Hiram

Biblical Record

Relationship with David

When David built his palace in Jerusalem, Hiram king of Tyre sent cedar trees, carpenters, and masons (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Chronicles 14:1). Tyre was a Phoenician port city on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Cooperation with Solomon

When Solomon came to the throne, Hiram sent his servants to him. Scripture gives the reason: "for Hiram was ever a lover of David" (1 Kings 5:1). Solomon requested cedar and fir from Lebanon for the building of the Temple. Hiram had the timber bound into rafts and sent by sea, and in return Solomon sent him wheat and oil year by year. The two kings made a league together (1 Kings 5:1–12).

After the building was completed, Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. Displeased with these cities, Hiram called the land "Cabul" (1 Kings 9:10–14). The name is often interpreted as meaning "worthless," though its etymology is uncertain.

Hiram sent shipmen who had knowledge of the sea to sail with Solomon's servants to Ophir and bring back gold (1 Kings 9:26–28). The account of the Queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon (1 Kings 10) also records that Hiram's navy brought gold, almug trees, and precious stones from Ophir (1 Kings 10:11, 22). In 2 Chronicles, the same king's name generally appears as "Huram" (2 Chronicles 2; 8–9).

Hiram the Bronze Craftsman

A different person bears the same name: a worker in brass whom Solomon brought from Tyre. He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre (1 Kings 7:13–14). This craftsman made the two pillars before the Temple, Jachin and Boaz, as well as the molten sea and various vessels (1 Kings 7:15–47). In 2 Chronicles this craftsman is also called "Huram," and his mother is described as a woman of the tribe of Dan (2 Chronicles 2:13–14).

Significance Within Scripture

Hiram is portrayed as a foreign king who contributed timber and skilled labor to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The New Testament does not mention Hiram directly. His city of Tyre, however, appears in the Gospels as a region Jesus visited and as a point of comparison with the unrepentant towns (Matthew 11:21–22; Mark 7:24).

Interpretation and Debate

• Some scholars regard the language of love in 1 Kings 5:1 as an expression used in ancient Near Eastern treaty documents to denote an alliance.
• 1 Kings 9 records that Solomon gave cities to Hiram, whereas 2 Chronicles 8:2 states that Solomon built the cities that Huram had given him. Scholars offer differing explanations to reconcile the two accounts.
• Various explanations have also been offered for the fact that the craftsman Hiram's mother is said to be of the tribe of Naphtali in one passage and of the tribe of Dan in another.
• Some preaching traditions read Hiram's cooperation as a picture of Gentiles participating in the work of God. Others, by contrast, read it as political and economic trade between two nations.
• The Jewish historian Josephus relates a story that Solomon and Hiram exchanged riddles. Freemasonry has a legend of "Hiram Abiff" based on the craftsman Hiram. Neither story appears in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Hiram is mentioned in sermons and Bible studies on the passages concerning Solomon's building of the Temple. He is also sometimes cited as an example of cooperation in sermons related to church building projects. Because the New Korean Revised Version spells the name differently in Kings and Chronicles (Hiram and Huram), Bible studies sometimes explain that the two names refer to the same person.