1 Kings 5:14

14 He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand {every month}; the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor.

1 Kings 5:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:14

And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses,
&c.] In their turns; these are the servants of his he proposed to be with Hiram's servants, assisting in cutting down the trees, and squaring the timber in Lebanon, ( 1 Kings 5:6 ) ;

a month they were in Lebanon, [and] two months at home;
that they might not be overworked; for they wrought but four months in the year in the hard service in Lebanon, the rest of their time was spent in managing their domestic affairs; these were Israelites:

and Adoniram [was] over the levy:
the same that was over the tribute or the collectors of the tax, ( 1 Kings 4:6 ) ; and, according to the Targum, these were such persons.

1 Kings 5:14 In-Context

12 Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon as he promised to him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them {made} a covenant.

13 Then King Solomon conscripted a forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor [numbered] thirty thousand men.

14 He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand {every month}; the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor.

15 Solomon had seventy thousand {common laborers} and eighty thousand stone craftsmen in the hill country.

16 Besides the chiefs of the officers Solomon had, there were three thousand three hundred having charge over the people who were doing the work.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "in the month"