1 Kings 5:13-18

13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men,

14 whom he sent to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; they were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the levy.

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.

1 Kings 5:13-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST KINGS 5

This chapter relates Solomon's preparation for building the temple: on Hiram, king of Tyre, sending a congratulatory letter to him, he returned another to him, signifying his intention to build an house for God, and requesting him to supply him with timber, and men to work it, 1Ki 5:1-6; to which Hiram readily agreed, and sent him cedar and fir, and Solomon in return sent him food for his household; and things went on very amicably between them, 1Ki 5:7-12; the chapter concludes with an account of Solomon's workmen, where, how, and in what they were employed, 1Ki 5:13-18.