Komentarz do Diwrej ha-jamim II 2:18

to devote to Him for some purpose.

to burn before Him incense which is a way of honor[ing Him], and this is repeated further (verse 5): “but to burn incense before Him.”

making this permanent over Israel Therefore, I request of you to send to me [material] for a good and strong House, because it is required perpetually for Israel to offer up their sacrifice(s) in this House, which I am building.

And the House, which I am building, is great Therefore, I require of you to send me of your buildings. Now if you say, “Make the House smaller, so that you will not need other people,” I cannot do so, because our God is greater than all Gods; therefore, I cannot diminish it or make it smaller.

And who can gather up strength to build Him a house Since he said, “And the House which I am building is great,” perhaps [you may think that] this will mean “great enough for His needs,” but this is not so, for “who can gather strength?” For who can compress and gather his strength enough to build a house fit for Him? An example of this appears above (I Chron. 29:14): “that we should gather up strength to donate.”

for the heavens and the heavens of the heavens cannot contain Him Therefore, he says, “and who am I, to build Him a House?” And that which I am building Him is nothing more than to burn incense therein before Him.

and with purple אַרְגְּוָן. This is synonymous with אַרְגָּמָן.

and crimson כַּרְמִיל. This is תוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי. The proof is that תוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי is not mentioned here.

and who knows how to make engravings Heb. לְפַתֵּחַ פִּתּוּחִים. An example is (Ex. 28:36) פִּתּוּחֵי חֹתָם, the engravings of a signet; someone who knows how to cut and make forms in stones, graber or greber in Middle German.

Abundant wheat - Heb. מַכּוֹת, in Middle High German vollauff, in abundance, and some say that מַכּוֹת means crushed to extract the wheat kernels from the ear.

and wine twenty thousand baths The expression of bath refers to a liquid measure, and kor is a dry measure.

endowed with understanding, of my father Huram He was my father’s ingenious craftsman, and he is also mine.

the son of a woman She was a widow.

of the daughters of Dan of the tribe of Dan.

and his father was a Tyrian man He was a Jew who lived in Tyre, on the model of (II Sam. 6:10): “Obed-Edom the Gittite,” who lived in Gath, and who was a Levite. In I Kings (7:14), it is written: “He was a widow’s son, of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a Tyrian man.” His mother was from Dan, and his father was from Naphtali. Now why was it necessary to trace his genealogy, from which tribe his father and mother were? This is what is written (Gen. 30:6): “God judged me,” and also (ibid. 8): “I have fought a divine struggle, etc.” Rachel said, “I twisted cords; I went through contortions until I was able to compare to my sister Leah. If Leah will boast of her descendant Bezalel, who will make the Tabernacle, he will require one of the sons of Dan to participate in his work, as it is written (38: 23): ‘And with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.’ Now if Solomon, the descendant of my sister, will build the Temple, some of the sons of Dan and Naphtali will have to participate with him.”

and his father was a Tyrian man [This comes] to teach you that even if his mother is a widow, a person must adopt his father’s trade and sustain his mother. (So I heard from Rabbi Solomon the son of Levi of Monteuille, the son of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan’s sister.)

as rafts - Heb. רַפְסדוֹת, and in I Kings (5:23) it is written: דבְרוֹת, in Middle High German vloeze, rafts, (in modern German flusse).

on the sea of Joppa meaning on the seacoast, like (Jonah 1:3): “and he went down to Joppa.”

And Solomon counted all the strangers who were in the land of Israel - Heb. הַגֵּירִים. This is written with the plene spelling, two yuds. In the beginning, when David counted them (I Chron 22:2), they were called הַגֵּרִים with one yud, but Solomon counted them at the time of the deed, when he built; therefore, it is written with the plene spelling. A similar instance: “then you shall bring up my bones from this place.” “With you” is missing in the portion of וַיְחִי (Gen. 50:25), but at the time of the deed (in the portion of בְּשַׁלַּח, Ex. 13:19), when he took them, it is written: “with you.”

And Solomon counted, etc., after the census above (I Chron. 22:2), as it is written: “And David ordered to gather the strangers.”

And he made of them seventy thousand, etc. The reason he mentions them again and mentions the number is that he interrupted the topic; therefore, he had to repeat it again now. And he did not stop until he finished the entire [account of the] building, and he says immediately (3:1): “And Solomon commenced to build, etc.” Now, even with one verse, it is customary to interrupt the topic and [then] to begin [again] with the previous statement, e.g., (Num. 16:6): “Do this: take yourself, etc.” And the morrow, it says (ibid. 16f.): “And Moses said to Korah: You and all your band, etc.,” and he repeats and says, “and let each man take his censer and place, etc.” Since he interrupted with many verses, it was necessary to rewrite it, and how much more so here.