Hiram, king of Tyre, sent envoys to Solomon to congratulate him on becoming king after his father David. Hiram had always been friendly with David. Solomon decided to build a temple for God, as David had wanted to. Solomon arranged with Hiram to provide timber from Lebanon in exchange for wheat and olive oil. Hiram agreed and sent skilled workers to help prepare the materials for building the temple. Commentators note the contrast between God originally wanting a spiritual house of people rather than a physical temple, but that God accommodated the temple project.

1. 1 KI GS 5 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Preparations for Building the Temple
1 [a]When Hiram king of Tyre heard that
Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his
father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon,
because he had always been on friendly terms
with David.
BAR ES, "Hiram, king of Tyre - Menander of Ephesus, who wrote a history of
Tyre in Greek, founded upon native Tyrian documents, about 300 B.C., mentioned this
Hiram as the son of Abibaal king of Tyre, and said that he ascended the throne when he
was nineteen; that he reigned thirty-four years, and, dying at the age of fifty-three, was
succeeded by his son Baleazar. Menander spoke at some length of the dealings of Hiram
with Solomon.
Sent his servants - This appears to have been an embassy of congratulation.
CLARKE, "Hiram king of Tyre - It must have been at the beginning of Solomon’s
reign that these ambassadors were sent; and some suppose that the Hiram mentioned
here is different from him who was the friend of David; but there seems no very solid
reason for this supposition. As Hiram had intimate alliance with David, and built his
palace, 2Sa_5:11, he wished to maintain the same good understanding with his son, of
whose wisdom he had no doubt heard the most advantageous accounts; and he loved the
son because he always loved the father, for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
GILL, "And Hiram king of Tyre sent servants unto Solomon,.... His
ambassadors, to condole him on the death of his father, and congratulate him on his
accession to the throne; this king is called by the Phoenician historians (s) Hirom, and
by Eupolemus (t) Suron, as he is Huram in 2Ch_2:3; and by Theophilus of Antioch (u)
Hierom the son of Abelmalus, in the twelfth year of whose reign the temple was built:
for he had heard that they had anointed him, king in the room of his father;
that the Israelites had anointed him king:

2. for Hiram was ever a lover of David; a friend and ally of his; and we never read of
the Tyrians being at war with him, or assisting any of his enemies.
HE RY, "We have here an account of the amicable correspondence between Solomon
and Hiram. Tyre was a famous trading city, that lay close upon the sea, in the border of
Israel; its inhabitants (as should seem) were none of the devoted nations, nor ever at
enmity with Israel, and therefore David never offered to destroy them, but lived in
friendship with them. It is here said of Hiram their king that he was ever a lover of
David; and we have reason to think he was a worshipper of the true God, and had
himself renounced, though he could not reform, the idolatry of his city. David's
character will win the affections even of those that are without. Here is,
I. Hiram's embassy of compliment to Solomon, 1Ki_5:1. He sent, as is usual among
princes, to condole with him on the death of David, and to renew his alliances with him
upon his succession to the government. It is good keeping up friendship and communion
with the families in which religion is uppermost.
JAMISO , "1Ki_5:1-6. Hiram sends to congratulate Solomon.
Hiram ... sent his servants unto Solomon — the grandson of David’s
contemporary [Kitto]; or the same Hiram [Winer and others]. The friendly relations
which the king of Tyre had cultivated with David are here seen renewed with his son and
successor, by a message of condolence as well as of congratulation on his accession to
the throne of Israel. The alliance between the two nations had been mutually beneficial
by the encouragement of useful traffic. Israel, being agricultural, furnished corn and oil,
while the Tyrians, who were a commercial people, gave in exchange their Phoenician
manufactures, as well as the produce of foreign lands. A special treaty was now entered
into in furtherance of that undertaking which was the great work of Solomon’s splendid
and peaceful reign.
K&D, "Solomon's negotiations with Hiram of Tyre. - 1Ki_5:1. When king Hiram of
Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in the place of David, he sent his
servants, i.e., an embassage, to Solomon, to congratulate him (as the Syriac correctly
explains) on his ascent of the throne, because he had been a friend of David the whole
time (‫ים‬ ִ‫מ‬ָ‫י‬ ַ‫ל־ה‬ ָⅴ, i.e., as long as both of them David and Hiram were kings). On Hiram and
the length of his reign, see the remarks on 2Sa_5:11. This is passed over in the
Chronicles as having no essential bearing upon the building of the temple.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:1. Hiram sent his servants unto Solomon — amely, as soon
as he heard of his succession in the throne, as the following words show, he sent to
congratulate him, as the manner of princes is. For Hiram was ever a lover of David
— And therefore was desirous to continue in friendship with his son. This Hiram
was probably the son of him who sent David timber and artificers to build his
palace. Josephus assures us, that in his time, the letters which passed between him
and Solomon were preserved in the archives of Tyre.
COFFMA , "It is almost incredible to this writer that no commentator whom we
have consulted has challenged Solomon's arrogant assumption in this passage that

3. he himself was that promised `seed' of David whom God would establish eternally
upon David's throne, declaring emphatically that, "I (God) will establish the throne
of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:13)."
The subsequent events in the history of David's earthly dynasty demonstrated most
effectively the error of Solomon's conceited assumption. Furthermore, Solomon had
been elevated to David's throne during David's lifetime, with whom, for a season,
Solomon Was actually co-regent; and the promise of 2 Samuel 7:12 regarding that
`seed' whose throne would last for ever stressed that he would rise at a time, "When
David should sleep with his fathers and after David's days on earth had been
fulfilled." (See our full discussion of this in our Commentary on Second Samuel in
chapter 7.)
Solomon is not the only one who misunderstood that heavenly promise; because the
Jewish people themselves quickly concluded that the extravaganza of Solomon's
kingdom was scheduled to last eternally. However, the enormous taxation, the
forced labor, and the heartless selfishness of Solomon's reign quickly issued in the
resentment and bitterness that split the kingdom.
A EARTHLY TEMPLE WHICH GOD DID OT WA T
The fact of God's accommodation to Solomon's Temple, and his use of it during the
following history of Israel should not obscure that fact that God had made it
perfectly clear to David that God did not Desire a Temple (2 Samuel 7:4-7). In that
passage, God stated that he had never said to any Israelite, "build me a house
(temple)." And we must point out that God never commanded Solomon to build him
a house. If so, where is the commandment? It was Solomon's project, first, last, and
always. In our whole series of Bible Commentaries, we have frequently stressed the
fact of both the monarchy and the Temple being contrary to God's will. If it had not
been so, why would God have destroyed it twice?
It is refreshing to note that La Sor, writing in The ew Bible Commentary (Revised)
raised a question: "Solomon utilized the skills of the Phoenicians, the slave-labor of
conquered peoples, and the enforced labor of the Israelites, even mortgaging a part
of his kingdom; and at last he had a splendid Temple, and probably an even more
splendid palace. But was it right"?[1] Of course, La Sor assumed it was right,
basing his assumption upon the fact that God surely used it, but we cannot believe
that God's use of the Temple was any more proof of its being right than was his use
of the monarchy.
That Temple proved to be a millstone around the necks of God's people as long as it
stood. As Stephen the Martyr observed in his Farewell Address, "All of God's great
victories for Israel came, not in the days of the Temple, but in those of the
Tabernacle" (Acts 7:44-46). Furthermore, Stephen's remark, that, "Solomon built
him (God) a house" can be nothing but sarcasm. Also, the sacred author of Hebrews
made no mention whatever of Solomon's Temple, but repeatedly stressed the
significance of the Tabernacle. This bypass of Solomon's Temple by the inspired

4. author of Hebrews is extremely significant. It is obvious that God never approved of
the Temple.
What is wrong with a Temple? As Stephen put it, "God dwelleth not in Temples
made with hands" (Acts 7:39). What is wrong with a temple, any temple? It
purports to say that "God is there," but that is a lie. The Temple of Solomon
became a center of pagan worship (Ezekiel 8); and that prophet recorded the
departure of God's Spirit from it (Ezekiel 10-11).
"I will give thee hire, ... according to all that thou shalt say (1 Kings 5:6). "This
amount was so enormous (according to 1 Kings 5:11,220,000 bushels of wheat and
180,000 gallons of oil) that we are not surprised to find out later that Solomon
apparently went bankrupt and had to cede part of his territory to settle the
debt."[2]
This alliance with Hiram king of Tyre was mutually advantageous both to him and
to Solomon. "The corn-growing (wheat) districts of northern Palestine were the
granary of the Phoenicians in the times of Solomon, no less than in the days of
Herod (Acts 12:20)."[3] Also Solomon controlled the trade routes both from the
East and from Egypt.
Solomon's arrangement here with Hiram was to procure sufficient timber for the
proposed Temple from the great cedar forests of Lebanon, which were controlled by
Hiram, and which were located, "Two days journey north of Beirut by the village of
Bjerreh on the way to Baalbek near the loftiest summit of the Lebanon
Mountains."[4] "Hiram also agreed to bring the timber down, probably via the Dog
River to the Mediterranean, and thence by raft to a harbor in Israel."[5] The
account in Chronicles identifies that harbor as Joppa (2 Chronicles 2:16).
COKE, ". Hiram king of Tyre— It was at the beginning of Solomon's reign that
Hiram sent ambassadors, to condole with Solomon upon the death of his father, and
to renew the league of friendship which he had with him. Josephus assures us, that
in his time the letters which passed between Hiram and Solomon were preserved in
the Archives of Tyre. This Hiram appears to have been the son of him who sent
David timber and artificers to build his palace. ote; (1.) When we are at rest from
outward trials, we should give greater diligence to build up the spiritual temple
within. (2.) We may put our hands comfortably to that work, in which we have the
Divine promise to encourage us. (3.) They have often most of this world's ingenuity,
who have no knowledge of Israel's God. (4.) God can employ those in building his
church, who have themselves no part nor lot in it. (5.) Every country has its staple
commodity; by exchange of which, intercourse is maintained with its neighbours. It
is our happiness, that with the corn of Canaan we possess also the shipping of Tyre
PETT, "Solomon Arranges With Hiram King Of Tyre For His Country’s Assistance
In The Building Of The Temple (1 Kings 5:1-18).

5. The next example of Solomon’s glory and splendour is found by the writer in the
building of a Temple to YHWH. Such a step on ascending the throne was well
known among foreign kings, as they sought to show their gratitude to their gods,
and win their continuing favour by building them a splendid temple. Solomon was
no different, and he sought to justify doing the same thing on the grounds of
YHWH’s covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:13), although it is doubtful whether that
was what YHWH originally intended (2 Samuel 7:5-7). Indeed, in spite of God’s
initial lack of enthusiasm for the project, David himself had taken it at least partly
in the that way (2 Samuel 8:11; 1 Chronicles 22; 1 Kings 8:51; 1 Chronicles 26:25).
It was not really surprising. It was difficult for even spiritual men like David men to
think solely in spiritual terms in those days (as indeed there are many in the same
position today who are unable to get away from the idea of a physical temple and
physical sacrifices). They felt very much bound to earth.
But while the writer was building up a picture of Solomon’s glory, he was at the
same time doing it with reservations. Underneath all the splendour he could already
see the cracks appearing.
For the house that YHWH had really wanted Solomon to build had been a spiritual
house made up of his sons and descendants, not a house of wood and stone. Careful
scrutiny of 2 Samuel 7 indicates that the concentration throughout is not on the
building of a Temple, but on the building of a dynastic house which would result
finally in the arrival of the Coming King. ‘YHWH tells you that he will make you a
house (dynasty) -- your seed -- he will build a house (a dynasty) for My ame and I
will establish the throne of his kingship for ever -- and your house (dynasty) and
your kingship will be established for ever before you, your throne will be established
for ever’ (2 Samuel 7:11; 2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16, compare 1 Kings 7:26).
YHWH’s emphasis was thus on the promise of the foundation of a dynasty which
would finally result in the everlasting King. The truth is that in building the
physical house, and being satisfied with it and putting too much emphasis on it,
Solomon did in fact miss out on the need to build a spiritual house. It would only be
as a result of God’s activity that that spiritual house would come to a reality in our
Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, God did in His graciousness accept the
physical house from their hands, simply because He knew that they were bringing it
to Him from a right attitude of heart. He recognised and made allowance for man’s
weakness. (We saw a similar situation with regard to the kingship in 1 Samuel - 1
Samuel 8-9).
The result of Solomon’s dreams was that when Hiram the King of Tyre, whose
countrymen were skilled in fine building techniques, contacted Solomon in order to
congratulate him on his safe accession to the throne, it must have seemed to
Solomon like a gift from Heaven (which in one sense it was), and he took advantage
of Hiram’s friendly approach in order to obtain the assistance of his experts in the
building of his planned Temple, pointing out that he had to build it because it had
been required by YHWH.

6. His major need was the right kind of timber, selected and dressed by experienced
timber experts, and he called on Hiram to provide this for him in return for
adequate compensation. On hearing this Hiram replied with the right noises (he
stood to gain a good deal from the venture), and arranged for the timber to be cut,
delivered and dressed, in response to which Solomon paid him the first instalment of
the agreed payment. Meanwhile Solomon himself arranged for the cutting out of
stones suitable for the Temple by using huge amounts of forced labour. Then
Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites (expert carpenters from
Gebal/Byblos) got together to prepare the timber and the stones, ready for building
the Temple.
As we read the following narrative we should perhaps bear in mind the contrast
between this Sanctuary, and the one that YHWH had requested, for the prophetic
writer does appear to wish for us to make the comparison.
ote On The Contrast Between The Tabernacle And The Temple.
In 2 Samuel 7:5-7 YHWH asks David, “Shall you build Me a house for Me to dwell
in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of
Israel out of Egypt even to this day, but have walked in a Tent and in a
Dwellingplace (shaken - Tabernacle). In all the places in which I have walked with
the children of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I
commanded to feed My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of
cedar?’ ” And He then went on to point out rather that He would build a house for
David, a house of flesh and blood which would inherit the throne. The emphasis in 1
Kings 5:11-16 is on that house (1 Kings 5:11; 1 Kings 5:13; 1 Kings 5:16). While 1
Kings 5:13 may be slightly ambiguous out of context, in the context it is quite plain.
There is not the slightest indication anywhere else in Samuel that a literal Temple
was in mind. The ‘house’ that Solomon was to build was to result in the establishing
of the kingdom and the permanent occupation of the throne (The Temple
accomplished neither).
In view of this lack of positive reference to the building of the Temple we should
perhaps compare the two in the light of what we find in Exodus and Kings.
1). The Tabernacle Was To Be Built Of Free-will Offerings From Those Whose
Hearts Were Willing. The Temple Was Built Out Of Enforced Taxation.
A comparison between the Tabernacle and the Temple soon brings out the
discrepancy between the two, and is in fact deliberately and patently brought out at
one stage by the writer of Kings. Consider for example the Tabernacle. It was to be
built of free-will offerings; ‘of every man whose heart makes him willing you will
take my offering’ (Exodus 25:2). What a contrast with the building of the Temple
where Hiram’s ‘gifts’ turned out to be very expensive indeed (1 Kings 5:10-12),
helping to cripple the economy of Israel, and none of the people had any choice in
the matter. And there was very little of free-will offering in the levies that Solomon
raised out of Israel for the purpose (1 Kings 5:13-18). Indeed we learn very clearly
about the ‘goodwill’ involved in 1 Kings 12:4; 1 Kings 12:14. As the author makes

