1 Kings 5:15

15 Then he had seventy thousand for the work of transport, and eighty thousand stone-cutters in the mountains;

1 Kings 5:15 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:15

And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens,
&c.] Seventy thousand to carry the stones from the mountains out of which they were dug, and which were near Jerusalem, to the city; these were strangers in Israel, as were those that follow:

and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains:
eighty thousand that dug the stones out of the quarries, and squared them; these, with the others, made 150,000, see ( 2 Chronicles 2:17 ) ; according to Jacob Leon ^F7, the number of workmen at the temple for seven years was 163,600, and some make them more.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 3. p. 14.

1 Kings 5:15 In-Context

13 Then King Solomon got together men for the forced work through all Israel, thirty thousand men in number;

14 And sent them to Lebanon in bands of ten thousand every month: for a month they were working in Lebanon and for two months in their country, and Adoniram was in control of them.

15 Then he had seventy thousand for the work of transport, and eighty thousand stone-cutters in the mountains;

16 In addition to the chiefs of the responsible men put by Solomon to oversee the work, three thousand and three hundred in authority over the workmen.

17 By the king's orders great stones, stones of high price, were cut out, so that the base of the house might be made of squared stone.