1 Kings 5:10-18

10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted,

11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors^[a] of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths^[b][c] of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year.

12 The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

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^[d] 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 5:10-18 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 ver 9
• 2. S 1 Kings 3:12
• 3. Joshua 9:7; 1 Kings 15:19; Amos 1:9
• 4. S Genesis 49:15; S Leviticus 25:39; 1 Kings 9:15
• 5. S 2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; 2 Chronicles 10:18
• 6. 1 Kings 9:23
• 7. 1 Kings 6:7
• 8. 1 Chronicles 22:2
• 9. S 2 Samuel 5:11
• 10. S Joshua 13:5

Footnotes

• [a]. That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,250 metric tons
• [b]. Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 2:10); Hebrew "twenty cors"
• [c]. That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
• [d]. Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 2:2,18) "thirty-six hundred"