7. clear they lay at the root of the division that occurred between Israel and Judah.
2). The Tabernacle Was Built At YHWH’s Specific Request According To His
Pattern. The Temple Was Specifically ever Requested.
Then YHWH adds, ‘And let them make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among
them. According to all that I show you, the pattern of the Dwellingplace
(Tabernacle), and the pattern of all its furniture, even so shall you make it’ (Exodus
25:8-9). So it was to be made of freewill offerings, gladly given, and was to be made
according to YHWH’s pattern, and we have already noted that it was said to be in
total contrast to David’s idea for a Temple (see above). Here in Exodus YHWH had
asked them to make Him a Sanctuary. In 2 Samuel 7:5-7 YHWH specifically says
that He has OT asked for a Temple, while in 1 Kings 5:5 it is Solomon who says, ‘I
purpose to build a house for the ame of YHWH my God’, (with the emphasis on
the ‘I’), relying on a misinterpretation of 2 Samuel 7:13.
Furthermore it will be noted that far from being built on a pattern determined by
YHWH, the furniture of the new Temple was very much seen to be a combination of
the ideas of Solomon (1 Kings 6:14-36; 1 Kings 7:47-51) and Hiram The Metal-
worker (1 Kings 7:13-46) as the author specifically brings out.
3). The Tabernacle Was Built Under The Jurisdiction Of A Trueborn Israelite Who
Was Filled With The Spirit Of God, And By Willing, Responsive, Workers, The
Temple Was Built Under The Jurisdiction Of A Half-Pagan With o Mention Of
The Spirit Of God, And By Enforced Levies.
Having commanded the building of His Sanctuary YHWH later then called to
Moses again and said, ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of
Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom,
and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship’
(Exodus 31:2; compare Exodus 35:31). And Moses then called men in order to give
instructions as to how the work was to proceed, ‘and Moses called Bezalel and
Oholiab and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart YHWH had put wisdom, even
everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it’ (Exodus 36:2).
ote how voluntary it all was.
In contrast the account in 1 Kings 7:13-14 commences with Solomon sending for a
man named Hiram (not the king) whom he fetches out of Tyre. And here there
appears to be a deliberate attempt in the description of him to bring to mind
Bezalel, the skilled worker who made the Tabernacle furnishings and
embellishments (Exodus 35:30-33), for Hiram is described as being ‘filled with
wisdom (chokmah), and understanding (tabuwn), and skill (da’ath) to work all
works in bronze’. With this we can compare the description of Bezalel, ‘He has
filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom (chokmah), and in understanding
(tabuwn), and in knowledge (da’ath), and in all manner of workmanship --.’
But it is the differences that are significant:
o Bezalel was called by YHWH from among His people Israel, from the very
heart of the camp, Hiram was sent for by Solomon out of pagan Tyre, being only
half Israelite.
o Bezalel was ‘filled with the Spirit of God’ in wisdom, understanding and
knowledge, Hiram was simply filled with wisdom, understanding and knowledge
(mention of the Holy Spirit is consciously dropped).
It will be noted indeed that the author of Kings makes no attempt to pretend that

8. Hiram was filled with the Spirit of God.
4). The Tabernacle Was Built Of Freely-given Cloth And Jewels Which Displayed
All Their Pristine Glory, The Temple Was Built Of Blood-stained And Sweat-
stained Stones, Which Were Then Covered Over With Timber And Gold, Bought
With Taxation or Resulting From Tribute And Trade.
Especially in view of the facts in 3). we find it very difficult to avoid in all this the
suggestion that these contrasts were all in the mind of the author of Kings. He
wanted us to see the distinction. They would appear to reveal that as a prophet he
was not so entranced by the Temple as many of his compatriots appear to have
been, seeing rather within it the seeds of its own destruction. owhere does he
suggest that it was their attitude towards the Temple itself which lay at the root of
the failure of the kings of Israel and Judah. His theme with regard to both was
rather their attitude towards the setting up of false high places in contrast with the
true. In view of the fact that Elijah set up genuine high places which the author
clearly saw as acceptable, we cannot argue that his generally expressed attitude
towards ‘high places’ necessarily reflected on their attitude towards the Temple. It
reflected on their deviation from the truth. And in so far as it did reflect on the
Temple it was not because of the Temple per se, but because of its position as the
Central Sanctuary.
By the author’s day, of course, an open attack on the Temple would not have been
wise (as Jeremiah discovered), but what he was certainly doing was laying seeds of
doubt as to how much its building had really been of God. The only Temple which
YHWH is in fact specifically said to have required was the Second Temple,
outwardly a far inferior version to Solomon’s, but built with willing hands and
hearts (Haggai 1:2; Haggai 1:14; compare how the author of Kings would appear to
approve of this approach - 2 Kings 22:4).
End of ote.
Analysis.
a And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that
they had anointed him king in the room of his father, for Hiram was ever a lover of
David (1 Kings 5:1).
b And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, “You know how it was that David my
father could not build a house for the name of YHWH his God because of the wars
which were about him on every side, until YHWH put them under the soles of his
feet. But now YHWH my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither
adversary, nor evil occurrence” (1 Kings 5:2-4).
c “And, behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of YHWH my God, as
YHWH spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne
in your room, he will build the house for my name’.” (1 Kings 5:5).
d “ ow therefore do you command that they cut me cedar-trees out of
Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants, and I will give you hire for
your servants in accordance with all that you shall say, for you know that there is
not among us any who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians” (1 Kings 5:6).
e “And it came about that, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he

9. rejoiced greatly, and said, “Blessed be YHWH this day, who has given to David a
wise son over this great people” (1 Kings 5:7).
f And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you
have sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning
timber of fir” (1 Kings 5:8).
g “My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make
them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you shall appoint me, and will cause
them to be broken up there, and you will receive them, and you will accomplish my
desire, in giving food for my household” (1 Kings 5:9).
f So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his
desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food for
his household, and twenty measures of pure oil. Thus did Solomon give to Hiram
year by year (1 Kings 5:10-11).
e And YHWH gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him, and there was peace
between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together (1 Kings 5:12).
d And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty
thousand men, and he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a
month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the
men subject to task-work (1 Kings 5:13-14).
c And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand who bore burdens, and
fourscore thousand who were hewers in the mountains, besides Solomon’s chief
officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule
over the people who wrought in the work (1 Kings 5:15-16).
b And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to
lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone (1 Kings 5:17).
a And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites fashioned
them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house (1 Kings 5:18).
ote that in ‘a’ Hiram sent his servants to Solomon on hearing of his anointing as
king, and in the parallel their builders got together to prepare to build the Temple
for YHWH. In ‘b’ Solomon declared that all hindrance to the building of the
Temple had been removed, and in the parallel the stonework for the task was
prepared. In ‘c’ Solomon declared that his purpose was to build a house for
YHWH’s ame, and in the parallel those who would do the work were described. In
‘d’ Solomon calls on Hiram to set his carpenters to the work, and in the parallel sent
over his own levies to give assistance. In ‘e’ Hiram blessed YHWH for the wisdom
that He had given to Solomon so that he could rule his people, and in the parallel the
giving and consequences of that wisdom were described. In ‘f’ Hiram confirmed
that his workmen would prepare the timber as requested, and in the parallel Hiram
gave the timber to Solomon. Centrally in ‘g’ the means of getting the timber to
Solomon was described, along with the request for payment.
1 Kings 5:1
‘And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they
had anointed him king in the room of his father, for Hiram was ever a lover of
David.’
On hearing that Solomon had been anointed king of all Israel, and of the empire

10. beyond, Hiram, king of Tyre, hastened to send his servants to Solomon in order to
offer him his congratulations, a normal courtesy extended by friendly kings on the
accession of another. And the writer tells us that it was because of his love and
respect for David. But it was unquestionably also very expedient. Solomon was now
the king of the strongest country around, with the possible, but marginal, exception
of Egypt, and had control of the main trade routes which fed Tyre’s maritime trade.
Israel was also an important source of grain and olive oil. There was therefore
within his gesture a determined attempt to maintain the treaty between the two
countries to the advantage of both.
The name Hiram is possibly a shortening of Ahiram (‘my brother is exalted’ or ‘my
brother is Ram’), which was a good Phoenician name and is attested for a king of
Byblos in about 1200 BC. It was also the name of the royal architect who will appear
later.
Tyre was at this time mainly an island city, built on an island a short distance off
shore, but with some of its environs established on the mainland. The island city
itself was almost impregnable (until Alexander the Great came along later).
ELLICOTT, "In contrast with the brief notes of the previous chapter, the fifth
chapter begins another section of the fuller history (1 Kings 5:1 to 1 Kings 9:9),
describing in great detail the building and consecration of the Temple, and evidently
drawn from contemporary documents.
Verse 1
(1) Hiram is first mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:11 (and the parallel, 1 Chronicles 14:1) as
having sent workmen and materials to David for the building of his house. He is
described as a “lover of David.” Ancient tradition makes him a tributary or
dependent monarch; and his attitude, as described in Scripture, towards both David
and Solomon agrees with this. Josephus (100 Apion, i. 17, § 18) cites from Dios, a
Phœnician historian, and Menander of Ephesus, a description of Hiram’s parentage,
of his prosperous reign and skill in building; and quotes, as from the Tyrian
archives (Ant. viii. 11, §§ 6, 7), letters passing between him and Solomon. The
embassy here noticed from Hiram is clearly one of congratulation, perhaps of
renewal of fealty. (In 2 Chronicles 2:14-15 occur the phrases, “my lord, my lord
David thy father.”)
EBC, "THE TEMPLE
1 Kings 5:1-18; 1 Kings 6:1-38; 1 Kings 7:1-51
"And his next son, for wealth and wisdom famed, The clouded Ark of God, till then
in tents Wandering, shall in a glorious temple enshrine."
-Paradise Lost, 12:340.

11. AFTER the destructive battle of Aphek, in which the Philistines had defeated Israel,
slain the two sons of Eli, and taken captive the Ark of God, they had inflicted a
terrible vengeance on the old sanctuary at Shiloh. They had burnt the young men in
the fire, and slain the priests with the sword, and no widows were left to make
lamentation. {Psalms 78:58-64} It is true that, terrified by portents and diseases, the
Philistines after a time restored the Ark, and the Tabernacle of the wilderness with
its brazen altar still gave sacredness to the great high place at Gibeon, to which
apparently it had been removed. evertheless, the old worship seems to have
languished till it received a new and powerful impulse from the religious earnestness
of David. He had the mind of a patriot-statesman as well as of a soldier, and he felt
that a nation is nothing without its sacred memories. Those memories clustered
round the now-discredited Ark. Its capture, and its parade as a trophy of victory in
the shrine of Dagon, had robbed it of all its superstitious prestige as a fetish; but,
degraded as it had been, it still continued to be the one inestimably precious historic
relic which enshrined the memories of the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and the
dawn of its heroic age.
As soon as David had given to his people the boon of a unique capital, nothing could
be more natural than the wish to add sacredness to the glory of the capital by
making it the center of the national worship. According to the Chronicles, David-
feeling it a reproach that he himself should dwell in palaces celled with cedar and
painted with vermilion while the Ark of God dwelt between curtains-had made
unheard-of preparations to build a house for God. But it had been decreed unfit
that the sanctuary should be built by a man whose hands were red with the blood of
many wars, and he had received the promise that the great work should be
accomplished by his son.
Into that work Solomon threw himself with hearty zeal in the month Zif of the
fourth year of his reign, when his kingdom was consolidated. It commanded all his
sympathies as an artist, a lover of magnificence, and a ruler bent on the work of
centralization. It was a task to which he was bound by the solemn exhortation of his
father, and he felt, doubtless, its political as well as its religious importance. With
his sincere desire to build to God’s glory was mingled a prophetic conviction that his
task would be fraught with immense issues for the future of his people and of all the
world. The presence of the Temple left its impress on the very name of Jerusalem.
Although it has nothing to do with the Temple or with Solomon, it became known to
the heathen world as Hierosolyma, which, as we see from Eupolemos (Euseb.,
Praep. Evang., 9:34), the Gentile world supposed to mean "the Temple (Hieron) of
Solomon."
The materials already provided were of priceless value. David had consecrated to
God the spoils which he had won from conquered kings. We must reject, as the
exaggerations of national vanity, the monstrous numbers which now stand in the
text of the chronicler; but a king whose court was simple and inexpensive was quite
able to amass treasures of gold and silver, brass and iron, precious marbles and
onyx stones. Solomon had only to add to these sacred stores.

12. He inherited the friendship which David had enjoyed, with Hiram, King of Tyre,
who, according to the strange phrase of the Vatican Septuagint, sent his servants "to
anoint" Solomon. The friendliest overtures passed between the two kings in letters,
to which Josephus appeals as still extant. A commercial treaty was made by which
Solomon engaged to furnish the Tyrian king with annual revenues of wheat, barley,
and oil; {Comp. Ezekiel 27:17 Acts 12:20} and Hiram put at Solomon’s disposal the
skilled labor of an army of Sidonian wood-cutters and artisans. The huge trunks of
cedar and cypress were sent rushing down the heights of Lebanon by schlittage, and
laboriously dragged by road or river to the shore. There they were constructed into
immense rafts, which were floated a hundred miles along the coast to Joppa, where
they were again dragged with enormous toil for thirty-five miles up the steep and
rocky roads to Jerusalem. For more than twenty years, while Solomon was building
the Temple and his various royal constructions, Jerusalem became a hive of
ceaseless and varied industry. Its ordinary inhabitants must have been swelled by an
army of Canaanite serfs and Phoenician artisans to whom residences were assigned
in Ophel. There lived the hewers and bevellers of stone; the cedar-cutters of Gebal
or Biblos; the cunning workmen in gold or brass; the bronze-casters who made their
moulds in the clay ground of the Jordan valley; the carvers and engravers; the dyers
who stained wool with the purple of the murex, and the scarlet dye of the trumpet
fish; the weavers and embroiderers of fine linen. Every class of laborer was put into
requisition, from the descendants of the Gibeonite ethinim, who were rough
hewers of wood and drawers of water, to the trained artificers whose beautiful
productions we’re the wonder of the world. The "father," or master-workman, of
the whole community was a half-caste, who also bore the name of Hiram, and was
the son of a woman of aphtali by a Tyrian father.
Some writers have tried to minimize Solomon’s work as a builder, and have spoken
of the Temple as an exceedingly insignificant structure which would not stand a
moment’s comparison with the smallest and humblest of our own cathedrals.
Insignificant in size it certainly was, but we must not forget its costly splendor, the
remote age in which the work was achieved, and the truly stupendous constructions
which the design required. Mount Moriah was selected as a site hallowed by the
tradition of Abraham’s sacrifice, and more recently by David’s vision of the Angel
of the Pestilence with his drawn sword on the threshing-floor of the Jebusite Prince
Araunah. But to utilize this doubly consecrated area involved almost superhuman
difficulties, which would have been avoided if the loftier but less suitable height of
the Mount of Olives could have been chosen. The rugged summit had to be enlarged
to a space of five hundred yards square, and this level was supported by Cyclopean
walls, which have long been the wonder of the world. The magnificent wall on the
east side, known as "the Jews’ wailing-place," is doubtless the work of Solomon,
and after outlasting "the drums and tramplings of a hundred triumphs," it remains
to this day in uninjured massiveness. One of the finely beveled stones is 38 1/2 feet
long and 7 feet high, and weighs more than 100 tons. These vast stones were hewn
from a quarry above the level of the wall, and lowered by rollers down an inclined
plane. Part of the old wall rises 30 feet above the present level of the soil, but a far
larger part of the height lies hidden 80 feet under the accumulated debris of the

