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1 Kings 5
Lexham English Bible

Solomon’s Wisdom: Architecture

5 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him as king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a friend for David. 2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3 “You knew David my father, that he was not able to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God, in view of the warfare[a] which surrounded him, until Yahweh placed them[b] under the soles of his feet. 4 But now Yahweh my God has given me rest all around me. There is no adversary, and there is no bad occurrence. 5 Here I am, intending to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh promised to my father David, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set in your place on your throne, shall build the house for my name.’ 6 So then, command that they may cut cedars for me from Lebanon, and let my servants be with your servants. The wage of your servants I will give to you according to all that you say, 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 he said, “Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” 8 Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard what you have sent to me; I will do all of your desire concerning the timber of cedars and concerning the timber of cypresses. 9 My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts in the sea to float to the place which you indicated to me. Then I shall break them up there, and you may carry them further, and you shall meet my needs[c] by giving food for my house.” 10 So Hiram was giving to Solomon the cedar timbers and the cypress timbers, everything he needed.[d] 11 Then Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand dry measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty dry measures of specially prepared olive oil;[e] thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year. 12 Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon as he promised to him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made[f] a covenant.

13 Then King Solomon conscripted a forced labor from all Israel, and the forced labor numbered thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand every month;[g] the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand common laborers[h] and eighty thousand stone craftsmen in the hill country. 16 Besides the chiefs of the officers Solomon had, there were three thousand three hundred having charge over the people who were doing the work. 17 When the king commanded, they quarried great stones and precious stones to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites hewed stones, and they prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 5:3 Literally “because of the face of the warfare”
  2. 1 Kings 5:3 That is, David’s enemies
  3. 1 Kings 5:9 Literally “you shall do my desire”
  4. 1 Kings 5:10 Literally “all of his desire”
  5. 1 Kings 5:11 Literally “beaten olive oil”
  6. 1 Kings 5:12 Literally “cut”
  7. 1 Kings 5:14 Literally “in the month”
  8. 1 Kings 5:15 Literally “carrying burden”
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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]

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Footnotes

  1. 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.
  2. 1 Kings 5:1 tn Heb “his servants.”
  3. 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.
  4. 1 Kings 5:3 tn Heb “because of the battles which surrounded him until the Lord placed them under the soles of his feet.”
  5. 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “Look, I am saying.”
  6. 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.
  7. 1 Kings 5:5 tn Heb “a house for my name.”
  8. 1 Kings 5:7 tn Or “Blessed be the Lord today, who….”
  9. 1 Kings 5:8 tn Heb “heard.”
  10. 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.”
  11. 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.
  12. 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “smash them,” i.e., untie the bundles.
  13. 1 Kings 5:9 tn Heb “as for you, you will satisfy my desire by giving food for my house.”
  14. 1 Kings 5:10 tn Heb “and Hiram gave to Solomon cedar wood and the wood of evergreens, all his desire.”
  15. 1 Kings 5:11 sn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.
  16. 1 Kings 5:11 tn Heb “his house.”
  17. 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).
  18. 1 Kings 5:11 tn Or “pressed.”
  19. 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.”
  20. 1 Kings 5:12 tn Heb “a covenant,” referring to a formal peace treaty or alliance.
  21. 1 Kings 5:13 tn Heb “raised up.”
  22. 1 Kings 5:13 sn Work crews. This Hebrew word (מַס, mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
  23. 1 Kings 5:14 tn Heb “was over.”
  24. 1 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
  25. 1 Kings 5:15 tn Heb “cutters” (probably of stones).
  26. 1 Kings 5:16 tc Some Greek mss of the OT read “3,600”; cf. 2 Chr 2:2, 18 and NLT.
  27. 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.”
  28. 1 Kings 5:17 tn Heb “and the king commanded.”
  29. 1 Kings 5:18 tn Heb “builders.”
  30. 1 Kings 5:18 tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”
  31. 1 Kings 5:18 tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”
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