1 Kings 5:17

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

1 Kings 5:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:17

And the king commanded, and they brought great stones
Not in quality, but in quantity, large stones, fit to lay in the foundation; strong, and durable against all the injuries of time, as Josephus says ^F9:

costly stones;
not what are commonly called precious stones, as gems, pearls but stones of value, as marble, porphyry, &c.

[and] hewed stones;
not rough as they were taken out of the quarry, but hewed, and made smooth:

to lay the foundation of the house;
which, though out of sight, was to be laid with goodly stones for the magnificence of the building; so the church of Christ, its foundation is said to be laid even with sapphires and other precious stones, see ( Isaiah 54:11 ) ( Revelation 21:19 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 2.

1 Kings 5:17 In-Context

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.