The details of the construction of all the items used in the temple are mostly recorded in Chronicles, though 1 Kings 6:14-38 and 7:13-51 mention some of the work. Since the two books of Chronicles (two scrolls) were written sometime shortly after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon and Assyria and before the temple was rebuilt, it is understandable why the Lord chose to give them this account. Much of the information was collected from other scrolls besides 1 Kings 7.
Huram-Abi is mentioned many times in chapters 2 through 4 and 1 Kings 7. He was half Israelite since his mother was a Naphtali and his father a man of Tyre (1 Kings 7:13). He was not a Jew. He was from Tyre, and thus a Phoenician. He was sent to King Solomon to work on the temple.
The linage of the man whom God chose to construct and mold all the elegant and important bronze articles used in the temple is interesting to me. When the Jews returned from captivity, they refused to let the people who were in Judah and Israel during the exile to work on the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 4). They are called enemies of Judah and Benjamin (Ezra 4:1). Yet Solomon not only allowed others to build the first temple in Jerusalem but welcomed and needed Huram.
There is a time for everything under the sun. A person’s lineage matters less than his or her character. Often God uses the most unlikely person to do the most critical and much-needed tasks. Willingness matters more when the heart loves God and its neighbor.
