2 Chronicles 8 · a question people ask
Did Huram give cities to Solomon, or Solomon to Hiram?
2 Chronicles says, "Solomon built the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there" (8:2). 1 Kings, telling the same years ("At the end of twenty years", 1 Kings 9:10; 2 Chronicles 8:1), says, "King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee" (1 Kings 9:11). It goes on: "Hiram came out of Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they didn’t please him" (1 Kings 9:12), and "He called them the land of Cabul to this day" (1 Kings 9:13). 1 Kings 9 tells of no cities given to Solomon, and 2 Chronicles 8 tells of none given to Hiram. The two books spell the king's name differently, Huram and Hiram. The Bible doesn't say how the two tellings fit together, and these notes quote both and leave them side by side.
The verses
“At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the LORD’s house and his own house, Solomon built the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.”
“At the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the LORD’s house and the king’s house (now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and cypress trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. Hiram came out of Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they didn’t please him. He said, “What cities are these which you have given me, my brother?” He called them the land of Cabul to this day.”