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2 Chronicles 2:7

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Send me - a man cunning to work - A person of great ingenuity, who is capable of planning and directing, and who may be over the other artists.

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

See 1 Kings 5:6, note; 1 Kings 7:13, note.

Purple … - “Purple, crimson, and blue,” would be needed for the hangings of the temple, which, in this respect, as in others, was conformed to the pattern of the tabernacle (see Exodus 25:4; Exodus 26:1, etc.). Hiram‘s power of “working in purple, crimson,” etc., was probably a knowledge of the best modes of dyeing cloth these colors. The Phoenicians, off whose coast the murex was commonly taken, were famous as purple dyers from a very remote period.

Crimson - כרמיל karmı̂̂yl the word here and elsewhere translated “crimson,” is unique to Chronicles and probably of Persian origin. The famous red dye of Persia and India, the dye known to the Greeks as κόκκος kokkos and to the Romans as coccum, is obtained from an insect. Whether the “scarlet” שׁני shânı̂y of Exodus (Exodus 25:4, etc.) is the same or a different red, cannot be certainly determined.

Ellen G. White
Prophets and Kings, 35-6

The long-cherished plan of David to erect a temple to the Lord, Solomon wisely carried out. For seven years Jerusalem was filled with busy workers engaged in leveling the chosen site, in building vast retaining walls, in laying broad foundations,—“great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones,”—in shaping the heavy timbers brought from the Lebanon forests, and in erecting the magnificent sanctuary. 1 Kings 5:17. PK 35.1

Simultaneously with the preparation of wood and stone, to which task many thousands were bending their energies, the manufacture of the furnishings for the temple was steadily progressing under the leadership of Hiram of Tyre, “a cunning man, endued with understanding, ... 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.” 2 Chronicles 2:13, 14. PK 35.2

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Ellen G. White
SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 2 (EGW), 1026-30

God often chooses the silence of the night to give His servants instruction. He can then gain freer access to their hearts than during the day. There is less to draw the mind from Him.... 2BC 1026.1

The Lord was testing Solomon. He placed in his mind a desire for the things that would enable him to rule wisely the people of Israel.... [Verses 7-9 quoted.] It was such a prayer as this that Solomon was continually to offer in the days of exaltation and glory awaiting him. And thus those who today are standing in positions of trust in the Lord's work are to pray. Let them beware of lifting up their hearts unto vanity. Only the prayers of those whose hearts are not filled with self-exaltation and haughtiness will the Lord hear. [Isaiah 58:9 quoted.] 2BC 1026.2

God commended Solomon's prayer. And He will today hear and commend the prayers of those who in faith and humility cry to Him for aid. He will certainly answer the fervent prayer for a preparation for service. In answer He will say, Here I am. What wilt thou that I shall do for thee? 2BC 1026.3

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Ellen G. White
Prophets and Kings, 63

It was among these men that Solomon looked for a master workman to superintend the construction of the temple on Mount Moriah. Minute specifications, in writing, regarding every portion of the sacred structure, had been entrusted to the king; and he could have looked to God in faith for consecrated helpers, to whom would have been granted special skill for doing with exactness the work required. But Solomon lost sight of this opportunity to exercise faith in God. He sent to the king of Tyre for 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 ... in Judah and in Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 2:7. PK 63.1

The Phoenician king responded by sending Huram, “the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre.” Verse 14. Huram was a descendant, on his mother's side, of Aholiab, to whom, hundreds of years before, God had given special wisdom for the construction of the tabernacle. PK 63.2

Thus at the head of Solomon's company of workmen there was placed a man whose efforts were not prompted by an unselfish desire to render service to God. He served the god of this world, mammon. The very fibers of his being were inwrought with the principles of selfishness. PK 63.3

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Ellen G. White
Selected Messages Book 2, 175

It was to these apostates that Solomon looked for a master workman to superintend the construction of the temple on Mount Moriah. Minute specifications, in writing, regarding every portion of the sacred structure, had been entrusted to the king, and he should have looked to God in faith for consecrated helpers, to whom would have been granted special skill for doing with exactness the work required. But Solomon lost sight of this opportunity to exercise faith in God. He sent to the king of Tyre for “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 ... In Judah and in Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 2:7). 2SM 175.1

The Phoenician king responded by sending Huram, “a cunning man, endued with understanding, ... The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre” (2 Chronicles 2:13, 14). This master workman, Huram, was a descendant, on his mother's side, of Aholiab, to whom, hundreds of years before, God had given special wisdom for the construction of the tabernacle. Thus at the head of Solomon's company of workmen there was placed an unsanctified man, who demanded large wages because of his unusual skill. 2SM 175.2

Huram's efforts were not prompted by a desire to render his highest service to God. He served the god of this world—Mammon. The very fibers of his being had been inwrought with principles of selfishness, which were revealed in his grasping for the highest wages. And gradually these wrong principles came to be cherished by his associates. As they labored with him day after day, and yielded to the inclination to compare his wages with their own, they began to lose sight of the holy character of their work, and to dwell upon the difference between their wages and his. Gradually they lost their spirit of self-denial, and fostered a spirit of covetousness. The result was a demand for higher wages, which was granted them. 2SM 175.3

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The United Monarchy under Solomon (2)
Solomon's Building Activities