Verses 1-18

Solomon's Negotiations with Hiram

This chapter substantially reproduces 1 Kings 5, with some differences in numbers, names, and expressions.

1. An house for his kingdom] The description of this, which is given at length in 1 Kings 7, is omitted by the Chronicler.

5. Is great] i.e. in magnificence, but not in actual dimensions—the external length and breadth being only 120 x 45 ft., less than many parish churches. It was not intended to hold an assemblage of worshippers, but to be a sanctuary for the Deity, where He might receive the offerings of His servants: 2 Chronicles 2:6.

10. Beaten wheat] probably a corruption of 'wheat for food': cp. 1 Kings 5:11.

13. Of Huram my father's] RM 'even Huram my father': the term 'father 'being a title of honour: cp. Genesis 45:8. But the whole expression may be a proper name, 'Huram Abi'; and so in 2 Chronicles 4:16.

14. A woman.. of Dan] see on 1 Kings 7:14, where she is termed a widow of Naphtali.

16. Joppa] The modern Jaffa, some 35 m. from Jerusalem.

17. The strangers] Solomon in imposing forced labour upon his subjects did not, like his father, confine it to those who were of foreign origin, but extended it to native Israelites: 1 Kings 5:18.

18. In the mountain] probably the hill-country of Judah.