1 Kings 5:16

16 and 3,600 foremen to supervise the work.

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 them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force.

15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers in the hill country,

16 and 3,600 foremen to supervise the work.

17 At the king’s command, they quarried large blocks of high-quality stone and shaped them to make the foundation of the Temple.

18 Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders prepare the timber and stone for the Temple.

Footnotes

• [a]. As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 2 Chr 2:2, 18 ); Hebrew reads 3,300.