King Hiram of Tyre

Hiram was the king of Tyre, a Phoenician port, from 970 to 936 B.C. He was ally of the Israelites and was their prosperous neighbor. He enlarged and beautified Tyre with many temples.

King David relied on Hiram for the construction of his palace, importing both timber and carpenters who knew how to work it. Solomon later asked help from Hiram (called Huram in II Chronicles) in building the Temple of Jerusalem. “As you dealt with David my father and sent him cedar to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me.” Because Hiram aided both David and Solomon, he evidently had a very long reign.

In exchange for Israel’s wheat, barley, wine and oil, Hiram sent rafts of cedar and cypress logs south along the seacoast from Tyre. The cedar was used to build the walls and rafters of Solomon’s temple; the cypress, its floor. As a result of such extravagant construction projects, Solomon apparently ran short of cash and had to cede 20 cities to Hiram in exchange for 120 talents of gold (a sum worth perhaps $3.6 million dollars). These 20 cities were in the province of Cabul in Galilee. It was a barren area and the cities were dilapidated. After inspecting the territory, Hiram became angry, but he and Solomon resolved their differences. The advantages of friendship with Israel outweighed Hiram’s sense of insult. Cooperation between the two kingdoms continued.

Solomon’s fortunes greatly improved after hiram furnished him with Phoenician sailors, “seamen who were familiar with the sea” (I Kings 9:27), to man a new fleet that was built and based at Ezion-Geber on the Gulf of Aqabah. From that port, Solomon’s ships sailed down the Red Sea to the mysterious land of Ophir – its location remains unknown – to bring back gold, precious stones, ivory, rare wood, and exotic animals. These trading voyages greatly enriched Solomon’s Jerusalem as they had previously enriched Hiram’s Tyre.

Hiram has gone down in history as one of the greatest of the Phoenician rulers. He had a long, vigorous, and wise rule.

King Hiram appears often in the Masonic ritual and it’s always the spirit of cooperation between him and Solomon that is stressed. His presence in the ritual teaches us many lessons, but the one most important is the brotherhood of man. A universal law of love is the bond of worldwide brotherhood which Hiram and Solomon exemplified. They worshiped in very different ways but cooperated together as brothers.

Steven G. Tiner M\ E \ Past Grand High Priest of Arkansas