Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 2:9
to prepare for me timber in abundance, because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Solomon addresses King Hiram of Tyre during active negotiations for temple construction materials. He makes the request at the moment of logistical planning, directly linking the scale of the building to the volume of timber needed.
The words — The phrase עֵצִ֖ים (‘e.Tzim) and לָ/רֹ֑ב (la./Ro) literally render as “wood” and “to abundance,” emphasizing the sheer volume of timber required. This lexical pairing grounds the king’s request in practical logistics rather than abstract ambition.
The thread — The emphasis on the temple’s greatness in 2 Chronicles 2:5 echoes through the narrative’s later warnings about its future ruin in 1 Kings 9:8 and 2 Chronicles 7:21. This thread tracks the structure from its intended magnificence to its prophesied collapse.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that monumental projects require proportional resources and that human ambition must be measured against divine purposes. It asks the reader to align practical preparation with the weight of what is being built.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 9:8 And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
- 2 Chronicles 2:5 The house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’