Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 2:6

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 Chronicles 2:6. Seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens — "For the lower heavens, the middle heavens, and the upper heavens cannot contain him, seeing he sustains all things by the arm of his power. Heaven is the throne of his glory, the earth his footstool; the deep, and the whole world, are sustained by the spirit of his WORD, [ברוח מימריה beruach meymereih.] Who am I, then, that I should build him a house?" - Targum.

Save only to burn sacrifice — It is not under the hope that the house shall be able to contain him, but merely for the purpose of burning incense to him, and offering him sacrifice, that I have erected it.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Construction of the temple (2:1-7:22)

With the help of King Hiram of Tyre, Solomon prepared materials and arranged a workforce to build the planned temple (2:1-18; see notes on 1 Kings 5:1-18). Construction went on for seven years, until the temple, its furniture, its courtyard, and all other articles and decorations connected with it were completed according to plan (3:1-5:1; see notes on 1 Kings 6:1-51). The temple was then dedicated to God (5:2-7:22; see notes on 1 Kings 8:1-9).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And the house which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods. But who is able to build him a house, seeing heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn incense before him? Now therefore send me a man skillful to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that knoweth how to grave all manner of gravings, to be with the skillful men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide. Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and algum-trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that thy servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. And, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants, even to prepare me timber in abundance; for the house which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful. And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil."

"The heaven of heavens cannot contain him (God)" "The notion that God could be confined in a house or a box is an error which skeptics have falsely attributed to the people of God during the O.T. period; but they knew that God was Lord of heaven and earth, and so declared it many times, as Solomon did here."George DeHoff's Commentary, Vol. 11, p. 405. Moreover, it was not a discovery by Solomon. He had most certainly learned it from David, whose Psalms often gave voice to the same truth. The Chronicler's accurate record here of Solomon's words refutes the critic's allegations on this matter also, as well as denying their foolish fairy tale regarding a late date for the Pentateuch.

"That knoweth how to grave all manner of gravings" The words here rendered grave and gravings are read as engrave and engravings in the RSV.

"And in purple, and crimson, and blue" Thus, in the color scheme, "The temple, in this respect, as well as in others, conformed to the pattern of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:4; Exodus 26:1, etc.)."Albert Barnes, op. cit., p. 372. (See our Commentary, Vol. 8, of the N.T. Series (Hebrews), p. 172, for a discussion of the significance of these colors.)

"Algum-trees out of Lebanon" Curtis wrote that these were probably, "Sandalwood or ebony."International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 321.

"Wheat… barley… wine… and oil" The translation of the quantities of all these supplies into their modern equivalent is of no importance, and is also impossible.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Save only to burn sacrifice before him - Solomon seems to mean that to build the temple can only be justified on the human - not on the divine - side. “God dwelleth not in temples made with hands;” He cannot be confined to them; He does in no sort need them. The sole reason for building a temple lies in the needs of man: his worship must he local; the sacrifices commanded in the Law had of necessity to be offered somewhere.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

Now Solomon determined to build a house for the name of the LORD, and a house for his kingdom. And Solomon told out [or counted out] seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand men to cut trees out of the forest, and three thousand six hundred men to oversee them ( 2 Chronicles 2:1-2 ).

And so the tremendous number of people that were just involved in the labor to the gathering of the materials for his own palace and for the temple that they were to build.

Solomon sent to Huram [who is also called Hiram] the king of Tyre, and he said, As you dealt with David my father, and you sent him cedars to build his own palace, even I ask you to deal so with me. Behold, I'm going to build a house in the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him the sweet incense, and to place the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. For this is an ordinance for ever to Israel. And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods. But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? ( 2 Chronicles 2:3-6 )

In other words, the idea is, I'm not building a house for God to dwell in. The heaven of heavens cannot contain God. Thus, I only build a house that we might at this house burn sacrifice before God.

There are oftentimes attempts by men to localize God. They are always wrong. To think of God as being in one place more than in another place. You cannot localize God. The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. David said, "Whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there: if I descend into hell, Thou art there" ( Psalms 139:7-8 ). Can't escape from God. Nor can God be localized. And yet, so often we think of God, "Lord, we're so happy to gather tonight in Your presence to worship You. Oh yes, it's nice to be here in the presence of God this evening." Hey, you were in the presence of God when you were yelling at your wife on the way to church. You know, it isn't that when we get into this place we suddenly come into the presence of God. The presence of God is everywhere. You can't escape the presence of God. And it is always wrong when we try to think of God in a localized place. And yet, it is so often a part of our limited understanding that we always seem to think of God in a locality. "I'm going to go to church so I can be near God tonight. I feel so near to God when I'm walking through the woods. I feel so near to God when I am walking across the desert at night. I feel so near to God... " Well, it may be that you have a greater awareness of God's presence in certain localities, but that isn't an actuality. In truth, God is with you wherever you are.

