2 Chronicles 2:2

And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) And Solomon told out.—That is, counted out. (Comp. Psalm 22:17; Exodus 5:8.) For the rest of this verse see Note on 2Chronicles 2:18, where its contents are repeated. (Comp. 1Kings 5:15.)

To bear . . . to hew . . . to oversee.—Bearers of . . . hewers . . . overseers over, as in 2Chronicles 2:18.

(2) The treaty with Huram of Tyre (2Chronicles 2:3-16).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:1-18 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This passage is very nearly identical with 1 Kings 10:26-29.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 2

2Ch 2:1, 2. Solomon's Laborers for Building the Temple.

1. Solomon determined to build—The temple is the grand subject of this narrative, while the palace—here and in other parts of this book—is only incidentally noticed. The duty of building the temple was reserved for Solomon before his birth. As soon as he became king, he addressed himself to the work, and the historian, in proceeding to give an account of the edifice, begins with relating the preliminary arrangements.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men,.... Of whom, and the difference of the last number in this text from 1 Kings 5:15, see the notes there. See Gill on 1 Kings 5:15. See Gill on 1 Kings 5:16.

Geneva Study Bible

And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and {a} six hundred to oversee them.

(a) Which is to be understood of all sorts of officers and overseers: for else the chief officers were but 3300 as in 1Ki 5:16.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. told out] The 150,000 bearers and hewers mentioned here are said to have been aliens (2 Chronicles 2:17). This statement is confirmed by 1 Kings 5:15 which distinguishes them from the levy of 30,000 hewers raised out of all Israel (ib. 1 Kings 5:13). The 30,000 Israelites were subject to a corvée of one month in every three, the 150,000 aliens were apparently always at work. Cp. 2 Chronicles 8:9, note.

in the mountain] R.V. in the mountains. The Hebrew expression is indefinite.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - The presence of this verse here, and the composition of it, may probably mark some corruptness of text or error of copyists, as the first two words of it are the proper first two words of ver. 17, and the remainder of it shows the proper contents of ver. 18, which are not only in other aspects apparently in the right place there, but also by analogy of the parallel (1 Kings 5:15, 16). The contents of this verse will therefore be considered with vers. 17, 18. 2 Chronicles 2:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(2 Chronicles 1:18). The account of these is introduced by 1:18: "Solomon thought to build." אמר with an infinitive following does not signify here to command one to do anything, as e.g., in 1 Chronicles 21:17, but to purpose to do something, as e.g., in 1 Kings 5:5. For יהוה לשׁם, see on 1 Kings 5:17. למלכוּתו בּית, house for his kingdom, i.e., the royal palace. The building of this palace is indeed shortly spoken of in 2 Chronicles 2:11; 2 Chronicles 7:11, and 2 Chronicles 8:1, but is not in the Chronicle described in detail as in 1 Kings 7:1-12.

(2:1). With 2 Chronicles 2:1 begins the account of the preparations which Solomon made for the erection of these buildings, especially of the temple building, accompanied by a statement that the king caused all the workmen of the necessary sort in his kingdom to be numbered. There follows thereafter an account of the negotiations with King Hiram of Tyre in regard to the sending of a skilful architect, and of the necessary materials, such as cedar wood and hewn stones, from Lebanon (2 Chronicles 2:2-15); and, in conclusion, the statements as to the levying of the statute labourers of Israel (2 Chronicles 2:1) are repeated and rendered more complete (2 Chronicles 2:16, 2 Chronicles 2:17). If we compare the parallel account in 1 Kings 5:5., we find that Solomon's negotiation with Hiram about the proposed buildings is preceded (1 Kings 5:5) by a notice, that Hiram, after he had heard of Solomon's accession, had sent him an embassy to congratulate him. This notice is omitted in the Chronicle, because it was of no importance in the negotiations which succeeded. In the account of Solomon's negotiation with Hiram, both narratives (2 Chronicles 2:2-15 and 1 Kings 5:16.) agree in the main, but differ in form so considerably, that it is manifest that they are free adaptations of one common original document, quite independent of each other, as has been already remarked on 1 Kings 5:5. On 2 Chronicles 2:2 see further on 1 Kings 5:15.