Inquiry:
What was the payment from Solomon to Hiram? Was it “wheat and oil” (1 Kings 5:11) or “wheat, barley, wine and oil” (2 Chronicles 2:10)? Is there a contradiction?
Response:
It is important to read a text and understand what it says. 1 Kings 5:11 and 2 Chronicles 2:10 read differently because they speak of different payments.
In 1 Kings 5:11 we’re told that the wheat and oil were given to meet the needs of Hiram’s household.
The wheat, barley, oil and wine of 2 Chronicles 2:10 were not for Hiram’s household as the provisions of 1 Kings 5:11 were. The text tells us these supplies were for Hiram’s servants, for the woodsmen who were cutting timber.
The questioner may have focused on the fact that 2 of the 4 items mentioned in 2 Chronicles also appear in 1 Kings. It is likely he also focused on the fact that the amounts are the same (20,000 kors). These likenesses might lead one to think that the same payment is referred to in both texts, but that is an incorrect conclusion. One set of provisions were for the household of Hiram, the other set was for his servants.
There is no contradiction.
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