13. often captured city. At the southwest angle, by Robinson’s arch, three pavements
were discovered, one beneath the other, showing the gradual filling up of the valley;
and on the lowest of these were found the broken voussoirs of the arch. In
Solomon’s day the whole of this mighty wall was visible. On one of the lowest stones
have been discovered the Phoenician paint-marks which indicated where each of the
huge masses, so carefully dressed, edge-drafted, and beveled, was to be placed in the
structure. The caverns, quarries water storages, and subterranean conduits hewn
out of the solid rock, over which Jerusalem is built, could only have been
constructed at the cost of immeasurable toil. They would be wonderful even with
our infinitely more rapid methods and more powerful agencies; but when we
remember that they were made three thousand years ago we do not wonder that
their massiveness has haunted the imagination of so many myriads of visitors from
every nation. It was perhaps from his Egyptian father-in-law that Solomon, to his
own cost, learnt the secret of forced labor which alone rendered such undertakings
possible. In their Egyptian bondage the forefathers of Israel had been fatally
familiar with the ugly word Mas, the labor wrung from them by hard task-masters.
{Exodus 1:2} In the reign of Solomon it once more became only too common on the
lips of the burdened people. 1 Kings 4:6; 1 Kings 5:13-14; 1 Kings 5:17-18; 1 Kings
9:15; 1 Kings 21:12-18.
Four classes were subject to it.
1. The lightest labor was required from the native freeborn Israelites (ezrach). They
were not regarded as bondsmen yet 30,000 of these were required in relays of 10,000
to work, one month in every three, in the forest of Lebanon.
2. There were strangers, or resident aliens (Gerim), such as the Phoenicians and
Giblites, who were Hiram’s subjects and worked for pay.
3. There were three classes of slaves-those taken in war, or sold for debt, or home-
born.
4. Lowest and most wretched of all, there were the vassal Canaanites (Toshabim),
from whom were drawn those 70, 000 burden-bearers, and 80, 000 quarry-men, the
Helots of Palestine, who were placed under the charge of 3600 Israelite ofricers. The
blotches of smoke are still visible on the walls and roofs of the subterranean
quarries where there poor serfs, in the dim torchlight and suffocating air "labored
without reward, perished without pity, and suffered without redress." The sad
narrative reveals to us, and modern research confirms, that the purple of Solomon
had a very seamy side, and that an abyss of misery heaved and moaned under the
glittering surface of his splendor. {1 Kings 5:13; 1 Kings 9:22 2 Chronicles 8:9}
(Omitted in the LXX) Jerusalem during the twenty years occupied by his building
must have presented the disastrous spectacle of task-masters, armed with rods and
scourges, enforcing the toil of gangs of slaves, as we see them represented in the
tombs of Egypt and the palaces of Assyria. The sequel shows the jealousies and
discontents even of the native Israelites, who felt themselves to be "scourged with
whips and laden with heavy burdens." They were bondmen in all but name, for

14. purposes which bore very little on their own welfare. But the curses of the wretched
aborigines must have been deeper, if not so loud. They were torn from such homes
as the despotism of conquest still left to them, and were forced to hopeless and
unrewarded toil for the alien worship and hateful palaces of their masters. Five
centuries later we find a pitiable trace of their existence in the 392 Hierodouloi,
menials lower even than the enslaved ethinim, who are called "sons of the slaves of
Solomon"-the dwindling and miserable remnant of that vast levy of Palestinian
serfs.
Apart from the lavish costliness of its materials the actual Temple was
architecturally a poor and commonplace structure. It was quite small-only 90 feet
long, 35 feet broad, and 45 feet high. It was meant for the symbolic habitation of
God, not for the worship of great congregations. It only represented the nascent art
and limited resources of a tenth-rate kingdom, and was totally devoid alike of the
pure and stately beauty of the Parthenon and the awe-inspiring grandeur of the
great Egyptian temples with their avenues of obelisks and sphinxes and their
colossal statues of deities and kings
"Staring right on with calm, eternal eyes."
When Justinian, boastfully exclaimed, as he looked at his church, "I have
vanquished thee, O Solomon," and when the Khalif Omar, pointing to the Dome of
the Rock, murmured, "Behold, a greater than Solomon is here," they forgot the vast
differences between them and the Jewish king in the epoch at which they lived and
the resources which they could command. The Temple was built in "majestic
silence."
" o workman’s axe no ponderous hammer rung.
Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung."
This was due to religious reverence. It could be easily accomplished, because each
stone and beam was carefully prepared to be fitted in its exact place before it was
carried up the Temple hill.
The elaborate particulars furnished us of the measurements of Solomon’s Temple
are too late in age, too divergent in particulars, too loosely strung together, too much
mingled with later reminiscences, and altogether too architecturally insufficient, to
enable us to reconstruct the exact building, or even to form more than a vague
conception of its external appearance. Both in Kings and Chronicles the notices, as
Keil says, are "incomplete extracts made independently of one another." and vague
in essential details. Critics and architects have attempted to reproduce the Temple
on Greek, Egyptian, and Phoenician models, so entirely unlike each other as to show
that we can arrive at no certainty. It is, however, most probable that, alike in
ornamentation and conception, the building was predominantly Phoenician. Severe
in outline, gorgeous in detail, it was more like the Temple of Venus-Astarte at
Paphos than any other. Fortunately the details, apart from such dim symbolism as

15. we may detect in them, have no religious importance, but only a historic and
antiquarian interest.
The Temple-called Baith or Hekal-was surrounded by the thickly clustered houses
of the Levites, and by porticoes through which the precincts were entered by
numerous gates of wood overlaid with brass. A grove of olives, palms, cedars, and
cypresses, the home of many birds, probably adorned the outer court. This court
was shut from the "higher court," {Jeremiah 36:10} afterwards known as "the
Court of the Priests," by a partition of three rows of hewn stones surmounted by a
cornice of cedar beams. In the higher court, which was reached by a flight of steps,
was the vast new altar of brass, 15 feet high and 30 feet long, of which the hollow
was filled with earth and stones, and of which the blazing sacrifices were visible in
the court below. Here also stood the huge molten sea, borne on the backs of twelve
brazen oxen, of which three faced to each quarter of the heavens. It was in the form
of a lotus blossom, and its rim was hung with three hundred wild gourds in bronze,
cast in two rows. Its reservoir of eight hundred and eighty gallons of water was for
the priestly ablutions necessary in the butcheries of sacrifice, and its usefulness was
supplemented by ten brazen caldrons on wheels, five on each side, adorned like "the
sea," with pensile garlands and cherubic emblems, Whether "the brazen serpent of
the wilderness," to which the children of Israel burnt incense down to the days of
Hezekiah, was in that court or in the Temple we do not know.
On the western side of this court, facing the rising sun, stood the Temple itself, on a
platform elevated some sixteen feet from the ground. Its side chambers were "lean-
to" annexes (Hebrews, ribs; Vulg., tabulata) in three stories, all accessible by one
central entrance on the outside. Their beams rested on rebatements in the thickness
of the wall, and the highest was the broadest. Above these were windows "skewed
and closed," as the margin of the A.V. says; or "broad within and narrow without";
or, as it should rather be rendered, "with closed crossbeams," that is, with
immovable lattices, which could not be opened and shut, but which allowed the
escape of the smoke of lamps and the fumes of incense. These chambers must also
have had windows. They were used to store the garments of the priests and other
necessary paraphernalia of the Temple service, but as to all details we are left
completely in the dark.
Of the external aspect of the building in Solomon’s day we know nothing. We
cannot even tell whether it had one level roof, or whether the Holy of Holies was like
a lower chancel at the end of it; nor whether the roof was flat or, as the Rabbis say,
ridged; nor whether the outer surface of the three-storeyed chambers which
surrounded it was of stone, or planked with cedar, or overlaid with plinths of gold
and silver; nor whether, in any case, it was ornamented with carvings or left blank;
nor whether the cornices only were decorated with open flowers like the Assyrian
rosettes. or do we know with certainty whether it was supported within by pillars
or not. In the state of the records as they have come down to us, all accurate or
intelligible descriptions are slurred over by compilers who had no technical
knowledge and whose main desire was to impress their countrymen with the truth
that the holy building was-as indeed for its day it was-"exceeding magnifical of fame

16. and of glory throughout all countries."
In front of or just within the porch were two superb pillars, regarded as miracles of
Tyrian art, made of fluted bronze, 27 feet high and 18 feet thick. Their capitals of 7
1/2 feet in height resembled an open lotus blossom, surrounded by double wreaths
of two hundred pensile bronze pomegranates, supporting an abacus, carved with
conventional lily work. Both pomegranates and lilies had a symbolic meaning. The
pillars were, for unknown reasons, called Jachin and Boaz. Much about them is
obscure. It is not even known whether they stood detached like obelisks, or formed
Propylaea; or supported the architraves of the porch itself, or were a sort of
gateway, surmounted by a melathron with two epithemas, like a Japanese or Indian
toran. The porch (Olam), which was of the same height as the house (i.e. 45 feet
high), was hung with the gilded shields of Hadadezer’s soldiers which David had
taken in battle, and perhaps also with consecrated armor, like the sword of Goliath,
{2 Samuel 8:7, 1 Chronicles 18:7} to show that "unto the Lord belongeth our
shield," {Psalms 89:18} and that "the shields of the earth belong unto God."
{Psalms 47:9} A door of cypress wood, of two leaves, made in four squares, 7 1/2 feet
broad and high, turning on golden hinges overlaid with gold, and carved with palm
branches and festoons of lilies and pomegranates, opened from the porch into the
main apartment. This was the Mikdash, Holy Place, or Sanctuary, and sometimes
specially called in Chaldee "the Palace" (Hekal, or Birah). {Ezra 5:14-15, etc.}
Before it, as in the Tabernacle, hung an embroidered curtain (Masak). It was
probably supported by four pillars on each side. In the interspaces were five tables
on each side, overlaid with gold, and each encircled by a wreath of gold (zer). On
these were placed the cakes of shewbread. At the end of the chamber, on each side
the door of the Holiest, were five golden candlesticks with chains of wreathed gold
hanging between them. In the center of the room stood the golden altar of incense,
and somewhere (we must suppose) the golden candlestick of the Tabernacle, with its
seven branches ornamented with lilies, pomegranates, and calices of almond
flowers. othing which was in the darkness of the Holiest was visible except the
projecting golden staves with which the Ark had been carried to its place. The Holy
Place itself was lighted by narrow slits.
The entrance to the Holiest, the Debir, or oracle, which corresponded to the Greek
adytum, was through a two-leaved door of olive wood, 6 feet high and broad,
overlaid with gold, and carved with palms, cherubim, and open flowers. The
partition was of cedar wood. The floor of the whole house was of cedar overlaid
with gold. The interior of this "Oracle," as it was called-for the title "Holy of
Holies" is of later origin-was, at any rate in the later Temples, concealed by an
embroidered veil of blue, purple, and crimson, looped up with golden chains. The
Oracle, like the ew Jerusalem of the Apocalypse, was a perfect cube, 30 feet broad
and long and high, covered with gold, but shrouded in perpetual and unbroken
darkness.
o light was ever visible in it save such as was shed by the crimson gleam of the
thurible of incense which the high priest carried into it once a year on the Great Day
of Atonement. In the center of the floor must apparently have risen the mass of rock

17. which is still visible in the Mosque of Omar, from which it is called Al Sakhra, "the
Dome of the Rock." Tradition pointed to it as the spot on which Abraham had laid
for sacrifice the body of his son Isaac, when the angel restrained the descending
knife. It was also the site of Araunah’s threshing-floor, and had been. therefore
hallowed by two angelic apparitions. On it was deposited with solemn ceremony the
awful palladium of the Ark, which had been preserved through the wanderings and
wars of the Exodus and the troublous days of the Judges. It contained the most
sacred possession of the nation, the most priceless treasure which Israel guarded for
the world. This treasure was the Two Tables of the Ten Commandments, graven (in
the anthropomorphic language of the ancient record) by the actual finger of God;
the tables which Moses had shattered on the rocks of Mount Sinai as he descended
to the backsliding people. The Ark was covered with its old "Propitiatory," or
"Mercy-seat," overshadowed by the wings of two small cherubim; but Solomon had
prepared for its reception a new and far more magnificent covering, in the form of
two colossal cherubim, 15 feet high, of which each expanded wing was 7 1/2 feet
long. These wings touched the outer walls of the Oracle, and also touched each other
over the center of the Ark.
Such was the Temple.
It was the "forum, fortress, university, and sanctuary" of the Jews, ‘and the
transitory emblem of the Church of Christ’s kingdom. It was destined to occupy a
large share in the memory, and even in the religious development, of the world,
because it became the central point round which crystallized the entire history of the
Chosen People. The kings of Judah are henceforth estimated with almost exclusive
reference to the relation in which they stood to the centralized worship of Jehovah.
The Spanish kings who built and decorated the Escurial caught the spirit of Jewish
annals when, in the Court of the Kings, they reared the six colossal statues of David
the originator, of Solomon the founder, of Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah, and
Manasseh ‘the restorers or purifiers of the Temple worship.
It required the toil of 300, 000 men for twenty years to build one of the pyramids. It
took two hundred years to build and four hundred to embellish the great Temple of
Artemis of the Ephesians. It took more than five centuries to give to Westminster
Abbey its present form. Solomon’s Temple only took seven and a half years to build;
but, as we shall see, its objects were wholly different from those of the great shrines
which we have mentioned. The wealth lavished upon it was such that its dishes,
bowls, cups, even its snuffers and snuffer trays, and its meanest utensils, were of
pure gold. The massiveness of its substructions, the splendor of its materials, the
artistic skill displayed by the Tyrian workmen in all its details and adornments,
added to the awful sense of its indwelling Deity, gave it an imperishable fame.
eeding but little repair, it stood for more than four centuries. Succeeded as it was
by the Temples of Zerubbabel and of Herod, it carried down till seventy years after
the Christian era the memory of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, of which it
preserved the general outline, though it exactly doubled all the proportions and
admitted many innovations.

