1 Kings 5:15

15 Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand 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 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.

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