Lives of Scripture

Hiram (called Huram-abi in Chronicles' parallel account) was a bronze craftsman from Tyre, the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and a now-deceased Tyrian bronze worker (1 Kings 7:13-14). Filled, Scripture says, "with wisdom and understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze," he came to Jerusalem at Solomon's summons to cast the temple's major bronze furnishings (7:14). His work is catalogued at length: two free-standing pillars, Jachin and Boaz, each with ornate capitals of network and pomegranates (7:15-22); the enormous cast "sea," a round basin resting on twelve bronze oxen, used for priestly washing (7:23-26); ten portable stands with wheeled bronze bases and their basins (7:27-39); and pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls for the altar (7:40-45). The text notes he "finished all the work that he performed for King Solomon in the house of the LORD" (7:40), and that the sheer quantity of bronze used was too great to weigh (7:47). Hiram is not a prophet, king, or judge -- he appears only as a master craftsman, but Scripture devotes an entire chapter to his handiwork, treating skilled labor devoted to God's house as worth recording in detail. His work furnished the temple where Israel's sacrifices and worship of the LORD took place for centuries, until its destruction by Babylon.