(16) And we will cut wood.--The we is emphatic, and we, on our part, the pronoun being expressed in the Hebrew.

Wood (= "timber," 2Chronicles 2:8-10; 2Chronicles 2:14).--Properly trees.

As much as thou shalt need.--See margin. "Need" (corek) occurs here only in the Old Testament. The word is common in the Targums, and in Rabbinic writings; 1Kings 5:8 has the classical phrase, "all thy desire."

In flotes.--Heb., raphs?doth. Another isolated expression. Rendered "rafts" by the LXX. and Vulgate, but omitted by Syriac and Arabic. 1Kings 5:9 has dob?roth, "rafts," which settles the meaning.

To Joppa.--1Kings 5:9 has the less definite "unto the place that thou shalt appoint me." Joppa (modern Jaffa) was the harbour nearest Jerusalem.

And thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.--This interprets the curt phrase of 1Kings 5:9, "and thou shalt take (them) away."

A comparison of this and the parallel account of Huram's letter makes it clear (1) that the chronicler has not written without knowledge of the older text; (2; that neither text has preserved the exact form of the original documents. From Josephus (Ant. viii. 2, 8) it would appear that some record of the negotiations between Huram and Solomon was still extant at Tyre in his day, if only we might trust his authority.

Verse 16. - Joppa, This was one of the most ancient of towns, and is referred to by Pliny ('Hist. Nat.,' 5:13), as "Joppa Phoenicum, antiquior terrarum inundatione, ut ferunt." Its name (יָפו, "beauty") is said to have been justified by the beautiful groves in its neighbourhood. It is mentioned Joshua 19:46 as Japho, where also we learn the circumstances under which the Dan tribe were possessed of it. It is remarkable that it is not mentioned again till our present verse, not even in the parallel (1 Kings 5:9). But it appears again in Ezra 3:7; Jonah 1:3, and in several places in the Acts of the Apostles. The modern name of it is Joffa, and it is not reputed as a good port now. It was distant from Jerusalem some thirty-four miles. The carriage of the tim-bet this road-journey is nowhere described in detail, nor is the exact spot of the coast west of Lebanon mentioned where the flotes were made, and thence despatched.

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.And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shall need,.... Both cedar and fir, 1 Kings 5:8,

and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; a port in the Mediterranean sea, the same that Jonah went down to; see Gill on 1 Kings 5:9,

and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem; in land carriages, about forty miles off.