(12) Huram said moreover.--And Huram said, that is, in his letter to Solomon.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made heaven and earth.--In 1Kings 5:7 we read simply, "Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people." The chronicler has perhaps modified the words of his source in a monotheistic sense; although it is quite possible that Jeaovah was known to the polytheist Phoenician by the title of "Maker of heaven and earth." (Comp. Genesis 14:19.) An inscription of the Persian emperor Xerxes speaks of the Supreme in terms which resemble what Solomon says in 2Chronicles 2:5, as well as Huram's language here: "The great god Ahuramazda, great one of the gods, who made this earth, who made these heavens" (inscription on rocks at Elvend).

An house for his kingdom.--A royal palace (2Chronicles 7:11; 2Chronicles 8:1).

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.Huram said, moreover, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made heaven and earth,.... Huram seems to have had some good notions of the divine Being, not only as the God of the people of Israel, in a peculiar sense, but as the Former and Maker of all things:

who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding; see 1 Kings 5:7.

that might build an house for the Lord, and for his kingdom; as in 2 Chronicles 2:1.