13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.
15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
16 Beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
13 And king H4428 Solomon H8010 raised H5927 a levy H4522 out of all Israel; H3478 and the levy H4522 was thirty H7970 thousand H505 men. H376
14 And he sent H7971 them to Lebanon, H3844 ten H6235 thousand H505 a month H2320 by courses: H2487 a month H2320 they were in Lebanon, H3844 and two H8147 months H2320 at home: H1004 and Adoniram H141 was over the levy. H4522
15 And Solomon H8010 had threescore and ten H7657 thousand H505 that bare H5375 burdens, H5449 and fourscore H8084 thousand H505 hewers H2672 in the mountains; H2022
16 Beside the chief H8269 of Solomon's H8010 officers H5324 which were over the work, H4399 three H7969 thousand H505 and three H7969 hundred, H3967 which ruled H7287 over the people H5971 that wrought H6213 in the work. H4399
17 And the king H4428 commanded, H6680 and they brought H5265 great H1419 stones, H68 costly H3368 stones, H68 and hewed H1496 stones, H68 to lay the foundation H3245 of the house. H1004
18 And Solomon's H8010 builders H1129 and Hiram's H2438 builders H1129 did hew H6458 them, and the stonesquarers: H1382 so they prepared H3559 timber H6086 and stones H68 to build H1129 the house. H1004
13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to taskwork.
15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;
16 besides Solomon's chief officers that were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
13 And king Solomon lifteth up a tribute out of all Israel, and the tribute is thirty thousand men,
14 and he sendeth them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month, by changes, a month they are in Lebanon, two months in their own house; and Adoniram `is' over the tribute.
15 And king Solomon hath seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain,
16 apart from the heads of the officers of Solomon, who `are' over the work, three thousand and three hundred, those ruling over the people who are working in the business.
17 And the king commandeth, and they bring great stones, precious stone, to lay the foundation of the house, hewn stones;
18 and the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hew, and prepare the wood and the stones to build the house.
13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, two months at home; and Adoniram was over the levy.
15 And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountains;
16 besides the overseers whom Solomon had set over the work, three thousand three hundred, who ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
18 And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Giblites hewed them, and prepared timber and stones to build the house.
13 King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14 He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to forced labor.
15 Solomon had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains;
16 besides Solomon's chief officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work.
17 The king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.
18 Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
13 Then King Solomon got together men for the forced work through all Israel, thirty thousand men in number;
14 And sent them to Lebanon in bands of ten thousand every month: for a month they were working in Lebanon and for two months in their country, and Adoniram was in control of them.
15 Then he had seventy thousand for the work of transport, and eighty thousand stone-cutters in the mountains;
16 In addition to the chiefs of the responsible men put by Solomon to oversee the work, three thousand and three hundred in authority over the workmen.
17 By the king's orders great stones, stones of high price, were cut out, so that the base of the house might be made of squared stone.
18 Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did the work of cutting them, and put edges on them, and got the wood and the stone ready for the building of the house.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 5
Commentary on 1 Kings 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
1Ki 5:1-6. Hiram Sends to Congratulate Solomon.
1. Hiram … sent his servants unto Solomon—the grandson of David's contemporary [Kitto]; or the same Hiram [Winer and others]. The friendly relations which the king of Tyre had cultivated with David are here seen renewed with his son and successor, by a message of condolence as well as of congratulation on his accession to the throne of Israel. The alliance between the two nations had been mutually beneficial by the encouragement of useful traffic. Israel, being agricultural, furnished corn and oil, while the Tyrians, who were a commercial people, gave in exchange their Phœnician manufactures, as well as the produce of foreign lands. A special treaty was now entered into in furtherance of that undertaking which was the great work of Solomon's splendid and peaceful reign.
6. command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon—Nowhere else could Solomon have procured materials for the woodwork of his contemplated building. The forests of Lebanon, adjoining the seas in Solomon's time, belonged to the Phœnicians, and the timber being a lucrative branch of their exports, immense numbers of workmen were constantly employed in the felling of trees as well as the transportation and preparation of the wood. Hiram stipulated to furnish Solomon with as large a quantity of cedars and cypresses as he might require and it was a great additional obligation that he engaged to render the important service of having it brought down, probably by the Dog river, to the seaside, and conveyed along the coast in floats; that is, the logs being bound together, to the harbor of Joppa (2Ch 2:16), whence they could easily find the means of transport to Jerusalem.
my servants shall be with thy servants—The operations were to be on so extensive a scale that the Tyrians alone would be insufficient. A division of labor was necessary, and while the former would do the work that required skilful artisans, Solomon engaged to supply the laborers.
1Ki 5:7-12. Furnishes Timber to Build the Temple.
7. Blessed be the Lord—This language is no decisive evidence that Hiram was a worshipper of the true God, as he might use it only on the polytheistic principle of acknowledging Jehovah as the God of the Hebrews (see on 2Ch 2:11).
8. Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things … and I will do—The contract was drawn out formally in a written document (2Ch 2:11), which, according to Josephus, was preserved both in the Jewish and Tyrian records.
10. fir trees—rather, the cypress.
11. food to his household—This was an annual supply for the palace, different from that mentioned in 2Ch 2:10, which was for the workmen in the forests.
1Ki 5:13-18. Solomon's Workmen and Laborers.
13. Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel—The renewed notice of Solomon's divine gift of wisdom (1Ki 5:12) is evidently introduced to prepare for this record of the strong but prudent measures he took towards the accomplishment of his work. So great a stretch of arbitrary power as is implied in this compulsory levy would have raised great discontent, if not opposition, had not his wise arrangement of letting the laborers remain at home two months out of three, added to the sacredness of the work, reconciled the people to this forced labor. The carrying of burdens and the irksome work of excavating the quarries was assigned to the remnant of the Canaanites (1Ki 9:20; 2Ch 8:7-9) and war prisoners made by David—amounting to 153,600. The employment of persons of that condition in Eastern countries for carrying on any public work, would make this part of the arrangements the less thought of.
17. brought great stones—The stone of Lebanon is "hard, calcareous, whitish and sonorous, like free stone" [Shaw]. The same white and beautiful stone can be obtained in every part of Syria and Palestine.
hewed stones—or neatly polished, as the Hebrew word signifies (Ex 20:25). Both Jewish and Tyrian builders were employed in hewing these great stones.
18. and the stone squarers—The Margin, which renders it "the Giblites" (Jos 13:5), has long been considered a preferable translation. This marginal translation also must yield to another which has lately been proposed, by a slight change in the Hebrew text, and which would be rendered thus: "Solomon's builders, and Hiram's builders, did hew them and bevel them" [Thenius]. These great bevelled or grooved stones, measuring some twenty, others thirty feet in length, and from five to six feet in breadth, are still seen in the substructures about the ancient site of the temple; and, in the judgment of the most competent observers, were those originally employed "to lay the foundation of the house."