1 Kings 5:16

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

1 Kings 5:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:16

Besides the chief of Solomon's officers which [were] over the
work
Over the whole work, preparatory for the building of the temple; though it seems chiefly to have respect to that of hewing the stones, and bringing them to the city:

three thousand and three hundred which ruled over the people that
wrought in the work;
to keep them to their work, and to see that they performed it well: in ( 2 Chronicles 2:18 ) ; they are said to be 3600, which is three hundred more than here; those three hundred are the chief officers mentioned in the former part of this verse, which were over the whole work, and even over the 3600 overseers, and with them made up the sum of 3600; so Jacob Leon ^F8 observes there were 3300 master workmen, and three hundred commanders over them all.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 3. p. 14.

1 Kings 5:16 In-Context

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.

18 So Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the temple.

Footnotes

• [a] Following Masoretic Text, Targum, and Vulgate; Septuagint reads three thousand six hundred.