1 Kings 5:15

15 Solomon had 70,000 men who carried heavy loads, 70,000 who quarried stone 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 King Solomon forced 30,000 men from all over Israel to work for him.

14 He sent a shift of 10,000 men to Lebanon for a month. They would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of forced labor.

15 Solomon had 70,000 men who carried heavy loads, 70,000 who quarried stone in the mountains,

16 and 3,300 foremen who were in charge of the workers.

17 The king commanded them to quarry large, expensive blocks of stone in order to provide a foundation of cut stone for the temple.