniel" The discrepancy is only apparent. For in the first place it is not absolutely necessary to understand by Dan the tribe of that name. It may well refer to the town, formerly Leshem (Joshua 19:47), or Laish (Judges 18:7, 27), colonised by the Danites, and thenceforward bearing their name (ver. 29), which was situated within the borders of Naphtali. If, however, it is preferred to see in the "daughters of Dan" a tribal reference, we may suppose (with Keil, al.) that the woman was originally a Danite, but became, through her first husband, "of the tribe of Naphtali." But the first explanation is the more simple and obvious], and his father was a man of Tyre [i.e., Hiram was the son (not stepson, or adopted son, as the Rabbins) of a mixed marriage. In earlier times Laish had but little intercourse with the Zidonians (Judges 18:28). It is nowhere stated that the inhabitants were of Phoenician extraction; nor can it be justly inferred from this passage], a worker in brass [or copper. Brass is a compound of copper and zinc; but נְחשֶׁת originally and strictly signifies a pure metal (Deuteronomy 8:9; Deuteronomy 33:25, etc.; Job 28:2). There were copper mines in Palestine, and the art of working this metal was known at a very remote period (Genesis 4:22, Hebrews, and see Wilkinson's "Ancient Egypt," vol. 3. p. 243; and De Rougemont, "Age du Bronze," p. 180). In later times the word sometimes denoted brass (χαλκός), or copper-bronze Ca mixture of copper and tin). Cf. Jeremiah 6:28. From 2 Chronicles 2:14 we learn that Hiram was "skilful to work in gold and in silver in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber," etc. From the mention of brass only in this passage, and in ver. 45, it has been somewhat hastily concluded that "the work that he personally did for Solomon" was "limited to works in brass" (Rawlinson). It is, perhaps, safer to say that brass only is mentioned here, because the following section treats exclusively of the brazen ornaments, etc., of the sanctuary (Keil). It would almost seem, however (see note on ver. 48), as if he was not employed to make the vessels of gold. Nor does this supposition really contradict the statement made below, viz., that he wrought all Solomon's work]: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning [or knowledge, as the same word is rendered Exodus 31:3, where similar language is used of Bezaleel. It is noticeable, however, that the words "filled with the spirit of God," used of the Hebrew, are not applied to the Tyrian workman] to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon [probably with a considerable number of assistants], and wrought all his work. 1 Kings 7:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Metallic Vessels of the Temple (compare 2 Chronicles 2:13-14, and 3:15-5:1). - 1 Kings 7:13, 1 Kings 7:14. To make these vessels king Hiram had sent to Solomon, at his request (2 Chronicles 2:6), a workman named Hiram of Tyre. 1 Kings 7:13 contains a supplementary remark, in which ויּשׁלח must be rendered in the pluperfect (compare the remarks on Genesis 2:19). King Solomon had sent and fetched Hiram from Tyre. This artisan bore the same name as the king, חירם or חירום (1 Kings 7:40), in 2 Chronicles 2:13 חוּרם (Huram), with the epithet אבי, i.e., my father, אב being a title of honour equivalent to master or counsellor, as in Genesis 45:8. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was צרי אישׁ, i.e., a Tyrian by birth. According to 2 Chronicles 2:13, his mother was "of the daughters of Dan," i.e., of the tribe of Dan. Both statements may easily be united thus: she was a Danite by birth, and married into the tribe of Naphtali. When her husband died, she was married again as the widow of a Naphtalite, and became the wife of a Tyrian, to whom she bore a son, Hiram. This explanation is also adopted by Bertheau (on the Chronicles); and the conjecture of Lundius, Thenius, and others, that the mother was an Israelitish widow of the city of Dan in the tribe of Naphtali, which was quite close to Tyre, is less in harmony with the expression "of the daughters of Dan." נחשׁה חרשׁ, "a brass-worker," refers to הוּא (he), i.e., Hiram, and not to his father (Thenius). The skill of Hiram is described in almost the same terms as that of Bezaleel in Exodus 31:3., with this exception, that Bezaleel's skill is attributed to his being filled with the Spirit of God, i.e., is described rather as a supernatural gift, whereas in the case of Hiram the more indefinite expression, "he was filled with wisdom, etc.," is used, representing it rather as a natural endowment. In the account given here, Hiram is merely described as a worker in brass, because he is only mentioned at the commencement of the section which treats of the preparation of the brazen vessels of the temple. According to 2 Chronicles 2:14, he was able to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, stone, wood, purple, etc. There is nothing improbable in this extension of his skill to wood and to the art of weaving. Bezaleel also combined in himself all these talents. Of course Hiram was merely a foreman or leader of these different branches of art; and he certainly did not come alone, but brought several assistants with him, who carried out the different works under his superintendence. - The enumeration of them commences with the pillars of the temple-hall.