18. The dedication ceremony was carried out with the utmost pomp. It required nearly
a year to complete the necessary preparations, and the ceremony with its feasts
occupied fourteen days; which were partly coincident with the autumn Feast of
Tabernacles.
The dedication falls into three great acts. The first was the removal of the Ark to its
new home; {1 Kings 8:1-3} then followed the speech and the prayer of Solomon (1
Kings 8:12-61); and, finally, the great holocaust was offered (1 Kings 8:62-66).
The old Tabernacle, or what remained of it, with its precious heirlooms, was carried
by priests and Levites from the high place at Gibeon, which was henceforth
abandoned. This procession was met by another, far more numerous and splendid,
consisting of all the princes, nobles, and captains, which brought the Ark from the
tent erected for it on Mount Zion by David forty years before.
The Israelites had flocked to Jerusalem in countless multitudes, under their sheykhs
and emirs from the border of Hamath on the Orontes, north of Mount Lebanon, to
the Wady el-Areesh. The king, in his most regal state, accompanied the procession,
and the Ark passed through myriads of worshippers crowded in the outer court,
from the tent on Mount Zion into the darkness of the Oracle on Mount Moriah,
where it continued, unseen perhaps by any human eye but that of the high priest
once a year, until it was carried away by ebuchadnezzar to Babylon. To indicate
that this was to be its rest for ever, the staves, contrary to the old law, were drawn
out of the golden rings through which they ran, in order that no human hand might
touch the sacred emblem itself when it was borne on the shoulders of the Levitic
priests. "And there they are unto this day," writes the compiler from his ancient
record, long after Temple and Ark had ceased to exist.
The king is the one predominant figure, and the high priest is not once mentioned.
athan is only mentioned by the heathen historian Eupolemos. Visible to the whole
vast multitude, Solomon stood in the inner court on a high scaffolding of brass.
Then came a burst of music and psalmody from the priests and musicians, robed in
white robes, who densely thronged the steps of the great altar. They held in their
hands their glittering harps and cymbals, and psalteries in their precious frames of
red sandal wood, and twelve of their number rent the air with the blast of their
silver trumpets as Solomon, in this supreme hour of his prosperity, shone forth
before his people in all his manly beauty.
At the sight of that stately figure in its gorgeous robes the song of praise was swelled
by innumerable voices, and, to crown all, a blaze of sudden glory wrapped the
Temple and the whole scene in heaven’s own splendor. {2 Chronicles 5:13-14} First,
the king, standing with his back to the people, broke out into a few words of
prophetic song. Then, turning to the multitude, he blessed them-he, and not the high
priest-and briefly told them the history and significance of this house of God,
warning them faithfully that the Temple after all was but the emblem of God’s
presence in the midst of them, and that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made
with hands, neither is worshipped with men’s hands as though He needed anything.

19. After this he advanced to the altar, and kneeling on his knees {2 Chronicles 6:13}-a
most unusual attitude among the Jews, who, down to the latest ages, usually stood
up to pray-he prayed with the palms of his hands upturned to heaven, as though to
receive in deep humility its outpoured benefits. The prayer, as here given, consists of
an introduction, seven petitions, and a conclusion. It was a passionate entreaty that
God would hear, both individually and nationally, both in prosperity and in
adversity, the supplications of His people, and even of strangers, Who should either
pray in the courts of that His house, or should make it the Kibleh of their devotions.
After the dedicatory prayer both the outer and the inner court of the Temple reeked
and swam with the blood of countless victims-victims so numerous that the great
brazen altar became wholly insufficient for them. At the close of the entire festival
they departed to their homes with joy and gladness.
But whatever the Temple might or might not be to the people, the king used it as his
own chapel. Three times a year, we are told, he offered-and for all that appears,
offered with his own hand without the intervention of any priest burnt offerings and
peace offerings upon the altar. ot only this, but he actually "burnt incense
therewith upon the altar which was before the Lord,"-the very thing which was
regarded as so deadly a crime in the case of King Uzziah. Throughout the history of
the monarchy, the priests, with scarcely any exception, seem to have been passive
tools in the hands of the kings. Even under Rehoboam much more under Ahaz and
Manasseh-the sacred precincts were defiled with nameless abominations, to which,
so far as we know, the priests offered no resistance.
PARKER, "The Co-operation of Hiram
1 Kings 5
HIRAM is first mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:11, and a parallel passage will be found in
1 Chronicles 14:1, from which we learn that he sent workmen and materials to
David for the building of his own palace. According to tradition, Hiram was a
tributary or dependent monarch. The embassy which Hiram sent on this occasion
was evidently meant to express the congratulations of the king of Tyre,—in 2
Chronicles 2:14-15 we find the words, "My lord," "My lord David thy father."
There is a notable mixture of affection and reverence in the spirit which Hiram
showed to Solomon; Hiram was "ever a lover of David," and yet he speaks of David
in terms which an inferior would use to a superior. Hiram preserved the continuity
of friendship, and herein showed himself an example, not only to monarchs but to
other men. "Thine own friend, and thy father"s friend, forsake not." Solomon in
returning an answer to the congratulations of Hiram was faithful to history as
embodied in the person of his own father, and therefore was by so much qualified to
continue what he believed to be the purpose and covenant of God. Solomon looked
facts steadily in the face. In the book of Chronicles the condemnation which the
Lord pronounced upon David is still more emphatically set forth: "But the word of
the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made

20. great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed
much blood upon the earth in my sight" ( 1 Chronicles 22:8, 1 Chronicles 28:3; 2
Chronicles 2:3).
Although Solomon was blessed with "rest on every side," and was enabled to look
upon a future without so much as the shadow of an adversary upon it, yet he was
determined not to be indolent. "And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the
name of the Lord my God "—this is the language of a strong man; this is the
strength which increases by its own exercise. Suppose a man to come into the
circumstances which we have described as constituting the royal position of Song of
Solomon , and suppose that man destitute of an adequate and all-controlling
purpose, it is easy to see how he would become the victim of luxury, and how what
little strength he had would gradually be withdrawn from him. But at all events in
the opening of Solomon"s career we see that the purpose was always uppermost, the
soul was in a regnant condition, all outward pomp and circumstance was ordered
back into its right perspective, and the king pursued a course of noble constancy as
he endeavoured to realise the idea and intent of heaven. The same law applies to all
prosperous men. To increase in riches is to increase in temptation, to indolence and
self-idolatry: to external trust and vain confidence, to misanthropy, monopoly, and
oppression; the only preventive or cure is the cultivation of a noble "purpose," so
noble indeed as to throw almost into contempt everything that is merely temporal
and earthly Solomon not only had inward and spiritual wisdom which comforted his
mind, but he had an intention which required him always to travel out of himself,
and to work for the glory of his kingdom and the benefit of his people. Every
master, every great Prayer of Manasseh , every leader should build a house for God,
a school for the ignorant, an asylum for the destitute, or in some other way realise a
sublime purpose in life. Then let riches come tenfold, and they will not be too much
to carry out a benevolence which knows no bound.
GUZIK, "A. Solomon’s arrangements with Hiram of Tyre.
1. (1 Kings 5:1-6) Solomon’s message to Hiram of Tyre.
ow Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they
had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always loved David.
Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying: You know how my father David could not
build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the wars which were
fought against him on every side, until the LORD put his foes under the soles of his
feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither
adversary nor evil occurrence. And behold, I propose to build a house for the name
of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son,
whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”
ow therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my
servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants
according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill
to cut timber like the Sidonians.

21. a. For Hiram had always loved David: David was a mighty warrior against the
enemies of Israel. But he did not regard every neighbor nation as an enemy. David
wisely built alliances and friendships with neighbor nations, and the benefit of this
also came to Solomon.
i. “Hiram is an abbreviation of Ahiram which means ‘Brother of Ram,’ or ‘My
brother is exalted,’ or ‘Brother of the lofty one.’ . . . Archaeologists have discovered
a royal sarcophagus in Byblos of Tyre dated about 1200 B.C. inscribed with the
king’s name, ‘Ahiram.’ Apparently it belonged to the man in this passage.” (Dilday)
b. Then Solomon sent to Hiram: “According to Josephus, copies of such a letter
along with Hiram’s reply were preserved in both Hebrew and Tyrian archives and
were extant in his day (Antiquities, 8.2.8).” (Dilday)
c. You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the
LORD his God: This means that David told Hiram spiritual things, things that one
might think Hiram could not understand or be interested in. In some ways, David
spoke to Hiram as if Hiram were already an Israelite.
i. This chapter deals with Solomon’s work in obtaining the materials to build the
temple. Yet David was so interested in this work that he had already gathered many
of the supplies needed to build the temple (2 Chronicles 22:4).
d. Until the LORD put his foes under the soles of his feet: “To put enemies under
the feet was the symbolic act marking conquest. In contemporary art enemies were
often depicted as a footstool (as Psalms 110:1).”
e. There is neither adversary nor evil occurrence: The word adversary here is
literally Satan. The Latin Vulgate translates this, “nor a Satan.”
f. I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God: Of course, Solomon
did not build a temple for a name but for a living God. This is a good example of
“avoiding” direct mention of the name of God in Hebrew writing and speaking.
They did this in reverence to God.
i. Solomon also used this phrase because he wanted to explain that he didn’t think
the temple would be the house of God in the way pagans thought. “It is to be ‘an
house for the name of the LORD.’ That is not the same as ‘for the LORD.’ Pagan
temples might be intended by their builders for the actual residence of the god, but
Solomon knew that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less this
house which he was about to build.” (Maclaren)
g. Cut down cedars for me from Lebanon: The cedar trees of Lebanon were
legendary for their excellent timber. This means Solomon wanted to build the
temple out of the best materials possible.

22. i. “The Sidonians were noted as timber craftsmen in the ancient world, a fact
substantiated on the famous Palmero Stone. Its inscription from 2200 B.C. tells us
about timber-carrying ships that sailed from Byblos to Egypt about four hundred
years previously. The skill of the Sidonians was expressed in their ability to pick the
most suitable trees, know the right time to cut them, fell them with care, and then
properly treat the logs.” (Dilday)
ii. It also means that Solomon was willing to build this great temple to God with
“Gentile” wood and using “Gentile” labor. This was a temple to the God of Israel,
but it was not only for Israel. Only Jews built the tabernacle, “but the temple is not
build without the aid of the Gentile Tyrians. They, together with us, make up the
Church of God.” (Trapp)
PULPIT, "SOLOMO A D HIRAM—The somewhat detailed description which
we have had in 1 Kings 4:1-34. of Solomon's pomp and power and wisdom, is
followed in 1 Kings 5:1-18. sqq. by an account of what, in Jewish eyes, was the great
undertaking of his reign, and, indeed, the great glory of Hebrew history—the
erection and adornment of the Temple. And as this was largely due to the assistance
he received both in the shape of materials and labourers—from the Tyrian king, we
have in the first place an account of his alliance with Hiram.
1 Kings 5:1
And Hiram (In 1 Kings 5:10, 1 Kings 5:18, the name is spelled Hirom ( ‫ִירוֹם‬‫ח‬ ), whilst
in Chronicles, with one exception (1 Chronicles 14:1, where the Keri, however,
follows the prevailing usage), the name appears as Huram ( ‫ם‬ ָ‫חוּר‬ ). In Josephus it is
εἰρωµος. This prince and his friendly relations with the Jews are referred to by the
Tyrian historians, of whose materials the Greek writers Dins and Menander of
Ephesus (temp. Alexander the Great) availed themselves. According to Dins (quoted
by Josephus contr. Apion, 1.17) Hiram was the son of Abibaal. Menander states that
the building of the temple was commenced in the twelfth year of Hiram's reign,
which lasted 34 years. Hiram is further said to have married his daughter to
Solomon and to have engaged with him in an intellectual encounter which took the
shape of riddles] king of Tyre [Heb. ‫,צוֹר‬ rock, so called because of the rocky island
on which old Tyro was built, sometimes called ‫ֹר‬ ‫צ‬ ‫ַר‬‫צ‬ְ‫ב‬ִ‫מ‬, the fortress of, or fortified
Tyro (Joshua 19:29; 2 Samuel 24:7, etc.) The capital of Phoenicia. In earlier times,
Sidon would seem to have been the more important town; hence the Canaanites who
inhabited this region were generally called Zidonians, as in verse 6] sent his servants
[legatos, Vatablus] unto Solomon [The Vat. LXX. has here a strange reading, "To
anoint Solomon," etc. The object of this embassy was evidently to recognize and
congratulate the youthful king (the Syriac has a gloss, "and he blessed him," which
well represents one object of the embassy) and at the same time to make overtures of
friendship. An alliance, or good understanding, with Israel was then, as at a later
period (Acts 12:20) of great importance to them of Tyre and Sidon. Their narrow
strip of seaboard furnished no corn lands, so that their country depended upon
Israel for its nourishment]; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the

23. room of David his father [i.e; he had heard of the death of David and the accession
of Solomon; possibly of the events narrated in Hebrews 1:1-14.]: for Hiram was ever
[Heb. all the days: i.e; of their reigns; so long as they were contemporary sovereigns]
a lover.
MACLARE , "GREAT PREPARATIONS FOR A GREAT WORK
The building of the Temple was begun in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign (1Ki_6:1).
The preparations for so great a work must have taken much time, so that the
arrangement with Hiram recorded in this passage was probably made very early in the
reign. That probability is strengthened if we suppose, as we must do, that the embassy
from Hiram mentioned in 1Ki_5:1 was sent to congratulate Solomon on his accession. If
so, the latter’s proposal to get timber and stones from the Lebanon would be made at the
very commencement of the reign. Three years would not be more than enough to get the
material ready and transported. Great designs need long preparation. Raw haste wastes
time; deliberation is as needful before beginning as rapid action is when we have begun.
I. 1Ki_5:3-5 set forth very forcibly the motives which impelled the young king to the
work, and may suggest to us the motives which should urge us to diligence in building a
better temple than he reared. He begins by reference to his father’s foiled wish, and to
the reason why David could not build the house. Not only was it inappropriate that a
warlike king should build it, but it was impossible that, whilst his thoughts were
occupied and his resources taxed by war, he should devote himself to such a work. In
Assyria and Egypt the great warrior kings are the great temple-builders, but a divine
decorum forbade it to be so in Israel.
Solomon next thankfully describes his own happier circumstances. Observe his
designation of Jehovah in1 Kings 5:4 as ‘my God,’ and compare with 1Ki_5:3, where He
is called David’s God. The son had inherited the divine protection and the father’s sense
of personal relation to Jehovah. That is a better legacy than a throne. Well had it been
for Solomon if he had held by the faith of his first days of royalty! Such a sense of a
personal bond of love protecting on the one hand, and love trusting and obeying on the
other, is the spring of all true service of God, whether it is busied in temple-building or
in anything else.
We note also the grateful recognition of benefits received, and the tracing of peace and
outward prosperity to God’s care. There was not a cloud in the sky. The horizon was
clear all round, and it was ‘the Lord my God,’ who had made this ease for Solomon. We
are often more ready to recognise God’s hand in sorrows than in joys. When He smites,
we try to say ‘It is the Lord!’ Do we try to say it when all things are smooth and bright?
The effect of blessings should be thankfulness, and the proof of thankfulness is service.
So Solomon did not take prosperity as an inducement to selfish luxurious repose, but
heard in it God’s call to a great task. If all the rich men and all the leisurely women who
call themselves Christians would do likewise, there would be plenty of workers and of
resources for Christ’s service, which now sorely lacks both. How many of such ‘lay up
treasure for themselves, and are not rich toward God’! How many fritter away their
leisure in vanities, having time for any amusement or folly, but none for Christian
service!
The man whom Jesus called ‘Thou fool!’ not the wise king, is the pattern for a sad
number of professing Christians. ‘Thou hast much goods laid up for many years.’ What

