Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
2 Chronicles 2:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building.
Read It With
- 2 Chronicles 2:1–2:10
Denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building. Read 2 Chronicles 2:6 within 2:1–2:10. The complete unit records: Solomon plans houses for the LORD's name and his kingdom, counts a vast workforce, and requests a skilled artisan, timber, and provisions from Huram.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Temple grandeur is joined from the start to diplomacy, expertise, resources, and heavy labor, so worship and political economy must be read together. In this exact position, the line beginning “But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven…” denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building.
Follow the Context
- Solomon plans houses for the LORD's name and his kingdom, counts a vast workforce, and requests a skilled artisan, timber, and provisions from Huram.
- Temple grandeur is joined from the start to diplomacy, expertise, resources, and heavy labor, so worship and political economy must be read together.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven…”
In plain language: Denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building.
The line beginning “But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven…” denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building.
Why it matters: The wording carries a material literary, historical, temple, royal-power, violence, ethnic, illness, gender, exile, reception, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The temple project does not sanctify forced labor, limitless religious spending, exploitation of foreigners, or claims that any building contains God.
What Remains True
Denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building. This concrete detail supports a bounded truth: Faithful memory tells the truth about worship and power together: it preserves covenant hope while naming labor, victims, institutional limits, human agency, and uncertainty.
How It Can Shape Life
- Because this verse denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building, keep it inside 2:1–2:10, compare its Samuel-Kings relationship honestly, protect affected people from coercion or stigma, and apply only the accountable principle the complete unit supports.
Teach It Back
Explain why 2 Chronicles 2:6 denies that even the heavens can contain God within Solomon's building. Use 2:1–2:10, paraphrase “But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven…,” state one source or reconstruction limit, identify one person or group power can obscure, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Chronicles 2:1–2:10 — Solomon commissions temple labor and Tyrian materialsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
2 Chronicles 2:6 remains within this thought-unit limit: Chronicles expands Solomon's theological speech and workforce notice beyond Kings; the differences show historiographic shaping and do not require a single recoverable diplomatic transcript.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 2:1–2:10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 2:1–2:10
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 2:1–2:10, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