1 Kings 5:16

16 There were also thirty-three hundred men who directed the workers.

1 Kings 5:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:16

Besides the chief of Solomon's officers which [were] over the
work
Over the whole work, preparatory for the building of the temple; though it seems chiefly to have respect to that of hewing the stones, and bringing them to the city:

three thousand and three hundred which ruled over the people that
wrought in the work;
to keep them to their work, and to see that they performed it well: in ( 2 Chronicles 2:18 ) ; they are said to be 3600, which is three hundred more than here; those three hundred are the chief officers mentioned in the former part of this verse, which were over the whole work, and even over the 3600 overseers, and with them made up the sum of 3600; so Jacob Leon ^F8 observes there were 3300 master workmen, and three hundred commanders over them all.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 3. p. 14.

1 Kings 5:16 In-Context

14 He sent a group of ten thousand men each month to Lebanon. Each group worked in Lebanon one month, then went home for two months. A man named Adoniram was in charge.

15 Solomon forced eighty thousand men to work in the hill country, cutting stone, and he had seventy thousand men to carry the stones.

16 There were also thirty-three hundred men who directed the workers.

17 King Solomon commanded them to cut large blocks of fine stone to be used for the foundation of the Temple.

18 Solomon's and Hiram's builders and the men from Byblos carved the stones and prepared the stones and the logs for building the Temple.