1 Kings 5:13-18

13 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men.

14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills,

16 as well as thirty-three hundred^[a] foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers.

17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple.

18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

1 Kings 5:13-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST KINGS 5

This chapter relates Solomon's preparation for building the temple: on Hiram, king of Tyre, sending a congratulatory letter to him, he returned another to him, signifying his intention to build an house for God, and requesting him to supply him with timber, and men to work it, 1Ki 5:1-6; to which Hiram readily agreed, and sent him cedar and fir, and Solomon in return sent him food for his household; and things went on very amicably between them, 1Ki 5:7-12; the chapter concludes with an account of Solomon's workmen, where, how, and in what they were employed, 1Ki 5:13-18.

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 49:15; S Leviticus 25:39; 1 Kings 9:15
• 2. S 2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; 2 Chronicles 10:18
• 3. 1 Kings 9:23
• 4. 1 Kings 6:7
• 5. 1 Chronicles 22:2
• 6. S 2 Samuel 5:11
• 7. S Joshua 13:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 2:2,18) "thirty-six hundred"