2 Chronicles 2 · a question people ask
Was Huram-abi's mother from Dan or from Naphtali?
Huram writes that he has sent "a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi" (2:13), "the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre" (2:14). 1 Kings, telling of the same work, says of the craftsman it calls Hiram, "He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze" (1 Kings 7:14). Both say his father was a man of Tyre. 1 Kings gives his skill as "to work all works in bronze" (1 Kings 7:14); 2 Chronicles gives a longer list, "in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, in timber" and more (2:14). The Bible doesn't say how "the daughters of Dan" and "the tribe of Naphtali" fit together, and these notes quote both and leave them side by side.
The verses
“Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, Huram-abi, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre. He is skillful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, in timber, in purple, in blue, in fine linen, and in crimson, also to engrave any kind of engraving and to devise any device, that there may be a place appointed to him with your skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.”
“King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; and he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill to work all works in bronze. He came to King Solomon and performed all his work.”