24. then? ‘I purpose to build an house for the name of the Lord’? By no means. ‘I will build
greater barns, and that will give me something to do, and then I will take mine ease.’
We note, too, that Solomon was impelled to his great work by the knowledge that God
had appointed him to do it. The divine word concerning himself, spoken to his father,
sounded in his ears, and gave him no rest till he had set about obeying it (1Ki_5:5). The
motives of the great temple-builders of old, as they themselves expound them in
hieroglyphics and cuneiform, were largely ostentation and the wish to outdo
predecessors; but Solomon was moved by thankfulness and by obedience to his father’s
will, and still more, to God’s destination of him. If we would look at our positions and
blessings as he looked at his in the fair dawning of his reign, we should find abundant
indications of God’s will regarding our work.
Solomon uses a remarkable expression as to the purpose of the Temple. It is to be ‘an
house for the name of the Lord.’ That is not the same as ‘for the Lord.’ Pagan temples
might be intended by their builders for the actual residence of the god, but Solomon
knew that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less this house which he
was about to build. We are fairly entitled, then, to lay stress on that phrase, ‘the Name.’
It means the whole self-revelation of God, or, rather, the character of God as made
known by that self-revelation.
The Temple was, then, to be the place in which the God who fills earth and heaven was
to manifest Himself, and where His servants were to behold and reverence Him as
manifested. The Shechinah was the symbol, and in one aspect was a part, of that self-
revelation. However, in common speech the Temple was spoken of as the house of
Jehovah. The same thought which is expressed in Solomon’s fuller phrase underlay the
expression,-He dwelt ‘not in temples made with hands’ but His name was set there, and
the structure was reared, not so much for Him as that worshippers might there meet
Him.
II. The rest of the passage deals with Solomon’s request to Hiram, and the preparation
of the material for the Temple. Solomon’s first care was to secure timber and stone. His
own dominions can never have been well wooded, and there are many indications that
the great central knot of mountainous land, which included the greater part of his
kingdom, was comparatively treeless. He therefore proposed to Hiram to supply timber
from the great woods on Lebanon, which have now nearly died out, and offered liberal
payment.
The parallel account in 2 Chronicles makes Solomon offer specified quantities of
provisions for Hiram’s workmen, and makes Hiram accept the terms. 1Ki_5:11 of this
chapter says that the provisions named there were for the Tyrian king’s ‘household.’ This
may possibly mean the workmen, who would be regarded as Hiram’s slaves, but, more
probably, ‘household’ means ‘court,’ and Solomon had not only to feed the army of
workmen, but to supply as much again for the great establishment which Hiram kept up.
The little slip of seacoast, with the mountain rising sharply behind, which made Hiram’s
kingdom, could not grow enough for his people’s wants. His country was ‘nourished’ by
Palestine, long centuries after this time (Act_12:20), and the same was the case in
Solomon’s period. In 1Ki_5:11, the quantity of oil is impossibly small as compared with
that of wheat. 2 Chronicles reads ‘twenty thousand’ instead of ‘twenty,’ and the
Septuagint inserts ‘thousand’ in 1Ki_5:11, which is probably correct.
With all his Oriental politeness and probably real wish to oblige a powerful neighbour,
Hiram was too true a Phoenician not to drive a good bargain. He was king of ‘a nation of
shopkeepers,’ and was quite worthy of the position. ‘Nothing for nothing’ seems to have

25. been his motto, even with friends. He would love Solomon, and send him flowery
congratulations, and talk as if all he had was his ally’s, but when it came to settling terms
he knew what his cedars were worth, and meant to have their value.
There are a good many people who get mixed up with religious work, and talk as if it
were very near their hearts, who have as sharp an eye to their own advantage as he had.
The man who serves God because he gets paid for it, does not serve Him. The Temple
may be built of the timber and stones that he has supplied, but he sold them, and did not
give them, therefore he has no part in the building.
How different the uncalculating lavishness of Solomon! He knows no better use for
treasures than to expend them on God’s service, and ‘all for love, and nothing for
reward.’ That Is the true temper for Christian work. He to whom Christ has given
Himself should give himself to Christ; and he who has given himself should and will
keep back nothing, nor seek for cheap ways of serving the Lord, He who gives all, be it
two mites, or a fishing-boat and some torn nets, or great wealth like that which Solomon
found in his father’s treasuries and devoted to building the Temple, gives much; and he
who gives less than he can gives little.
Solomon’s work was, after all, outward work, and fitter for that early age than the
imitation of it would be now. The days for building temples and cathedrals are past. The
universal religion hallows not Gerizim nor Jerusalem, but every place where souls seek
God The spiritual religion asks for no shrines reared by men’s hands; for Jesus Christ is
the true Temple, where God’s name is set, and where men may behold the manifested
Jehovah, and meet with Him. But we have work to do for Christ, and a temple to build in
our own souls, and a stone or two to lay in the great Temple which is being built up
through the ages. Well for us if we use our resources and our leisure, for such ends with
the same promptitude, thankful surrender, and sense of fulfilling God’s purpose, as
animated the young king of Israel!
BI 1-19, "Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon . . . to build the house.
The co-operation of Hiram
According to tradition, Hiram was a tributary or dependent monarch. The embassy
which Hiram sent on this occasion was evidently meant to express the congratulations of
the King of Tyre—in 2Ch_2:14-15, we find the words, “My lord,” “My lord David thy
father.” There is a notable mixture of affection and reverence in the spirit which Hiram
showed to Solomon; Hiram was “ever a lover of David,” and yet he speaks of David in
terms which an inferior would use to a superior. Hiram preserved the continuity of
friendship, and herein showed himself an example, not only to monarchs but to other
men. Although Solomon was blessed with “rest on every side,” and was enabled to look
upon a future without so much as the shadow of an adversary upon it, yet he was
determined not to be indolent. Suppose a man to come into the circumstances which we
have described as constituting the royal position of Solomon, and suppose that man
destitute of an adequate and all-controlling purpose, it is easy to see how he would
become the victim of luxury, and how what little strength he had would gradually be
withdrawn from him. But at all events, in the opening of Solomon’s career, we see that
the purpose was always uppermost, the soul was in a regnant condition, all outward
pomp and circumstance was ordered back into its right perspective, and the king
pursued a course of noble constancy as he endeavoured to realise the idea and intent of
heaven. The same law applies to all prosperous men. To increase in riches is to increase
in temptation, to indolence and self-idolatry: to external trust and vain confidence, to

26. misanthropy, monopoly, and oppression; the only preventive or cure is the cultivation of
a noble “purpose,” so noble indeed as to throw almost into contempt everything that is
merely temporal and earthly. Even the noblest purpose needs the co-operation of
sympathetic and competent men. Thus the Jew seeks assistance from the Gentile in
building the house of the Lord. How wonderful are the co-operations which are
continually taking place in life! so subtly do they interblend, and make up that which is
lacking in each other, that it is simply impossible to effect an exhaustive analysis, Nor
would it be desirable that such an analysis should be completed. We should fix our
minds upon the great fact that no man liveth unto himself, that no man is complete in
himself, that every man needs the help of every other man, and thus we shall see how
mysteriously is built the great temple of life, and is realised before the eyes of the
universe the great purpose of God. Co-operation is only another word for the
distributions which God has made of talent and opportunity. In vain had Hiram
responded in the language of generous sympathy if Israel itself had been a divided
people. This must be the condition of the Church as a great working body in the world. It
will be in vain that poetry, history, literature, music, and things which apparently lie
outside the line of spiritual activity, send in their offers, tributes, and contributions, each
according to its own kind, if the Church to which the offer is made is a divided and self-
destroying body. When all Israel is one, the contributions of Tyre will be received with
thankfulness and be turned to their highest uses. A beautiful picture is given in verse 14.
The picture represents the difference between cutting down and setting up; in other
words, the difference between destruction and construction. It was easier to cut down
than it was to build up. The two operations should always go on together. The business
of the Church is to pull down, and to build up; even to use the materials of the enemy in
building up the temple of the living God. The picture has aa evident relation to the ease
with which men can pull down faith and darken hope and unsettle confidence. Thus the
work of foreign missions should help the work of missions at home. Every idolatry that
is thrown down abroad should be turned into a contribution for the upbuilding and
strengthening of the Church at home. The care shown of the foundation is another
instance of the wisdom of Solomon. The stones which were used in the foundation were
in no sense considered insignificant or worthless. The stones which Solomon used are
described as “great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones”; the terms which are used to
describe the foundation which was laid in Zion are these—“A stone, a tried stone, a
precious corner-stone, a sure foundation.” We read also of the foundations of the wall of
the city which John saw in vision—“The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in
them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” A curious illustration of the union
between the permanent and the temporary is shown in all earthly arrangements.
Solomon laid foundations which might have lasted as long as the earth itself endured.
Judging by the foundations alone, one would have said concerning the work of Solomon,
This is meant for permanence; no thought of change or decay ever occurred to the mind
of the man who laid these noble courses. It is the same with ourselves in nearly all the
relations of life. We know that we may die to-day, yet we lay plans which will require
years and generations to accomplish. Yet we often speak as having no obligation to the
future, or as if the future would do nothing for us, not knowing that it is the future which
makes the present what it is, and that but for the future all our inspiration would be lost
because our hope would perish. Let us see that our foundations are strong. A beautiful
illustration of contrast and harmony is to be found in the distribution which Solomon
made of his workers and the labour they were required to undertake. Here we find
burden-bearers, hewers in the mountains, officers, and rulers. There was no standing
upon one level or claiming of one dignity. Each man did what he could according to the
measure of his capacity, and each man did precisely what he was told to do by his

27. commanding officer. It is in vain to talk about any equality that does not recognise the
principle of order and the principle of obedience. Our equality must be found in our
devotion, in the pureness of our purpose, in the steadfastness of our loyalty, and not in
merely official status or public prominence. The unity of the Church must be found, not
in its forms, emoluments, dignities, and the like, but in the simplicity of its faith and the
readiness of its eager and affectionate obedience. (J. Parker, D. D.)
2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
CLARKE, "Solomon sent to Hiram - Made an interchange of ambassadors and
friendly greetings. Josephus tells us that the correspondence between Hiram and
Solomon was preserved in the archives of the Tyrians even in his time. But this, like
many other assertions of the same author, is worthy of little credit.
GILL, "And Solomon sent to Hiram,.... A letter, either by the hand of his
ambassadors when they returned, as Kimchi thinks, or by ambassadors Solomon sent on
purpose. Josephus (w) appeals to the Tyrian archives for the genuineness of these letters
that passed between Hiram and Solomon; and Eupolemus, an Heathen writer (x) has
both this which Solomon sent to Hiram, and that which Hiram sent in answer to it,
which agree with those in the sacred records:
saying: as follows.
K&D, "1Ki_5:2-3
Solomon thereupon communicated to Hiram, by means of an embassy, his intention
to carry out the building of the temple which his father projected, and asked him for
building wood from Lebanon for the purpose. From the words, “Thou knowest that my
father David could not build,” etc., it is evident that David had not only been busily
occupied for a long time with the plan for building a temple, but that he had already
commenced negotiations with Hiram on the matter; and with this 1Ch_22:4 agrees. “To
the name of Jehovah:” this expression is based upon Deu_12:5 and Deu_12:11 : “the
place which the Lord shall choose to put His name there, or that His name may dwell
there.” The name of Jehovah is the manifestation of the divine nature in a visible sign as
a real pledge of His presence (see at 1Ki_12:5), and not merely numen Jovae quatenus
ab hominibus cognoscitur, colitur, celebratur (Winer, Thenius). Hence in 2 Sam 7, to
which Solomon refers, ‫ת‬ִ‫י‬ ַ ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ ָ (1Ki_5:5, 1Ki_5:7) alternates with ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ל‬ ‫ת‬ִ‫י‬ ַ ‫ה‬ָ‫נ‬ ָ (1Ki_

28. 5:13). On the obstacle which prevented it, “because of the war, with which they (the
enemies) had surrounded me,” see at 2Sa_7:9. On the construction, ‫ב‬ ַ‫ב‬ ָ‫ס‬ with a double
accusative, compare the very similar passage, Psa_109:3, which fully establishes the
rendering we have given, so that there is no necessity to assume that ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ל‬ ִ‫,מ‬ war, stands
for enemies (Ewald, §317, b.).
PETT, "1 Kings 5:2-3
‘And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, “You know how it was that David my father
could not build a house for the name of YHWH his God because of the wars which
were about him on every side, until YHWH put them under the soles of his feet.”
Solomon was delighted to receive Hiram’s messengers and accept his good wishes,
for his plans for building the Temple included the need to obtain help from Hiram.
So he explained to Hiram what he was about, and what follows in 1 Kings 5:2-6 is
typical of diplomatic correspondence in those days. He names the addressee, refers
to previous contacts, and makes the opening moves towards an economic treaty.
Hiram, who had previously helped David to build his palace (2 Samuel 5:11) no
doubt already knew about the plans for the Temple because it had originally been
David’s intention to build it (2 Samuel 7:2), and even had we not read about it in 1
Chronicles 22, we would have suspected that David had begun making preparations
for it (see 1 Kings 8:51; 1 Chronicles 26:25). For while YHWH had not been
enthusiastic about his suggestion, and had firmly countered it, it is clear that David
had failed to allow YHWH’s words (2 Samuel 7:5-7) to sink deeply enough into his
mind for them to replace his own fixed idea. His view was that every nation around
had built a splendid temple or more to their gods. Why then should Israel be the
exception? And because his heart was filled with love for YHWH he wanted it to be
the very best. Yet even he, the Psalmist of Israel, was not spiritual enough to
recognise that no earthly Temple could be remotely acceptable to, or suitable for,
the God of Sinai. As we have seen, a careful exegesis of the covenant in 2 Samuel
7:8-16 makes clear that the ‘house’ mentioned in 1 Kings 5:13 was not a physical
house (the passage as a whole only has in mind a ‘house’ that signifies descendants -
1 Kings 5:11; 1 Kings 5:16) but was paralleled with the idea of the everlasting
throne. 1 Kings 5:16 can thus be seen as explaining the fulfilment of 1 Kings 5:13.
God would give David a house (1 Kings 5:11), and his seed would build it to the
glory of YHWH (1 Kings 5:13), and it would be everlasting (1 Kings 5:16).
However, both David and Solomon wrongly interpreted YHWH’s words in a
physical fashion, and in His graciousness YHWH went along with them because He
could see that they desired it and that it was from the right attitude of heart (just as
God often goes along with us in our plans, even though they must sometimes make
Him cringe). It is not difficult to understand why they failed in their understanding.
The full concept that God had given them was beyond the grasp of their spiritual
comprehension, even though David certainly partially grasped it (1 Kings 5:18-18),
and Solomon was himself aware of the inadequacy of the Temple as a dwelling-place
for YHWH (1 Kings 8:27). Such understanding would await the illumination of the

