1 Kings 5:17

17 The king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.

1 Kings 5:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:17

And the king commanded, and they brought great stones
Not in quality, but in quantity, large stones, fit to lay in the foundation; strong, and durable against all the injuries of time, as Josephus says ^F9:

costly stones;
not what are commonly called precious stones, as gems, pearls but stones of value, as marble, porphyry, &c.

[and] hewed stones;
not rough as they were taken out of the quarry, but hewed, and made smooth:

to lay the foundation of the house;
which, though out of sight, was to be laid with goodly stones for the magnificence of the building; so the church of Christ, its foundation is said to be laid even with sapphires and other precious stones, see ( Isaiah 54:11 ) ( Revelation 21:19 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 2.

1 Kings 5:17 In-Context

15 Shlomo had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains;

16 besides Shlomo's chief officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work.

17 The king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.

18 Shlomo's builders and Hiram's builders and the Givli did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.