It isn't that we need to come into the presence of God; it's that we need to become more aware of the presence of God wherever we may be. I think that one of the greatest needs of the Christian experience and in the Christian life is to become more conscious of God's all pervading presence. And at the times when you least feel like it, He is there. In the time when you're feeling the rottenest, He is there. In the time you're feeling most desolate, He is there. The most forsaken, He is there. And we need to become aware of His presence. But that's an attitude of my own heart. I can become aware of God's presence no matter where I am if I'll just turn my heart towards the Lord to consciously seek to be aware of His presence with me.

Now if we could only become more aware of the presence of God, we wouldn't need any preaching on holiness or on righteous living or things of this nature. Because if I were just aware of God's presence, "For in Him," Paul said, "we live, and move, and have our being" ( Acts 17:28 ). When I become aware of that, then I want to always live in a way that is pleasing unto Him. Knowing that nothing I do is hidden. Knowing that nothing I do is secret. Knowing that my life is just an open book and that consciousness of God's presence is such an important thing for my own personal life.

So Solomon recognized, "We're not building You a house, God, that You can come and live in this house and we can come and visit You at Your house. Who am I to build a house?" As he's writing to Hiram asking for these cedars to be sent from Lebanon and all. He said, "I want to build a house that we might offer our sacrifices and all, not that it's a place for God to dwell. The heaven of heavens can't contain Him. But just a place where we can come and offer our sacrifices before Him." So he is requesting that a skilled man be sent, who can, more or less, oversee all of the building. A man who is a clever artificer in the carvings and in all of the various types of arts, in castings and the whole thing, because the temple that he wanted to build unto God was to be a glorious monument unto the Lord.

And so he contracted to give unto the men, the servants that would cut the wood out of the forest and all, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, which would be a flour. Now a measure is ten bushels. So this is the amount of flour, the beaten wheat, he was to send unto them.

Twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths ( 2 Chronicles 2:10 )

And a bath is about eight gallons.

of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil ( 2 Chronicles 2:10 ).

So this was quite a vast annual fee that he was willing to pay for these skilled men.

Then Hiram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, and he said, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made you king over them. Hiram also said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, and endued him with prudence and understanding, that he might build a house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom. Now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram's my father, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; he can carve out any manner of carving, and he can figure out every kind of device and he's just a cunning man. Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send it unto his servants ( 2 Chronicles 2:11-15 ):

So the deal was made.

And we will cut the wood out of Lebanon, as much as you shall need: and we will bring it to thee by floats by the sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem ( 2 Chronicles 2:16 ).

So they cut these cedars out of Lebanon. And they made these great rafts, the floats of these cedar logs. And they floated them down the Mediterranean Sea to the only port at that time in Israel, which was the port of Joppa. And then from Joppa they carried them overland to Jerusalem, which is a distance of about thirty miles. Maybe forty miles. So it was quite a task, and no wonder they needed seventy thousand men to help move these logs. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Preparations for building the temple ch. 2

Though he gave some attention to the materials Solomon used in the temple, the writer’s primary interest was the communications between Solomon and Hiram (Huram). Solomon’s letter to Hiram (2 Chronicles 2:3-10) reveals that he had a sincere desire to glorify God. He did not regard building the temple as a duty David had imposed on him. Furthermore, his conception of Yahweh was appropriate and realistic (2 Chronicles 2:5). Hiram’s reply (2 Chronicles 2:11-16) shows that in Solomon’s day, Israel was drawing Gentile nations to Yahweh. This was part of God’s purpose for Israel and was something the ideal Son of David would accomplish (cf. Exodus 19:5-6; Haggai 2:7; Zechariah 8:22-23). 2 Chronicles 2:11-12 are not in the parallel passage in 1 Kings 5. [Note: On the similarities between the building of the tabernacle and the building of Solomon’s temple, see Payne, p. 444; Roddy Braun, "The Message of Chronicles: Rally ’Round the Temple," Concordia Theological Monthly, 42:8 (September 1971):502-14; and Raymond B. Dillard, "The Chronicler’s Solomon," Westminister Theological Journal 43 (1981):289-300.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