29. great prophets.
Solomon then explained to Hiram his view that David had been unable to build the
house ‘for the ame of YHWH his God’ because of the wars that were about him on
every side. But that again was something that Solomon was, at least to some extent,
giving a misleading impression about (we must ever remember that Solomon’s
words, while an accurate record of what he said, do not necessarily always
themselves express Scriptural truth, any more than Satan’s words do elsewhere).
For we have specifically been told that David himself had wanted to build the
Temple himself precisely because the wars had ceased (2 Samuel 7:1; 2 Samuel
7:11). In other words his enemies had been put under his feet at that time, and thus
that could not be the basic reason for his failing to build the Temple.
It was, however, politic of Solomon to suggest that as the reason, rather than saying
that it was because his father was ‘a man of blood’. And 1 Chronicles 22:9 does
reveal that there was enough truth in it for it not to be totally false. In fact, however,
1 Chronicles 22:8 tells us that the main reason that David did not build the Temple
was because the word of YHWH came to him saying ‘You have shed blood
abundantly and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to My ame
because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight’. After which YHWH
had then yielded to David’s desire for his son to build it and had gone on to permit a
physical interpretation of the prophecy first given in 2 Samuel 7:13. What God was
doing was making it clear that, even though shed necessarily, the wholesale
shedding of human blood by human beings was contrary to all that God was.
YHWH’s allowing of the building of the Temple would have caused no problem if
only Israel (and later the Jews) had recognised that the physical Temple was but a
symbol of the ‘spiritual house’ that YHWH would establish in the Coming King.
How different history would have been in that case. But while they did partly grasp
it in the idea of the coming of the Messiah, they had totally wrong ideas about Him,
and on the whole both failed to recognise Him when He came, or to recognise that
His coming signalled the demise of the Temple which had lost its significance with
His coming. They had become wedded to the Temple. To them the Temple had
become more important than the Messiah. Similar blindness to some extent
pervades much of the church today. They too are looking for the building of a
physical Temple, where non-Scriptural sacrifices of their own invention will be
offered, and have failed to recognise that the physical Temple has outlived its
usefulness and is no longer a valid option, and that it has been more than fully
replaced by:
1). Jesus Christ Himself (John 2:19).
2). The spiritual Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16-
18; Ephesians 2:20-22), the Temple which is made up of the conjoined body in
Christ of all true believers, the true Zion, the everlasting Sanctuary (Galatians 4:26;
Hebrews 12:22), of which Revelation 11:1-12 is a part picture.
3). The heavenly Temple, first visualised by Ezekiel as being on earth for a time,
invisibly but effectively (Ezekiel 40-42), and finally being transported into Heaven

30. where its effectiveness is revealed in Revelation.
“For the ame of YHWH his God” probably has in mind the Ark of God for in 2
Samuel 6:2 we read of, ‘the Ark of God, whose ame is called by the ame of
YHWH of Hosts Who dwells between the Cherubim’. As far as Israel were
concerned where the Ark was the ame was. ‘The ame’ in essence indicates all
that God is, and from a human viewpoint that was closely wrapped up with the Ark,
with its revelation of the covenant God had made with them held within it and its
seat of propitiation above it, indicating to them both God’s covenant requirements
and His continual and everlasting mercy, while also emphasising His invisibility.
Any reference here to Deuteronomy 12:5 is therefore secondary, if it existed at all.
The idea of ‘the ame of YHWH’ comes as early as Genesis 13:4 where we read
that, ‘Abram called on the ame of YHWH’ (and even earlier in Genesis 4:26). In
Exodus 20:24 YHWH speaks of ‘the places where I record My ame’, closely
linking His ame with His temporary sanctuaries. In Exodus 23:21 YHWH could
say of the Angel of YHWH, ‘My ame is in Him’. Thus in all cases ‘the ame’
represented YHWH’s own presence. Again in Exodus 33:19 YHWH ‘pronounced
the ame of YHWH’ before Moses as an indication of His revealed presence,
compare Exodus 34:5. We can see therefore why the Ark of God which symbolised
His presence was ‘called by the ame of YHWH’ (2 Samuel 6:2), and why building
the ‘Dwellingplace of YHWH’ was considered as being in order to house His ame,
because it housed the Ark, and because He had revealed His ancient glory there.
The origin of the idea had therefore little to do with Deuteronomy 12 ff. It was much
older. Right from the beginning men had looked to, and worshipped, the ame of
YHWH at their sanctuaries, a ame which, however, was not limited to their
sanctuaries but went forth as YHWH went forth. Like 2 Samuel references in
Deuteronomy 12 ff rather look back to the above references (see Deuteronomy 12:5;
Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 14:23-24; Deuteronomy 16:2; Deuteronomy 16:6;
Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 26:2).
“Put them under the soles of his feet.” The conqueror would expect the defeated
enemy to prostrate themselves before him while he symbolically put the soles of his
feet on their heads.
ote On The Temple.
The impression given in 2 Samuel 7 is that God did not want a Temple built to His
ame, which is why He initially dissuaded David from doing so. It is very doubtful
whether 2 Samuel 7:13 initially had in mind the building of a physical Temple for
the emphasis in the whole passage is on the coming ‘house of David’ made up of his
son and his descendants. But once the idea had become lodged in David’s mind he
found it difficult to dismiss. To him it seemed logical that YHWH should have a
Temple, and the best Temple possible. He would not see that it simply brought
YHWH down to the same level as other (false) gods.
There are then clear hints in Samuel that David had not given up on the idea. See,
for example, 2 Samuel 8:11. The Chronicler thus points out that after the incident of

31. the pestilence and the threshing floor (2 Samuel 24) David again began to prepare
for the building of such a Temple at which point he was dissuaded from it by being
reminded of how much blood he had shed (1 Chronicles 22:8). But he was still
insisting on interpreting what God had said in His covenant as referring to a
physical Temple. God then seems to have made a concession in allowing his son to
build such a Temple because he wanted it so much. There is a very similar parallel
between this building of a Temple, which God did not really want, and the original
establishment of kingship in 1 Samuel, which God did not really want. In both cases
YHWH had not wanted it, but in the end allowed it as a concession.
The idea that then arose was that if such a Temple was to be built it should be as the
foundation of the coming successful kingdom of peace, it not being seen as seemly
that YHWH’s unique and holy Temple should be founded on the shedding of men’s
blood. It was to be a harbinger of joy and peace not of success in war. And
Solomon’s reign was being hailed as the beginning of that kingdom of peace. Sadly
that kingdom of peace would only too quickly prove abortive because of Solomon’s
own failings, but at least the right idea had been conveyed. If only Solomon had
rather concentrated on building the right kind of house, a righteous house made up
of his sons and descendants, and had given his own time and effort to training them
wisely, much of what follows could have been avoided. Instead he thought that he
had done enough by building a physical Temple and as a result went wildly wrong,
leaving a bad example for his children.
End of note.
PULPIT, "And Solomon sent to Hiram. [According to Josephus (Ant. 8.2. 6), he
wrote a letter, which together with Hiram's reply (1 Kings 5:8) was preserved
among the public archives of Tyro. The account of 2 Chronicles 2:1-18; which as a
rule is more detailed than that of the Kings, begins here. It does not notice, that is to
say, the prior embassy of the Phoenician king, as the object of the chronicler is
merely to narrate the measures taken for the erection of the temple], saying [The
return embassy gave Solomon the opportunity to ask for the timber, etc; that he
desired.]
3 “You know that because of the wars waged
against my father David from all sides, he could
not build a temple for the ame of the Lord his
God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.

32. BAR ES, "Solomon’s presumption that Hiram knew David’s design has not
appeared in the previous history, but it is in accordance with 1Ch_22:4.
GILL, "Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house
unto the name of the Lord his God,.... As he designed, and was desirous of; and
which Hiram might know not only by common fame, but from David himself, between
whom there was an intercourse, and that in relation to cedars for building, which David
had of Hiram, 2Ch_2:3;
for the wars which were about him on every side; or warriors, as the Targum, the
Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, and Syrians:
until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet; made them subject and
tributary to him, as he did at length, see 2Sa_7:1, &c. so the "Cetib", or textual reading,
is; but the "Keri", or marginal reading, is, "under the soles of my feet"; that is,
Solomon's, which agrees with what follows; it was true of both.
HE RY 3-5, "II. Solomon's embassy of business to Hiram, sent, it is likely, by
messengers of his own. In wealth, honour, and power, Hiram was very much inferior to
Solomon, yet Solomon had occasion to be beholden to him and begged his favour. Let us
never look with disdain on those below us, because we know not how soon we may need
them. Solomon, in his letter to Hiram, acquaints him,
1. With his design to build a temple to the honour of God. Some think that temples
among the heathen took their first rise and copy from the tabernacle which Moses
erected in the wilderness, and that there were none before that; however there were
many houses built in honour of the false gods before this was built in honour of the God
of Israel, so little is external splendour a mark of the true church. Solomon tells Hiram,
who was himself no stranger to the affair, (1.) That David's wars were an obstruction to
him, that he could not build this temple, though he designed it, 1Ki_5:3. They took up
much of his time, and thoughts, and cares, were a constant expense to him and a
constant employment of his subjects; so that he could not do it so well as it must be
done, and therefore, it not being essential to religion, he must leave it to be done by his
successor. See what need we have to pray that God will give peace in our time, because,
in time or war, the building of the gospel temple commonly goes on slowly. (2.) That
peace gave him an opportunity to build it, and therefore he resolved to set about it
immediately: God has given me rest both at home and abroad, and there is no adversary
(1Ki_5:4), no Satan (so the word is), no instrument of Satan to oppose it, or to divert us
from it. Satan does all he can to hinder temple work (1Th_2:18; Zec_3:1), but when he is
bound (Rev_20:2) we should be busy. When there is no evil occurrent, then let us be
vigorous and zealous in that which is good and get it forward. When the churches have
rest let them be edified, Act_9:31. Days of peace and prosperity present us with a fair
gale, which we must account for if we improve not. As God's providence excited Solomon
to think of building the temple, by giving him wealth and leisure, so his promise
encouraged him. God had told David that his son should build him a house, 1Ki_5:5. He
will take it as a pleasure to be thus employed, and will not lose the honour designed him
by that promise. It may stir us up much to good undertakings to be assured of good

33. success in them. Let God's promise quicken our endeavours.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:3-5. A house unto the name of the Lord — For his worship
and service. For the wars which were about him on every side — Which diverted his
cares and thoughts to other things, and occasioned God’s denying him the honour of
that work. Until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet — That is, made them
subject to him, that he could trample upon them at his pleasure. Compare Psalms
8:6; 1 Corinthians 15:27. I purpose to build a house unto the name of the Lord —
That shall be called by his name, namely, the house of Jehovah; and be
appropriated to his honour and glory.
ELLICOTT, "(3) Thou knowest.—In the description (1 Chronicles 22:4) of David’s
collection of materials for the Temple, it is noted that “the Zidonians and they of
Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.” Hence Hiram knew well his desire of
building the Temple, and the care with which, when disappointed of it, he prepared
for the happier experience of his successor.
PULPIT, "Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house
[Hiram could not fail to know this, as his relations with David had been close and
intimate. ot only had he "sent cedar trees and carpenters and masons" to build
David's house (2 Samuel 5:11), but "they of Tyro brought much cedar wood to
David" (1 Chronicles 22:4) for the house of the Lord] unto the name of the Lord
[i.e; to be dedicated to the Lord as His shrine and habitation (cf. Deuteronomy 12:5,
Deuteronomy 12:11; and Deuteronomy 8:18, Deuteronomy 8:19, Deuteronomy 8:20,
etc.)] for the wars [Heb; war. As we have singular noun and plural verb, Ewald,
Rawlinson, al. assume that war stands for adversaries, as the next clause seems to
imply. Bähr and Keil, however, with greater reason, interpret, "for the war with
which they surrounded him;" a construction ( ‫ַב‬‫ב‬ָ‫ס‬ with double accusative) which is
justified by Psalms 109:3] until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet [until,
i.e; He trampled them down. The same image is found in some of David's psalms,
e.g; Psalms 7:5; Psalms 60:12; cf. Psalms 8:6; Psalms 91:13; Isaiah 63:3; Romans
16:20; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:8.]
4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on
every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.

34. BAR ES, "The contrast is not between different periods of Solomon’s reign, but
between his reign and that of his father.
Evil occurrent - Rather, evil occurrence.
CLARKE, "There is neither adversary - ‫שטן‬ ‫אין‬ eyn satan, there is no satan - no
opposer, nor any kind of evil; all is peace and quiet, both without and within. God has
given me this quiet that I may build his temple. Deus nobis haec otia fecit.
GILL, "But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side,.... From
foreign enemies; for Solomon had no wars with any:
so that there is neither adversary; or Satan, no internal enemy in his kingdom, as
well as no external ones, Adonijah, Joab, and other ill-designing persons, being cut off:
nor evil occurrent; nothing that rose up, and met him, to discourage or hinder the
prosecution of the good work he had in view.
K&D, "1Ki_5:4
“And now Jehovah my God has given me rest roundabout,” such as David never
enjoyed for a permanency (cf. 2Sa_7:1). “No adversary is there.” This is not at variance
with 1Ki_11:14, for Hadad's enterprise belonged to a later period (see the comm. on that
passage). “And no evil occurrence:” such as the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba, the
pestilence at the numbering of the people, and other events which took place in David's
reign.
PETT, "Verse 4
“But now YHWH my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither
adversary, nor evil occurring.”
Solomon then basically cited the promise made to David as per 1 Chronicles 22:9.
YHWH had given him rest on every side from the start, with the result that there
was peace and quietness in his day. For he had at the time no known adversaries
(they had all been dealt with, and others had not yet arisen) and nothing physically
‘evil’ was threatening. Thus the building of YHWH’s house would take place as a
celebration of peace and prosperity, rather than as a memorial of blood and death.
Solomon could have cited in his support Deuteronomy 12:19, (although as far as we
know he did not), but that had strictly already been seen as fulfilled in Joshua 23:1,
where again the emphasis was on the establishment of a holy people.
PULPIT, "But now the Lord my God hath given me rest [In fulfilment of the
promise of 1 Chronicles 22:9. David had had a brief rest (2 Samuel 7:1), Solomon's

35. was permanent. He was "a man of rest"] on every side [Heb. round about, same
word as in verse 3, and in 1 Chronicles 22:9], so that there is neither adversary
[Hadad and Rezon, of whom this word is used (1 Kings 11:14, 1 Kings 11:23),
apparently belonged to a somewhat later period of his reign] nor evil occurrent
[Rather, "occurrence," or "plague" ( ‫ֵע‬‫ג‬ֶ‫פ‬ ), i.e; "rebellion, famine, pestilence, or
other suffering" (Bähr). David had had many such "occurrences" (2 Samuel 15:14;
2 Samuel 20:1; 2 Samuel 21:1; 2 Samuel 24:15).]
5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the
ame of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my
father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will
put on the throne in your place will build the
temple for my ame.’
BAR ES, "As the Lord spake - See the marginal references 1Ki_7:13, and compare
1Ch_22:10.
CLARKE, "A house unto the name of the Lord - The name of God is God
himself. I purpose to build a house to that infinite and eternal Being called Jehovah.
GILL, "And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord
my God,.... For his worship, and for his honour and glory:
as the Lord spake unto David my father; by the prophet Nathan, 2Sa_7:12;
saying, thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build
an house unto my name; which was no small encouragement to Solomon to go about
this work; in which he was a type of Christ, the builder of his temple, the church, see
Zec_6:12.
K&D, "1Ki_5:5
“Behold, I intend to build.” ‫ר‬ ַ‫מ‬ፎ followed by an infinitive, as in Exo_2:14; 2Sa_21:16.
“As Jehovah spake to David;” viz., 2Sa_7:12, 2Sa_7:13.

