1 Kings 5:14

14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force.

1 Kings 5:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:14

And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses,
&c.] In their turns; these are the servants of his he proposed to be with Hiram's servants, assisting in cutting down the trees, and squaring the timber in Lebanon, ( 1 Kings 5:6 ) ;

a month they were in Lebanon, [and] two months at home;
that they might not be overworked; for they wrought but four months in the year in the hard service in Lebanon, the rest of their time was spent in managing their domestic affairs; these were Israelites:

and Adoniram [was] over the levy:
the same that was over the tribute or the collectors of the tax, ( 1 Kings 4:6 ) ; and, according to the Targum, these were such persons.

1 Kings 5:14 In-Context

12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

13 Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men.

14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force.

15 Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains,

16 besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work.