1 Kings 5:16

16 not including his 3,300 ^[a] foremen who supervised the workers.

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 monthly shifts of 10,000 men, so that they would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. And Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

15 Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,

16 not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.

17 And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.

18 So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew; some LXX manuscripts 3,600; see 2 Chronicles 2:18.