36. PETT, "Verse 5
“And, behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of YHWH my God, as
YHWH spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne
in your room, he will build the house for my name’.”
So he explained to Hiram that as a result of the situation brought about by YHWH,
he purposed to build a house for the name of YHWH his God as (in his view)
YHWH had originally declared to David. Unable to grasp the whole glorious
significance of 2 Samuel 7 he selected out from it the little that he thought that he
did understand and which would bring the greatest glory to him. Had he put as
much effort into building up his spiritual house as YHWH had wished, instead of
into building up a physical house for YHWH, history would have been very
different. And from the Temple would eventually grow up the iniquitous doctrine of
the inviolability of the Temple, a doctrine that would finally contribute to Israel’s
downfall, for by it they had made YHWH into a little God firmly tied to earth..
Solomon would prove to be the perfect exemplar of the fact that man loves to thrust
his outward religious formalities into the limelight, and having then fulfilled them to
his own satisfaction, considers that he can live the remainder of his life as he pleases.
It is the story both of later Judaism, and of the physical monstrosity which was built
up and called itself the church in the middle ages, and whose legacy still hangs on in
many places today.
ISBET, "A TEMPLE MOST COSTLY
‘An house unto the name of the Lord my God.’
1 Kings 5:5
It is a matter of great interest that ere Solomon could proceed in his vast design, he
had to call in the aid of Gentile hands. The opportunity for this was given to him
when Hiram, the Phœnician king, who had ever been so friendly with king David,
sent a message of congratulation to Solomon on his accession to the throne. Solomon
immediately replied to this embassy of good-will, and took occasion to unfold his
purpose and secure the co-operation of Hiram.
I. We are told that the building of the Temple occupied seven years.—When we read
the dimensions of this building, and are told that it consisted of two main chambers,
that the whole length was ninety feet, from side to side thirty feet, and from floor to
roof forty-five feet, it does not seem to us a remarkable thing to raise a building of
such commonplace dimensions in seven years. But we must remember that it was
built on the narrow top of Mount Moriah, and that it needed to rest upon vast
substructures built up from the valley to make the hill-top not less than five
hundred yards square. The walls necessary for this had to be built of stone, cut from
a quarry on the crown of the hill. These stones had to be moved down an inclined
plane and built so strongly that they should support the whole structure at the top.
o one can adequately estimate the extraordinary patience and labour involved in
this task. When we are told that one of these stones, still visible in its original place,
weighs something like two hundred tons, and that such a stone had to be moved and
lifted without our modern appliances, we may dimly see glimpses of the agony and

37. torture of the men whose strength had to be expended upon such labour.
II. This opens our eyes to the real cost of a building like the Temple.— ot only was
Solomon dependent upon the labour of the servants of Hiram, he made a levy from
amongst the people of Israel to the extent of thirty thousand men, of whom ten
thousand only were at work at any one time. These ten thousand laboured for a
month and then retired to their homes for two months; and so on they worked,
travelling to Lebanon and back in three monthly rotations.
But there was a still greater army of labourers, composed of men who were called
the burden-bearers and those who were called the hewers or stone-cutters; of the
former there were seventy thousand, and of the latter eighty thousand. These men
were drawn from two sources: first, the peoples whom David had conquered; and,
second, the original inhabitants of the land who were yet unexterminated. These
worked literally as slaves, and no one can imagine the horror involved in slave
labour in those ancient times upon royal undertakings like this. One writer says that
these facts show us how in the day of Solomon ‘an abyss of misery heaved and
moaned under the glittering surface of his splendour.’
III. That in Solomon’s heart there was a truly religious intent there can be no
doubt.—Out of loyalty to the memory of David and out of adoration for Jehovah, he
desired to make this structure as glorious as was possible. And truly when, upon
that enormous platform, that Temple stood glittering outwardly with brass and
inwardly with lavish ornamentation of gold, he might look upon it with sincerely
pious emotions.
evertheless, we are thankful that the Spirit of God has led His people so far
beyond the knowledge and the attainments of Solomon that we see now what he
could not see in his day, that a Temple built at such cost of human agony and
humiliation cannot truly bring glory unto God. There may be those who, to-day,
make large fortunes out of the shame, the impoverishment, and the suffering of their
fellow-men, and who give a slice of these fortunes to the building of cathedrals or
the endowment of churches; but the general sense of Protestant Christendom is
surely coming to see that no pious gift can, in the sight of God, blot out the guilt of a
man who gained the power to give by injustice and cruelty to his fellow-men.
Illustrations
(1) ‘There is one thing here that is not beautiful or good. Solomon had begun to
oppress his people for his pleasure, and he built the house for the ame of God, not
by appeals to the free will of his people, but by raising a “levy out of all Israel” (v.
13), i.e., by forced labour. And the blotches of smoke are still visible, says Farrar, on
the walls of the underground quarries where they laboured. This is one of the blots
in Solomon’s reign, and when he died the whole people cried to his son Rehoboam,
“Thy father made our yoke grievous … make thou … his heavy yoke … lighter.”’
(2) ‘The men of Tyre and Sidon became helpers in building the Temple. It is

38. interesting to notice that not only were materials brought from heathen lands, but
much of the work was done by heathen builders and artists. This suggests to us that
in the great temple of God that is rising in heaven men of all nations work. God
loved the world and gave His Son to die for the world. To-day the missionaries are
carrying the Gospel to all parts of the earth, to every nation under heaven.’
(3) ‘Souls are built as temples are—
Sunken deep, unseen, unknown,
Lies the sure foundation stone,
Then the courses framed to bear,
Lift the cloisters, pillared fair.
Last of all the airy spire,
Soaring heavenward, higher and higher,
earest sun and nearest star.
Souls are built as temples are—
Based on truth’s eternal law,
Sure and steadfast without flaw,
Through the sunshine, through the snows,
Up and on the building goes;
Every fair thing finds its place,
Every hard thing lends a grace,
Every hand may make or mar.’
(4) ‘The treaty between Solomon and Hiram was eminently wise, since their peoples
were so different—the one pastoral, the other commercial. So we receive from one
another, and it is wise for Peter and John to make common friendship, and to go
together up the steps to the Gate Beautiful!’
PULPIT, "And, behold, I purpose [Heb. behold me saying ( ‫ַר‬‫מ‬‫,אָ‬ with infin,
expresses purpose. Cf. Exodus 2:14 ; 2 Samuel 21:16)] to build an house unto the
name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying [2
Samuel 7:12, 2 Samuel 7:13. He thus gives Hiram to understand that he is carrying
out his father's plans, and plans which had the Divine sanction, and that this is no
fanciful project of a young prince], Thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy
room, he shall build an [Heb. the] house unto my name.
6 “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut
for me. My men will work with yours, and I will
pay you for your men whatever wages you set.
You know that we have no one so skilled in felling

39. timber as the Sidonians.”
BAR ES, "Solomon’s message to Hiram and Hiram’s answer 1Ki_5:8-9 are given
much more fully in 2Ch_2:3-16.
Cedar-trees - The Hebrew word here and elsewhere translated “cedar,” appears to be
used, not only of the cedar proper, but of other timber-trees also, as the fir, and,
perhaps, the juniper. Still there is no doubt that the real Lebanon cedar is most
commonly intended by it. This tree, which still grows on parts of the mountain, but
which threatens to die out, was probably much more widely spread anciently. The
Tyrians made the masts of their ships from the wood Eze_27:5, and would naturally be
as careful to cultivate it as we have ourselves been to grow oak. The Assyrian kings, when
they made their expeditions into Palestine, appear frequently to have cut it in Lebanon
and Hermon, and to have transported it to their own capitals.
Skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians - The mechanical genius and
nautical skill of the Phoenicians generally, and of the Sidonians in particular, is noticed
by Homer and Herodotus. In the reign of Hiram, Sidon, though perhaps she might have
a king of her own, acknowledged the supremacy of Tyre.
CLARKE, "Any that can skill to hew timber - An obsolete and barbarous
expression for any that know how to cut timber. They had neither sawyers, carpenters,
joiners, nor builders among them, equal to the Sidonians. Sidon was a part of the
territories of Hiram, and its inhabitants appear to have been the most expert workmen.
It requires more skill to fell and prepare timber than is generally supposed. Vitruvius
gives some rules relative to this, lib. ii., cap. 9, the sum of which is this:
1. Trees should be felled in autumn, or in the winter, and in the wane of the moon;
for in this season the trees recover their vigor and solidity, which was dispersed
among their leaves, and exhausted by their fruit, in spring and summer; they will
then be free from a certain moisture, very apt to engender worms and rot them,
which in autumn and winter is consumed and dried up.
2. Trees should not be cut down at once; they should be cut carefully round towards
the pith, that the sap may drop down and distil away, and thus left till thoroughly
dry, and then cut down entirely.
3. When fully dried, a tree should not be exposed to the south sun, high winds, and
rain; and should be smeared over with cow-dung to prevent its splitting.
4. It should never be drawn through the dew, but be removed in the afternoon.
5. It is not fit for floors, doors, or windows, till it has been felled three years. Perhaps
these directions attended to, would prevent the dry rot. And we see from them that
there is considerable skill required to hew timber, and in this the Sidonians
excelled. We do every thing in a hurry, and our building is good for nothing.

40. GILL, "Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedars out of
Lebanon,.... That is, order his servants to cut them down there for him. Some think
that Lebanon belonged to the land of Israel, and therefore Solomon did not ask for the
cedars upon it, but for his servants to hew them for him; but as it lay upon the borders of
Israel, part of it might belong to them, and another part to Hiram, and on which the best
cedars might grow, and so he furnished Solomon both with trees, and men to cut them,
as it seems from 1Ki_5:10; see also 2Ch_2:3;
and my servants shall be with thy servants: to assist them, and to carry the timber
from place to place, and to learn how to hew timber:
and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants, according to all that thou
shalt appoint; pay them for their work and service, as Hiram himself should judge fit
and reasonable for them; no mention being made of paying for the timber, seems to
countenance the notion that the trees were Solomon's; but when the quantity of
provisions sent yearly to Hiram for his household, besides what the servants had, is
observed, it seems to have been sent as an equivalent to the timber received by Solomon,
see 1Ki_5:10;
for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber
like unto the Sidonians; it is not said Tyrians, the Sidonians, perhaps, being more
skilful in this than they were; and the Sidonians are said by Homer (y) to be
πολυδαιδαλοι, very ingenious: and they were both under the jurisdiction and at the
command of Hiram; so Eupolemus (z) makes the inscription of Solomon's letter to him
to run thus, to Suron (that is, Hiram) king of Tyre, Sidon, and Phoenicia. The Jews being
chiefly employed in husbandry, and in feeding cattle, were very unskilful in mechanic
arts, and in this of cutting down trees, and hewing timber; for there is skill to be
exercised therein; the proper time of cutting down trees should be observed, the part in
which they are to be cut, and the position in which they are to be put when cut down, as
Vitruvius (a) directs, with other things, and Pliny (b) observes the same.
HE RY 6-10, "2. With his desire that Hiram would assist him herein. Lebanon was the
place whence timber must be had, a noble forest in the north of Canaan, particularly
expressed in the grant of that land to Israel - all Lebanon, Jos_13:5. So that Solomon
was proprietor of all its productions. The cedars of Lebanon are spoken of as, in a
special manner, the planting of the Lord (Psa_109:16), being designed for Israel's use
and particularly for temple service. But Solomon owned that though the trees were his
the Israelites had not skill to hew timber like the Sidonians, who were Hiram's subjects.
Canaan was a land of wheat and barley (Deu_8:8), which employed Israel in the affairs
of husbandry, so that they were not at all versed in manufactures: in them the Sidonians
excelled. Israel, in the things of God, are a wise and understanding people; and yet, in
curious arts, inferior to their neighbours. True piety is a much more valuable gift of
heaven than the highest degree of ingenuity. Better be an Israelite skilful in the law than
a Sidonian skilful to hew timber. But, the case being thus, Solomon courts Hiram to send
him workmen, and promises (1Ki_5:6) both to assist them (my servants shall be with
thy servants, to work under them), and to pay them (unto thee will I give hire for thy
servants); for the labourer, even in church-work, though it be indeed its own wages, is
worthy of his hire, The evangelical prophet, foretelling the glory of the church in the
days of the Messiah, seems to allude to this story, Isa. 60, where he prophesies, (1.) That
the sons of strangers (such were the Tyrians and Sidonians) shall build up the wall of

41. the gospel temple, 1Ki_5:10. Ministers were raised up among the Gentiles for the
edifying of the body of Christ. (2.) That the glory of Lebanon shall be brought to it to
beautify it, 1Ki_5:13. All external endowments and advantages shall be made serviceable
to the interests of Christ's kingdom.
JAMISO , "command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon —
Nowhere else could Solomon have procured materials for the woodwork of his
contemplated building. The forests of Lebanon, adjoining the seas in Solomon’s time,
belonged to the Phoenicians, and the timber being a lucrative branch of their exports,
immense numbers of workmen were constantly employed in the felling of trees as well as
the transportation and preparation of the wood. Hiram stipulated to furnish Solomon
with as large a quantity of cedars and cypresses as he might require and it was a great
additional obligation that he engaged to render the important service of having it
brought down, probably by the Dog river, to the seaside, and conveyed along the coast in
floats; that is, the logs being bound together, to the harbor of Joppa (2Ch_2:16), whence
they could easily find the means of transport to Jerusalem.
my servants shall be with thy servants — The operations were to be on so
extensive a scale that the Tyrians alone would be insufficient. A division of labor was
necessary, and while the former would do the work that required skilful artisans,
Solomon engaged to supply the laborers.
K&D, "1Ki_5:6-7
“And now command that they fell me cedars from Lebanon.” We may see from 1Ki_
5:8 that Solomon had also asked for cypresses; and according to the parallel passage
2Ch_2:6., he had asked for a skilful artist, which is passed over here, so that it is only in
1Ki_7:13-14 that we find a supplementary notice that Hiram had sent one. It is evident
from this request, that that portion of Lebanon on which the cedars suitable for building
wood grew, belonged to the kingdom of Hiram. The cedar forest, which has been
celebrated from very ancient times, was situated at least two days' journey to the north
of Beirut, near the northernmost and loftiest summits of the range, by the village of
Bjerreh, to the north of the road which leads to Baalbek and not far to the east of the
convent of Canobin, the seat of the patriarch of the Maronites, although Seetzen, the
American missionaries, and Professor Ehrenberg found cedars and cedar groves in other
places on northern Lebanon (see Rob. Pal. iii. 440,441, and Bibl. Res. pp. 588ff.). The
northern frontier of Canaan did not reach as far as Bjerreh (see at Num_34:8-9). “My
servants shall be with thy servants,” i.e., shall help them in the felling of the wood. “And
the wages of thy servants will I give to thee altogether as thou sayest.” “For thou knowest
that no one among us is skilful in felling trees like the Sidonians.” This refers to the
knowledge of the most suitable trees, of the right time for felling, and of the proper
treatment of the wood. The expression Sidonians stands for Phoenicians generally, since
Sidon was formerly more powerful than Tyre, and that portion of Lebanon which
produced the cedars belonged to the district of Sidon. The inhabitants of Sidon were
celebrated from time immemorial as skilful builders, and well versed in mechanical arts
(compare Rob. Pal. iii. 421ff., and Movers, Phoenizier, ii. 1, pp. 86ff.).
Hiram rejoiced exceedingly at this proposal on the part of Solomon, and praised
Jehovah for having given David so wise a son as his successor (1Ki_7:7). It must have
been a matter of great importance to the king of Tyre to remain on good terms with
Israel, because the land of Israel was a granary for the Phoenicians, and friendship with

