Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HIRAM

(Heb. ḥîrām)

1. Hiram I, king of Tyre (969-935 b.c.e.), who lived on friendly terms with both David and Solomon. The Biblical Hebrew form of the name is a shortened version of the Phoenician Ahiram, which has been discovered on an inscribed sarcophagus at Byblos as the name of a king there. Under Hiram I Tyre enjoyed considerable expansion and prosperity — as evidenced by the establishment of colonies on Cyprus, Sardinia, and Sicily, and at Gades and Tartessus in Spain. Josephus reports that Hiram succeeded his father Abibaal and reigned for 34 years before dying at the age of 53. Hiram is credited with the construction of embankments to level the eastern part of Tyre, the enlargement of the city, the logging of timber from Lebanon for the building of temples, erection of fanes to Heracles/Melkart and Ashtarte, institution of a new feast for the former deity, demolition of a number of shrines, creation of a causeway to the temple of Zeus/Baal, and conduct of a successful campaign against Utica for its refusal to pay tribute (Ag. Ap. 1; Ant. 8).

Hiram’s friendship with David and Solomon was probably based on mutual need: Israel lacked technical skills for advancing its material culture; Phoenicia lacked adequate agricultural production. The OT implies that it was shortly after David’s capture of Jerusalem that Hiram sent Tyrian workers, who excelled in architecture, and also supplied raw materials for the building of David’s palace (2 Sam. 5:11). Subsequently Solomon entered into a treaty with Hiram (1 Kgs. 5:12[MT 26]). 1 Kgs. 5:1(15) indicates Hiram actually made the initial contact after Solomon’s accession to the throne. Palestine became Phoenicia’s granary because Hiram received large quantities of barley, oil, wheat, and wine annually for both his household and his workers. In return Solomon received skilled labor besides cedar and cypress wood — shipped via sea rafts to Joppa — for his massive construction projects. Official buildings dating from this period in Israel show many signs of Phoenician influences in design and execution. By sharing experienced sailors, Hiram further aided Solomon in his maintenance of a merchant fleet which operated out of the port of Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Aqabah (1 Kgs. 9:26-28; 10:11, 22). This fleet evidently sailed along the African and Arabian coasts of the Red Sea, dealing in high-cost and low-bulk luxury items like precious stones and exotic animals. When Solomon’s ambitious building program strained his treasury excessively or when his trading operations ran into serious financial trouble, he was forced to cede 20 cities in Galilee to Hiram (1 Kgs. 9:10-14).

2. A talented craftsperson and metalworker whom the king of Tyre lent to Solomon in order to decorate Yahweh’s Jerusalem temple, including the erection of Jachin and Boaz (1 Kgs. 7:13-47). Hiram’s father had been a Tyrian artisan in bronze. His mother was either a Naphtalite (1 Kgs. 7:14) or a Danite (2 Chr. 2:14[13]). These two labels could derive from the same memory because the city Dan lay within the territory of Naphtali. However, the Chronicler could have altered Hiram’s descent to draw a parallel with the Danite Oholiab and the latter’s construction of the tabernacle (cf. Exod. 31:6). Support for purposeful alteration comes from the fact that the Chronicler calls the Tyrian Huram-abi at 2 Chr. 2:13(12), a name which may have been created by joining “Hiram” to the final element “ab(i)” of Oholiab. Furthermore, the list of Hiram’s abilities in 1 Kgs. 7:14; 2 Chr. 2:7, 14(6, 13) is taken from Exod. 31:1-6; 35:35.

Bibliography. J. K. Kuan, “Third Kingdoms 5:1 and Israelite-Tyrian Relations during the Reign of Solomon,” JSOT 46 (1990): 31-46.

Edwin C. Hostetter

3. Hiram II, king of Tyre (739-ca. 730), called “king of the Sidonians.” He greatly expanded the territory controlled by Tyre despite the aggression of the Assyrian Empire. Texts dating to 738 and 734-32 list him among the territories paying tribute to Tiglath-pileser III (ANET, 283). In 733-732 he entered a coalition with Rezin of Damascus and the king of Ashkelon against Assyria; when the rebellion was quashed, Hiram alone was pardoned.

4. Hiram III, king of Tyre (551-532). Apparently a loyal vassal of Nabonidus, he was summoned from Babylon to succeed his brother Maharbal (Merbal; Josephus Ag. Ap. 1.158-59). With the accession of Cyrus in 539 Tyre became part of the Persian Empire.

5. Hiram IV, king of Tyre and a contemporary of the Persian king Darius I Hystaspes (521-486). Herodotus (Hist. 7.98) refers to him as Siromos.

Bibliography. H. J. Katzenstein, The History of Tyre (Jerusalem, 1973).

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HIRAM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)