1 Kings 5:17

17 And the king commanded that they bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the house, and hewed stones.

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 And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens and eighty thousand hewers in the mountains;

16 besides Solomon’s chief officers who were over the work, there were three thousand three hundred who ruled over the people that did the work.

17 And the king commanded that they bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the house, and hewed stones.

18 And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders hewed them, and the stonesquarers; so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.