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Tuesday, July 22nd, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

The NET Bible®

2 Chronicles 2:5

I will build a great temple, for our God is greater than all gods.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Hiram;   Liberality;   Temple;   Tyre;   Scofield Reference Index - Sanctify;   The Topic Concordance - God;   Greatness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - God;   Temple, the First;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Hiram or Huram;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Solomon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Chronicles, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Chronicles, I;   Ships and Boats;   Solomon;   Tyre;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Hiram ;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Gods;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.
Hebrew Names Version
The house which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods.
King James Version
And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.
English Standard Version
The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
New Century Version
"The temple I build will be great, because our God is greater than all gods.
Amplified Bible
"The house I am going to build will be great, for our God is greater than all the gods.
New American Standard Bible
"The house which I am about to build will be great, for our God is greater than all the gods.
World English Bible
The house which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the house which I buylde, is great: for great is our God aboue all gods.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now the house which I am about to build will be great, for greater is our God than all the gods.
Berean Standard Bible
The house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
Contemporary English Version
This will be a great temple, because our God is greater than all other gods.
Complete Jewish Bible
But who is equal to building him a house? Why, heaven itself, even the heaven of heavens, cannot contain him; so who am I to build him a house, except to offer sacrifices before him?
Darby Translation
And the house that I will build is great; for great is our God above all gods.
Easy-to-Read Version
"I will build a great temple because our God is greater than all the other gods.
George Lamsa Translation
And the house which I am about to build is very great, for our God is greater than all kings.
Good News Translation
I intend to build a great temple, because our God is greater than any other god.
Lexham English Bible
And the house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
Literal Translation
And the house which I am building shall be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the house that I wyl buylde, shal be greate: for oure God is greater then all goddes.
American Standard Version
And the house which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods.
Bible in Basic English
And the house which I am building is to be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the house which I buylde shalbe great: for great is our God aboue all gods.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
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 offer before Him?
King James Version (1611)
And the house which I build, is great: for great is our God aboue all gods.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the house which I am building is to be great: for the Lord our God is great beyond all gods.
English Revised Version
And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For the hows which Y coueyte to bilde is greet; for `oure Lord God is greet ouer alle goddis.
Update Bible Version
And the house which I build is great; for great is our God above all gods.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the house which I build [is] great: for great [is] our God above all gods.
New King James Version
And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
New Living Translation
"This must be a magnificent Temple because our God is greater than all other gods.
New Life Bible
The house I am about to build will be great. For our God is greater than all the gods.
New Revised Standard
The house that I am about to build will be great, for our God is greater than other gods.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, the house which I am about to build, must be great, - for great is our God, above all gods.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our God is great above all gods.
Revised Standard Version
The house which I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.
Young's Literal Translation
`And the house that I am building [is] great, for greater [is] our God than all gods;
THE MESSAGE
"The house I am building has to be the best, for our God is the best, far better than competing gods. But who is capable of building such a structure? Why, the skies—the entire cosmos!—can't begin to contain him. And me, who am I to think I can build a house adequate for God—burning incense to him is about all I'm good for! I need your help: Send me a master artisan in gold, silver, bronze, iron, textiles of purple, crimson, and violet, and who knows the craft of engraving; he will supervise the trained craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem that my father provided. Also send cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon; I know you have lumberjacks experienced in the Lebanon forests. I'll send workers to join your crews to cut plenty of timber—I'm going to need a lot, for this house I'm building is going to be absolutely stunning—a showcase temple! I'll provide all the food necessary for your crew of lumberjacks and loggers: 130,000 bushels of wheat, 120,000 gallons of wine, and 120,000 gallons of olive oil."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The house which I am about to build will be great, for greater is our God than all the gods.

Contextual Overview

1 Solomon ordered a temple to be built to honor the Lord , as well as a royal palace for himself. 2 Solomon had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, in addition to 3,600 supervisors. 3 Solomon sent a message to King Huram of Tyre: "Help me as you did my father David, when you sent him cedar logs for the construction of his palace. 4 Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed, and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the Lord our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis. 5 I will build a great temple, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 Of course, who can really build a temple for him, since the sky and the highest heavens cannot contain him? Who am I that I should build him a temple! It will really be only a place to offer sacrifices before him. 7 "Now send me a man who is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as purple, crimson, and violet colored fabrics, and who knows how to engrave. He will work with my skilled craftsmen here in Jerusalem and Judah, whom my father David provided. 8 Send me cedars, evergreens, and algum trees from Lebanon, for I know your servants are adept at cutting down trees in Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants 9 to supply me with large quantities of timber, for I am building a great, magnificent temple. 10 Look, I will pay your servants who cut the timber 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 120,000 gallons of wine, and 120,000 gallons of olive oil."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

great: 2 Chronicles 2:9, 1 Kings 9:8, 1 Chronicles 29:1, Ezekiel 7:20

great is our God: Exodus 15:11, 1 Chronicles 16:25, Psalms 86:8, Psalms 86:9, Psalms 135:5, Psalms 145:3, Jeremiah 10:6, 1 Timothy 6:15

Reciprocal: Exodus 18:11 - the Lord 2 Samuel 7:22 - Wherefore 1 Kings 5:5 - behold 1 Chronicles 22:5 - exceeding Psalms 68:29 - Because Psalms 76:1 - his Psalms 136:2 - the God Jeremiah 17:12 - General Daniel 4:30 - that Acts 7:48 - dwelleth

Cross-References

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)
Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Genesis 2:12
(The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there).
Genesis 3:23
So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken.
Genesis 4:2
Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.
Genesis 4:12
When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth."
Job 5:10
he gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields;
Psalms 104:14
He provides grass for the cattle, and crops for people to cultivate, so they can produce food from the ground,
Psalms 135:7
He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth, makes lightning bolts accompany the rain, and brings the wind out of his storehouses.
Jeremiah 14:22
Do any of the worthless idols of the nations cause rain to fall? Do the skies themselves send showers? Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? So we put our hopes in you because you alone do all this."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the house which I build is great,.... Not so very large, though that, with all apartments and courts belonging to it, he intended to build, was so; but because magnificent in its structure and decorations:

for great is our God above all gods; and therefore ought to have a temple to exceed all others, as the temple at Jerusalem did.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See 1 Kings 6:2 note. In Jewish eyes, at the time that the temple was built, it may have been “great,” that is to say, it may have exceeded the dimensions of any single separate building existing in Palestine up to the time of its erection.

Great is our God ... - This may seem inappropriate as addressed to a pagan king. But it appears 2 Chronicles 2:11-12 that Hiram acknowledged Yahweh as the supreme deity, probably identifying Him with his own Melkarth.


 
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