1 Kings 5:14

14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in relays; they would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoni'ram was in charge of the levy.

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 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them made a treaty.

13 King Solomon raised a levy of forced labor out of all Israel; and the levy numbered thirty thousand men.

14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in relays; they would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoni'ram was in charge of the levy.

15 Solomon also had seventy thousand burden-bearers and eighty thousand hewers of stone in the hill country,

16 besides Solomon's three thousand three hundred chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.