Who is hiram

Hiram's friendly correspondence with Solomon, which is mentioned in Scripture, was for centuries after preserved in the archives of Tyre Josephus, "Ant. Their intercourse was not confined to the exchange of gold, silver, and cedar- and fir-wood for grain, oil, and wine; for they also exchanged questions and answers. On one occasion Solomon sent Hiram riddles, asking for some in return; and he proposed that the one who could not solve them should pay a forfeit in money.

Hiram accepted this proposition, and subsequently had to pay many sums, since he was unable to solve Solomon's riddles.

Later, however, a Tyrian, Abdamon by name, came to Hiram's aid and propounded riddles to Solomon; and as the latter could not solve them, he was obliged to pay large sums to Hiram Josephus, "Ant.

Hiram, instead of being grateful to God for allowinghim to attain to a good old age, began to imagine that he himself was a god, and endeavored to make people believe in him by means of seven heavens that he had artificially constructed. He had four iron pillars fastened to the bottom of the sea, and on these he erected seven heavens, the first being of glass, the second of iron, the third of lead, the fourth of molten metal brass , the fifth of copper, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of gold.

These heavens were separated from each other by channels of water, ranging in size from to 3, square ells, so that each heaven was square ells larger than the one below it. Furthermore, Hiram collected huge boulders in the second heaven, the rolling of which resembled thunder; and flashes of lightning were produced by great precious stones.

While Hiram was floating on high the prophet Ezekiel was brought to him through the air, to reprove him for his arrogance. But the Prince of Tyre replied haughtily that he, like God, was sitting on the sea and in seven heavens, and had already survived David, Solomon, twenty-one kings of Israel, twenty kings of Judah, ten prophets, and ten high priests. Thereupon God said: "What!

Well, then, I will destroy My house in order that meet punishment may come upon him. According to one haggadah Hiram entered paradise alive, and in order to reconcile this statement with the story as given above, it is said in the Second Alphabet of Ben Sira ed. Venice, 29a : "God brought Hiram, the King of Tyre, alive into paradise because he built the Temple; at first he was God-fearing and lived in paradise a thousand years; but then he became haughty and claimed to be a god, whereupon he was driven out of paradise into hell.

Hiram, who was not Hebrew, venerated Melqart, the god of Tyre, and was to build a temple in honor of this ancestral king of his royal line. Both Solomon and Hiram benefited significantly from the building of the Temple and maintained a close relationship.

We can assume that Hiram also continued to honor, after a fashion, the God of Israel as the one creator of heaven and earth. In addition, the pagan king of Tyre was an early example of breaking down the wall between Jews and gentiles Ephesians Under the instruction of Tyrian mariners, Jewish sailors were taught how to bring gold from India to enrich their people and to beautify the Temple of their king.

Tradition even has it that King Hiram gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon. Subscribe to Franciscan Spirit blog! Franciscan Spirit Blog. Christopher Gaul. Add parallel Share Print Page Options. Contemporary English Version. Footnotes 5. It was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea north of Israel, in what is today southern Lebanon.

Buy Now. View more titles.