1 Kings 5:15

15 Solomon also ¹had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,

1 Kings 5:15 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:15

And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens,
&c.] Seventy thousand to carry the stones from the mountains out of which they were dug, and which were near Jerusalem, to the city; these were strangers in Israel, as were those that follow:

and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains:
eighty thousand that dug the stones out of the quarries, and squared them; these, with the others, made 150,000, see ( 2 Chronicles 2:17 ) ; according to Jacob Leon ^F7, the number of workmen at the temple for seven years was 163,600, and some make them more.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 3. p. 14.

1 Kings 5:15 In-Context

13 King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men.

14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft.

15 Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,

16 besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

17 At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.

Cross References

• 1. 2 Chronicles 2:18; [1 Kings 9:20-22]