2 Chronicles 2:13

And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Endued with understanding.—See the same phrase in 1Chronicles 12:32.

Of Huram my father’s.—Rather, Huram my father—i.e., master, preceptor, as in 2Chronicles 4:16, where Huram is called the “father” of Solomon. (Comp. Genesis 45:8; Judges 17:10; Judges 18:19. So LXX. and Vulgate; Syriac omits.)

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

Of Huram my father's - A wrong translation. Huram here is the workman sent by the king of Tyre and not the king of Tyre's father (see 1 Kings 5:1 note). The words in the original are Huram Abi, and the latter word is now commonly thought to be either a proper name or an epithet of honor, e. g., my master-workman.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13, 14. I have sent a cunning man—(See on [411]1Ki 7:13-51).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

i.e. Who was my father’s chief workman. Or, Huram Abi, a man so called; the prefix lamed being here only a note of the accusative case. See more on 2 Chronicles 4:16.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding,.... In such things as Solomon required he should, 2 Chronicles 2:7.

of Huram my father's; a workman of his, whom he employed, and so might be depended upon as a good artificer; though rather Huram is the artificer's name:

and Abi, we render "my father", his surname, that is, "Huram Abi"; and this is the opinion of several learned men (g), and is very probable; for certain it is, that his name was Huram or Hiram, 1 Kings 7:13, and so he is called "Huram his father, or Huram Abif", 2 Chronicles 4:16.

(g) Luther. Emanuel Sa, Piscator, Schmidt, Beckius in Targum in loc.

Geneva Study Bible

And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. I have sent] According to 1 Kings 7:13 Solomon himself sent and fetched Hiram the artificer.

of Huram my father’s) Better as R.V. mg., even Huram my father. Huram the king calls Huram the artificer my father as a title of honour. Cp. 2 Chronicles 4:16.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - Of Huram my father's. The words of 2 Chronicles 4:11, 16 would invest these with suspicion, if nothing that occurred before did, as e.g. the parallel passage (1 Kings 7:13, 14, 40). There can be no doubt from these passages that the name Huram of this verse is the name of the workman sent (the lamed prefixed being only the objective sign), not the supposed name of King Hiram's father, which, as already seen, was Abibaal. But the following word translated "my father" (אָבִי) is less easily explained; 2 Chronicles 4:16 ("his father") is quite sufficient to negative the rendering" father" altogether. In our text altogether inappropriate, it may be called there altogether impossible. It has been proposed to render it as a proper name Abi, or as an affix of honour, Ab, equal to "master." However, Gesenius (in 'Lexicon,' sub roe. אב (6), which see) furnishes a signification, "chief counsellor," which (taking it to mean chief counsellor, or as it were expert, chief referee, or even only foreman in such matters as might be in question) would well suit all the passages, and remove all difficulty. 2 Chronicles 2:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The answer of King Hiram; cf. 1 Kings 5:7-11. - Hiram answered בּכתב, in a writing, a letter, which he sent to Solomon. In 1 Kings 5:7 Hiram first expresses his joy at Solomon's request, because it was of importance to him to be on a friendly footing with the king of Israel. In the Chronicle his writing begins with the congratulation: because Jahve loveth His people, hath He made thee king over them. Cf. for the expression, 2 Chronicles 9:8 and 1 Kings 10:9. He then, according to both narratives, praises God that He has given David so wise a son. ויּאמר, 2 Chronicles 2:12, means: then he said further. The praise of God is heightened in the Chronicle by Hiram's entering into Solomon's religious ideas, calling Jahve the Creator of heaven and earth. Then, further, חכם בּן is strengthened by וּבינה שׂכל יודע, having understanding and discernment; and this predicate is specially referred to Solomon's resolve to build a temple to the Lord. Then in 2 Chronicles 2:13. he promises to send Solomon the artificer Huram-Abi. On the title אבי, my father, i.e., minister, counsellor, and the descent of this man, cf. the commentary on 1 Kings 7:13-14. In 2 Chronicles 2:14 of the Chronicle his artistic skill is described in terms coinciding with Solomon's wish in 2 Chronicles 2:6, only heightened by small additions. To the metals as materials in which he could work, there are added stone and wood work, and to the woven fabrics בּוּץ (byssus), the later word for שׁשׁ; and finally, to exhaust the whole, he is said to be able כּל־מח ולחשׁב, to devise all manner of devices which shall be put to him, as in Exodus 31:4, he being thus raised to the level of Bezaleel, the chief artificer of the tabernacle. עם־חכמיך is dependent upon לעשׂות, as in 2 Chronicles 2:6. The promise to send cedars and cypresses is for the sake of brevity here omitted, and only indirectly indicated in 2 Chronicles 2:16. In 2 Chronicles 2:15, however, it is mentioned that Hiram accepted the promised supply of grain, wine, and oil for the labourers; and 2 Chronicles 2:16 closes with the promise to fell the wood required in Lebanon, and to cause it to be sent in floats to Joppa (Jaffa), whence Solomon could take it up to Jerusalem. The word צרך, "need," is a ἅπαξ λεγ. in the Old Testament, but is very common in Aramaic writings. רפסדות, "floats," too, occurs only here instead of דּבבות, 1 Kings 5:9, and its etymology is unknown. If we compare 1 Kings 5:13-16 with the parallel account in 1 Kings 5:8-11, we find that, besides Hiram's somewhat verbose promise to fell the desired quantity of cedars and cypresses on Lebanon, and to send them in floats by sea to the place appointed by Solomon, the latter contains a request from Hiram that Solomon would give him לחם, maintenance for his house, and a concluding remark that Hiram sent Solomon cedar wood, while Solomon gave Hiram, year by year, 20,000 kor of wheat as food for his house, i.e., the royal household, and twenty kor beaten oil, that is, of the finest oil. In the book of Kings, therefore, the promised wages of grain, wine, and oil, which were sent to the Tyrian woodcutters, is passed over, and only the quantity of wheat and finest oil which Solomon gave to the Tyrian king for his household, year by year, in return for the timber sent, is mentioned. In the Chronicle, on the contrary, only the wages or payment to the woodcutters is mentioned, and the return made for the building timber is not spoken of; but there is no reason for bringing these two passages, which treat of different things, into harmony by alterations of the text. For further discussion of this and of the measures, see on 1 Kings 5:11.