But who is able to build him an house,.... Suitable to the greatness of his majesty, especially as he dwells not in temples made with hands:

seeing the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain him? see 1 Kings 8:27,

who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? since God was an immense and infinite Being, be would have Hiram to understand that he had no thought of building an house, in which he could be circumscribed and contained, only a place in which he might be worshipped, and sacrifices offered to him.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 And Solomon determined to build a house for the name of the LORD, and a house for his kingdom.   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.   3 And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell therein, even so deal with me.   4 Behold, I build a house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.   5 And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.   6 But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?   7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.   8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,   9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.   10 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

      Solomon's wisdom was given him, not merely for speculation, to entertain himself (though it is indeed a princely entertainment), nor merely for conversation, to entertain his friends, but for action; and therefore to action he immediately applies himself. Observe,

      I. His resolution within himself concerning his business (2 Chronicles 2:1; 2 Chronicles 2:1): He determined to build, in the first place, a house for the name of the Lord. It is fit that he who is the first should be served--first a temple and then a palace, a house not so much for himself, or his own convenience and magnitude, as for the kingdom, for the honour of it among its neighbours and for the decent reception of the people whenever they had occasion to apply to their prince; so that in both he aimed at the public good. Those are the wisest men that lay out themselves most for the honour of the name of the Lord and the welfare of communities. We are not born for ourselves, but for God and our country.

      II. His embassy to Huram, king of Tyre, to engage his assistance in the prosecution of his designs. The purport of his errand to him is much the same here as we had it 1 Kings 5:2-6, c., only here it is more largely set forth.

      1. The reasons why he makes this application to Huram are here more fully represented, for information to Huram as well as for inducement. (1.) He pleads his father's interest in Huram, and the kindness he had received from him (2 Chronicles 2:3; 2 Chronicles 2:3): As thou didst deal with David, so deal with me. As we must show kindness to, so we may expect kindness from, our fathers' friends, and with them should cultivate a correspondence. (2.) He represents his design in building the temple: he intended it for a place of religious worship (2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 2:4), that all the offerings which God had appointed for the honour of his name might be offered up there. The house was built that it might be dedicated to God and used in his service. This we should aim at in all our business, that our havings and doings may be all to the glory of God. He mentions various particular services that were there to be performed, for the instruction of Huram. The mysteries of the true religion, unlike those of the Gentile superstition, coveted not concealment. (3.) He endeavors to inspire Huram with very great and high thoughts of the God of Israel, by expressing the mighty veneration he had for his holy name: Great is our God above all gods, above all idols, above all princes. Idols are nothing, princes are little, and both under the control of the God of Israel; and therefore, [1.] "The house must be great; not in proportion to the greatness of that God to whom it is to be dedicated (for between finite and infinite there can be no proportion), but in some proportion to the great value and esteem we have for this God." [2.] "Yet, be it ever so great, it cannot be a habitation for the great God. Let not Huram think that the God of Israel, like the gods of the nations, dwells in temples made with hands,Acts 17:24. No, the heaven of heavens cannot contain him. It is intended only for the convenience of his priests and worshippers, that they may have a fit place wherein to burn sacrifice before him." [3.] He looked upon himself, though a mighty prince, as unworthy the honour of being employed in this great work: Who am I that I should build him a house? It becomes us to go about every work for God with a due sense of our utter insufficiency for it and our incapacity to do any thing adequate to the divine perfections. It is part of the wisdom wherein we ought to walk towards those that are without carefully to guard against all misapprehension which any thing we say or do may occasion concerning God; so Solomon does here in his treaty with Huram.

      2. The requests he makes to him are more particularly set down here. (1.) He desired Huram would furnish him with a good hand to work (2 Chronicles 2:7; 2 Chronicles 2:7): Send me a man. He had cunning men with him in Jerusalem and Judah, whom David provided, 1 Chronicles 22:15. Let them not think but that Jews had some among them that were artists. But "send me a man to direct them. There are ingenious men in Jerusalem, but not such engravers as are in Tyre; and therefore, since temple-work must be the best in its kind, let me have the best workmen that can be got." (2.) With good materials to work on (2 Chronicles 2:8; 2 Chronicles 2:8), cedar and other timber in abundance (2 Chronicles 2:8; 2 Chronicles 2:9); for the house must be wonderfully great, that is, very stately and magnificent, no cost must be spared, nor any contrivance wanting in it.

      3. Here is Solomon's engagement to maintain the workmen (2 Chronicles 2:10; 2 Chronicles 2:10), to give them so much wheat and barley, so much wine and oil. He did not feed his workmen with bread and water, but with plenty, and every thing of the best. Those that employ labourers ought to take care they be not only well paid, but well provided for with sufficient of that which is wholesome and fit for them. Let the rich masters do for their poor workmen as they would be done by if the tables were turned.