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1 Kings 7:13-14 NASB

13 Now King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze; an

2 Chronicles 2:13-14 NASB

13 “Now I am sending Huram-abi, a skilled man, [a]endowed with understanding, 14 the son of a [b]Danite woman and [c]a Tyrian father, who knows how to work in gold

In one text it seems Hirum/Huram is a son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali & in the other text its said he is the son of a Danite woman.(Tribe of Dan)

How can we reconcile the above texts?

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  • Is there a reason that he couldn't have sent both? They are working two different metals.
    – Perry Webb
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 8:44
  • @PerryWebb,two different people or one & the same person Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 9:18
  • On 2 Chronicles it's Hiram that speaks on himself while in 2 Kings the writer just describe Solomon acts.
    – A. Meshu
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 11:27
  • 3
    Why do they need to be reconciled?
    – Dan
    Commented Jun 20, 2018 at 12:38
  • While I was looking into this verse it got me thinking, was this man really called Huram-abi, or is this an invention of the bible translations, one that should really read "Huram my father/master"? I can see the difficulty with this rendering, since Huram is really talking here so who would Huram my father be, and how does he come into the picture here? But we still don't have the right to construct an imaginary Huram-abi just to make the verse more readable. This should really be a separate question but I Haven't got the time now to post. Maybe some other time.
    – bach
    Commented Jun 21, 2018 at 20:10

6 Answers 6

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1. I Kings 7:13.

he, son of a woman, a widow, of the tribe of Naphtali [Young's Literal]

son of a woman, a widow, he, of the tribe of Naphtali [Green's Literal]

A 'widow of the tribe of Naphtali' is a woman who was married to a man of Naphtali which man is now deceased. She is a widow of the tribe into which she married.

It was her deceased husband who was of Naphtali, thus she is a widow of that tribe.

2. II Chronicles 2:14

son of a woman of the daughters of Dan [Young's Literal]

the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan [Green's Literal]

The woman who was Hiram's (Huram's) mother was of the daughters of Dan and she had married a man of the tribe of Naphtali and they had moved to Tyre.

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  • Could giving birth to more girls than boys be the cause of the tribe of Dan's alleged disappearance? Commented Jan 13, 2019 at 5:21
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A picture's worth a thousand words... ;-)

Basically, within the region allotted to the tribe of Naphtali, there was an ancient city called Dan, founded and inhabited by members of the tribe of Dan, displaced from their own territory.

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They are 2 differnt people. Huram is the King of Tyre He came after Abibaal and befor Baal-Eser 1.

Hiram-Abiff is a Master craftsman. He is used in masonic legend as the Architect that is murdered then 'resurected' in a mocking of Lord Jesus Christ.

The 'abiff' is again a mocking "aba" meaning Father God

King Hiram is responding to Solomon's request here

2 Chronicles 2:11-14 King James Version (KJV) 11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them. 12 Huram said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the Lord, and an house for his kingdom. 13 And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's, 14 The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father.

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  • Welcome to BHSX. Thanks for your answer. Do not forget to take the Tour below. Please add some references and basis for some of your assertions.
    – user25930
    Commented Mar 4, 2019 at 4:54
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It does seem that there was a number of such issues like this between Kings and Chronicles, the most prominent being. "The devil incited David to make a census" and then in the alternative description, "God incited David to make a census". Definitely it is clear that Chronicles is a much more matter-of-fact book and seems to have been much more thoroughly researched for accuracy purposes. By the way, the God/devil incited quote is easily explained also.

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  1. Naftali teritory was next to Asher and Tyre were on this area. According to Rashi, his mother was from Dan and his father was from Naftali.

  2. On both cases Hiram/Huram (the difference doesn't affect the basic meaning of the name here, moreover - ו and י can come one instead of the other) mentioned as "golden hands" person that God gift him unique skills.

  3. On 2 Chronicles it's Hiram that speaks on himself while in 2 Kings the writer just describe Solomon acts.

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One plausible possibility would be the following. I'll describe it with the use of inserted square brackets, throughout the passages of 1 King 7:13, 14, and 2 Chronicles 2:13, 14.

1 King: "He [Hiram] was the son of a widow [of her first husband] from the tribe of Naphtali, and his [Hiram's] father was a Tyrian [the second husband of her]."

2 Chronicles: "Hiram-Abi, who is the son of a Danite woman but whose father [who is the second husband of her] was a man of Tyre."

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