1 Kings 5
New English Translation
Solomon Gathers Building Materials for the Temple
5 (5:15)[a] King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers[b] to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father’s place. (Hiram had always been an ally of David.) 2 Solomon then sent this message to Hiram: 3 “You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the Lord[c] his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the Lord subdued his enemies.[d] 4 But now the Lord my God has made me secure on all fronts; there is no adversary or dangerous threat. 5 So I have decided[e] to build a temple to honor the Lord[f] my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’[g] 6 So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was very happy. He said, “The Lord is worthy of praise today because he[h] has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.” 8 Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: “I received[i] the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need.[j] 9 My servants will bring the timber down from Lebanon to the sea. I will send it by sea in raft-like bundles to the place you designate.[k] There I will separate the logs[l] and you can carry them away. In exchange you will supply the food I need for my royal court.”[m]
10 So Hiram supplied the cedars and evergreens Solomon needed,[n] 11 and Solomon supplied Hiram annually with 20,000 cors [o] of wheat as provision for his royal court,[p] as well as 120,000 gallons[q] of pure[r] olive oil.[s] 12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty.[t]
13 King Solomon conscripted[u] work crews[v] from throughout Israel, 30,000 men in all. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of[w] the work crews. 15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers[x] and 80,000 stonecutters[y] in the hills, 16 besides 3,300 officials[z] who supervised the workers.[aa] 17 By royal order[ab] they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple’s foundation with chiseled stone. 18 Solomon’s and Hiram’s construction workers,[ac] along with men from Byblos,[ad] did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple.[ae]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Kings 5:1 sn The verse numbers in the English Bible differ from those in the Hebrew text (BHS) here; 5:1-18 in the English Bible corresponds to 5:15-32 in the Hebrew text. See the note at 4:21.
- 1 Kings 5:1 tn Heb “his servants.”
- 1 Kings 5:3 tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
- 1 Kings 5:3 tn Heb “because of the battles which surrounded him until the Lord placed them under the soles of his feet.”
- 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “Look, I am saying.”
- 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.
- 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “a house for my name.”
- 1 Kings 5:7 tn Or “Blessed be the Lord today, who….”
- 1 Kings 5:8 tn Heb “heard.”
- 1 Kings 5:8 tn Heb “I will satisfy all your desire with respect to cedar wood and with respect to the wood of evergreens.”
- 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “I will place them [on? as?] rafts in the sea to the place where you designate to me.” This may mean he would send them by raft, or that he would tie them in raft-like bundles, and have ships tow them down to an Israelite port.
- 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “smash them,” i.e., untie the bundles.
- 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “as for you, you will satisfy my desire by giving food for my house.”
- 1 Kings 5:10 tn Heb “and Hiram gave to Solomon cedar wood and the wood of evergreens, all his desire.”
- 1 Kings 5:11 sn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.
- 1 Kings 5:11 tn Heb “his house.”
- 1 Kings 5:11 tc The Hebrew text has “twenty cors,” but the ancient Greek version and the parallel text in 2 Chr 2:10 read “20,000 baths.” sn A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so this was a quantity of about 120,000 gallons (440,000 liters).
- 1 Kings 5:11 tn Or “pressed.”
- 1 Kings 5:11 tn Heb “and Solomon supplied Hiram with 20,000 cors of wheat…pure olive oil. So Solomon would give to Hiram year by year.”
- 1 Kings 5:12 tn Heb “a covenant,” referring to a formal peace treaty or alliance.
- 1 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “raised up.”
- 1 Kings 5:13 sn Work crews. This Hebrew word (מַס, mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
- 1 Kings 5:14 tn Heb “was over.”
- 1 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
- 1 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “cutters” (probably of stones).
- 1 Kings 5:16 tc Some Greek mss of the OT read “3,600”; cf. 2 Chr 2:2, 18 and NLT.
- 1 Kings 5:16 tn Heb “besides thirty-three hundred from the officials of Solomon’s governors who were over the work, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”
- 1 Kings 5:17 tn Heb “and the king commanded.”
- 1 Kings 5:18 tn Heb “builders.”
- 1 Kings 5:18 tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”
- 1 Kings 5:18 tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”
1 Kings 5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Preparations and Materials for the Temple
5 [a]Now King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend to David.(A) 2 Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, 3 “You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until he[b] put them under the soles of his feet.[c](B) 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune.(C) 5 So I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’(D) 6 Therefore command that cedars from the Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” 8 Hiram sent word to Solomon, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me; I will fulfill all your needs in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. 9 My servants shall bring it down to the sea from the Lebanon; I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will have them broken up there for you to take away. And you shall meet my needs by providing food for my household.”(E) 10 So Hiram supplied Solomon’s every need for timber of cedar and cypress. 11 Solomon, in turn, gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household and twenty cors of fine oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.(F) 12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.(G)
13 King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the levy numbered thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home;[d] Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.(H) 15 Solomon also had seventy thousand laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country,(I) 16 besides Solomon’s three thousand three hundred supervisors who were over the work, having charge of the people who did the work. 17 At the king’s command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.(J) 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites did the stonecutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
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