42. such a neighbour would necessarily tend greatly to promote the interests of the
Phoenician commerce. The praise of Jehovah on the part of Hiram does not presuppose
a full recognition of Jehovah as the only true God, but simply that Hiram regarded the
God of Israel as being as real a God as his own deities. Hiram expresses a fuller
acknowledgment of Jehovah in 2Ch_2:11, where he calls Jehovah the Creator of heaven
and earth; which may be explained, however, from Hiram's entering into the religious
notions of the Israelites, and does not necessarily involve his own personal belief in the
true deity of Jehovah.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:6. ow therefore command thou, that they — That is, thy
servants, who are skilful in such work; hew me cedar-trees — Which, for their
soundness, and strength, and fragrancy, and durable-ness, were most proper for his
design. Of these David had procured some, but not a sufficient number. Out of
Lebanon — Which was in Solomon’s jurisdiction; and therefore he doth not desire
that Hiram would give him the cedars, because they were his own already, but only
that his servants might hew them for him, which the ingenious Tyrians well
understood: My servants shall be with thy servants — Either to be employed as they
shall direct, or to receive the cedars from their hands, and transmit them to me. And
unto thee will I give hire for thy servants — Pay them for their labour and art.
Sidonians — Or Tyrians; for these places and people, being near each other, are
promiscuously used one for another. This assistance, which these Gentiles gave to
the building of Solomon’s temple, was a type of the calling of the Gentiles, and that
they should be instrumental in building and constituting Christ’s spiritual temple.
PETT, "Verse 6
“ ow therefore do you command that they cut me cedar-trees out of Lebanon, and
my servants will be with your servants, and I will give you hire for your servants in
accordance with all that you shall say, for you know that there is not among us any
who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
Then Solomon explained what he really wanted of Hiram. He wanted him to
provide the finest of timber from his forests in Lebanon, and to provide experts who
would cut it and dress it, because no one knew how to do that like the Sidonians.
Sidon, as opposed to Tyre, clearly had a reputation for forest carpentry. The forests
would be in their area. He would meanwhile provide men from among ‘his servants’
who would work alongside them, possibly with a view to them learning some of the
skills, and he would pay the hire of the Sidonians employed on the work.
ELLICOTT, "(6) Cedar trees out of Lebanon.—The central range of Lebanon is
bare; but in the lower ranges there is still—probably in old times there was to a far
greater extent—a rich abundance of timber, specially precious to the comparatively
treeless country of Palestine. The forest of Lebanon was proverbial for its beauty
and fragrance (Song of Solomon 4:11; Hosea 14:6-7), watered by the streams from
the snowy heights (Jeremiah 18:14), when all Palestine was parched up. The cedars
which now remain—a mere group, at a height of about six thousand feet—are but a
remnant of the once magnificent forest which “the Lord had planted” (Psalms

43. 104:16). Solomon’s request—couched almost in the language of command—is
simply for cedar wood, or rather, for skilled labour in felling and working it, for
which the Tyrians were proverbially famed in all ancient records. For this labour he
offers to pay; while he seems to take for granted a right for his own servants to come
and bring away the timber itself. Hiram’s answer (1 Kings 5:8) mentions “timber of
fir” also, which agrees exactly with the fuller account of Solomon’s request given in
2 Chronicles 2:8. The pine still grows abundantly in the sandstone regions of
Lebanon; but it is almost certain that “the fir” here named is the cypress.
PARKER, "Even the noblest purpose needs the co-operation of sympathetic and
competent men:
" ow therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and
my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy
servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not
among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians" ( 1 Kings 5:6).
Thus the Jew seeks assistance from the Gentile in building the house of the Lord.
How wonderful are the co-operations which are continually taking place in life! so
subtly do they interblend, and make up that which is lacking in each other, that it is
simply impossible to effect an exhaustive analysis. or would it be desirable that
such an analysis should be completed. We cannot live upon analysis. We should fix
our minds upon the great fact that no man liveth unto himself, that no man is
complete in himself, that every man needs the help of every other Prayer of
Manasseh , and thus we shall see how mysteriously is built the great temple of life,
and is realised before the eyes of the universe the great purpose of God. Co-
operation is only another word for the distributions which God has made of talent
and opportunity. It might be supposed that co-operation was simply a human act;
whereas in its outworking, it shows the marvellous distribution which God has
made of capacity, resource, opportunity; how he has related one man to another,
and one event to another; when we study co-operation in this light we see that it is
but the under or visible side of divine providence, the bringing together of parts
apparently sundered, yet which need only to approach one another to show that
they were meant to act in harmony. ot only must there be co-operation between
foreign powers, there must also be co-operation at home. This is made clear by the
thirteenth verse:
PULPIT, " ow therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of
Lebanon [Heb. the Lebanon, i.e; the White (so. mountain). "It is the Merit Blanc of
Palestine" (Porter); but whether it is so called because of its summits of snow or
because of the colour of its limestone is uncertain. Practically, the cedars are now
found in one place only, though Ehrenberg is said to have found them in
considerable numbers to the north of the road between Baalbek and Tripoli. "At the
head of Wady Kadisha there is a vast recess in the central ridge of Lebanon, some
eight miles in diameter. Above it rise the loftiest summits in Syria, streaked with

44. perpetual snow… In the very centre of this recess, on a little irregular knoll, stands
the clump of cedars", over 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. It would seem as if
that part of Lebanon where the cedars grew belonged to Hiram's dominion. "The
northern frontier of Canaan did not reach as far as Bjerrsh" (Keil), where the cedar
grove is now. The idea of some older writers that the cedars belonged to Solomon,
and that he only asked Hiram for artificers ("that they hew me cedar trees," etc.) is
negatived by verse 10. It is true that "all Lebanon" was given to Israel (Joshua
13:5), but they did not take it. They did not drive out the Zidonians (verse 6; 1:31)
or possess" the land of the Giblites" (verse 5; 3:3). It should be stated here, however,
that the cedar of Scripture probably included other varieties than that which now,
alone bears the name (see on verse 8)], and my servants shall be with Shy servants
[i.e; sharing and lightening the work]: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants
[Solomon engaged to pay and did pay both Hiram and his subjects for the services
of the latter, and he paid both in kind. See below, on verse 11] according to all that
thou shalt appoint [This would seem to have been 20,000 measures of wheat and 20
measures of pure oil annually, verse 11]: for thou knowest that there is not among
us any that can skill [Heb. knoweth, same word as before] to hew timber like unto
the Zidonlans [Propter vicina nemora. Grotius, Sidou (Heb. ‫ִידוֹן‬‫צ‬ ), means "fishing."
See note on verse 18. By profane, as well as sacred writers, the Phoenicians are often
described by the name Zidonians, no doubt for the reason mentioned in the note on
verse 1. See Homer, Iliad 6:290; 23. 743; Odys. 4:84, 618; 17:4.24. Cf. Virg. AEn. 1.
677, 678; 4:545, etc. Genesis 10:15; 1:31; 3:3; 1 Kings 11:1, 1 Kings 11:33, etc. "The
mechanical skill of the Phoenicians generally, and of the Zidonians in particular, is
noticed by many ancient writers," Rawlinson, who cites instances in his note. But
what deserves especial notice here is the fact that the Zidonians constructed their
houses of wood, and were celebrated from the earliest times as skilful builders. The
fleets which the Phoenicians constructed for purposes of commerce would ensure
them a supply of clever workmen. Wordsworth aptly remarks on the part the
heathen thus took in rearing a temple for the God of Jacob. Cf. Isaiah 60:10, Isaiah
60:13.]
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was
greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord
today, for he has given David a wise son to rule
over this great nation.”

45. BAR ES, "Some of these “great, hewed (no and) stones,” are probably still to be seen
in the place where they were set by Solomon’s builders, at the southwestern angle of the
wall of the Haram area in the modern Jerusalem. The largest found so far is 38 ft. 9 in.
long, and weighs about 100 tons.
CLARKE, "Blessed be the Lord this day - From this, and indeed from every part
of Hiram’s conduct, it is evident that he was a worshipper of the true God; unless, as was
the case with many of the heathens, he supposed that every country had its own god, and
every god his own country, and he thanked the God of Israel that he had given so wise a
prince to govern those whom he considered his friends and allies: but the first opinion
seems to be the most correct.
GILL, "And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon,.... The
letter read he sent him:
that he rejoiced greatly; that the friendship which had subsisted between him and
David was like to be continued between him and his successor, but chiefly for what
follows:
saying, blessed be the Lord this day; or Jehovah, by which he seems to have some
knowledge of the true God, the God of Israel, and might worship him, though along with
him other deities, as some Heathen princes did:
which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people; which he
perceived by the letter he sent him, and by his solicitous concern to build an house for
the worship and honour of God, and by various other things which his ambassadors
reported to him they had seen and heard in Solomon's court.
HE RY, "3. Hiram's reception of, and return to, this message.
(1.) He received it with great satisfaction to himself: He rejoiced greatly (1Ki_5:7) that
Solomon trod in his father's steps, and carried on his designs, and was likely to be so
great a blessing to his kingdom. In this Hiram's generous spirit rejoiced, and not merely
in the prospect he had of making an advantage to himself by Solomon's employing him.
What he had the pleasure of he gave God the praise of: Blessed be the Lord, who has
given to David (who was himself a wise man) a wise son to rule over this great people.
See here, [1.] With what pleasure Hiram speaks of Solomon's wisdom and the extent of
his dominion. Let us learn not to envy others either those secular advantages or those
endowments of the mind wherein they excel us. What a great comfort it is to those that
wish well to the Israel of God to see religion and wisdom kept up in families from one
generation to another, especially in great families and those that have great influence on
others! where it is so, God must have the glory of it. If to godly parents be given a godly
seed (Mal_2:15), it is a token for good, and a happy indication that the entail of the
blessing shall not be cut off.

46. JAMISO , "1Ki_5:7-12. Furnishes timber to build the Temple.
Blessed be the Lord — This language is no decisive evidence that Hiram was a
worshipper of the true God, as he might use it only on the polytheistic principle of
acknowledging Jehovah as the God of the Hebrews (see on 2Ch_2:11).
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:7-8. He rejoiced greatly — Being a faithful friend to David
and his house; and though it is not probable he was a sincere proselyte, yet he had
received much information concerning the nature and excellence of the God of
Israel, and had honourable thoughts of him. And Hiram sent to Solomon — A letter,
2 Chronicles 2:11. Timber of fir — The word which we translate fir, others think
signifies pine, or cypress; but their conjecture is the most reasonable, who think it
was a kind of cedar, and therefore comprehended under that name, 1 Kings 5:6,
where Solomon desires of him only that his servants might hew him cedar-trees.
COFFMA , ""Blessed be Jehovah this day" (1 Kings 5:7) This word in the mouth
of Hiram should not be understood as indicating his conversion to the knowledge of
the One True and Only God It was merely his recognition of Jehovah as the God of
Israel whom he revered on a parity with the false gods of his own country.
"Timber of fir" (1 Kings 5:10). Jamieson identified this wood as cypress;[6] and as
cypress is mentioned in the Chronicles account, this may well be the case.
"Twenty measures of pure oil" (1 Kings 5:11). The word `thousand' in this phrase is
understood; and, accordingly, the RSV properly translates the place as "Twenty
thousand measures of pure oil." It was an enormous annual payment. Furthermore,
this does not include the enormous expenses of the slaves and forced laborers who
were sent to Lebanon by Solomon (2 Chronicles 2:10).
"They two made a league together" (1 Kings 5:12). "Solomon sealed this alliance
with an addition to his harem, for Sidonian women are listed among those foreign
women whom he is said to have loved; and it is said that his heart was turned away
after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians (1 Kings 11:1,4,5)."[7]
CO SCRIPTI G SUFFICIE T LABORERS TO BUILD THE TEMPLE
Enthusiasts who manifest such appreciation for the Temple of the Jews should
remember that it was built with slave-labor.
PETT, "Verse 7
“And it came about that, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced
greatly, and said, “Blessed be YHWH this day, who has given to David a wise son
over this great people.”
When Hiram heard this he was delighted. It would not only put him in well with one

47. of the most powerful kings of the day, who also had control of the major trade
routes (a major consideration for a trading power), but it would also prove very
profitable. So he replied to Solomon’s request with pleasing words. He would not
have been a worshipper of YHWH himself, but he was quite prepared to
acknowledge that Israel’s God YHWH had given to David a wise son over God’s
great and numerous people.
ote again the emphasis on Solomon’s wisdom which comes out throughout this
section. His wisdom was not only seen as great, but also as many-varied. He was
seen as wise in all that he did. (His subsequent fall must therefore come as a warning
to us all. Let him who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall).
ELLICOTT, "(7) Blessed be the Lord.—Hiram’s answer is one of deference, still
more clearly marked in 2 Chronicles 2:12-16. His acknowledgment of Jehovah the
God of Israel is a token rather of such deference to Israel, than of any acceptance of
Him as the one true God.
GUZIK, "2. (1 Kings 5:7-12) Hiram’s reply to Solomon.
So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and
said, Blessed be the LORD this day, for He has given David a wise son over this
great people! Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have considered the message
which you sent me, and I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress
logs. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; I will float them
in rafts by sea to the place you indicate to me, and will have them broken apart
there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire by giving food
for my household. Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to
all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for
his household, and twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by
year. So the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was
peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
a. Blessed be the LORD: We can’t say if Hiram was a saved man, but he certainly
respected the God of Israel. This was no doubt due to David’s godly influence on
Hiram.
b. And you shall fulfill my desire by giving food for my household: Solomon offered
Hiram whatever he wanted as payment for the timber to build the temple (1 Kings
5:6). Hiram did not take unfair advantage, asking only for food for his household.
i. At the same time, Hiram did expect to be paid. His service and the service of His
people were not a gift or a sacrifice. “There are a good many people who get mixed
up with religious work, and talk as if it were very near their hearts, who have as
sharp an eye to their own advantage as he had. The man who serves God because he
gets paid for it, does not serve Him.” (Maclaren)

48. c. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon: Solomon - in his God-given
wisdom - continued the friendly relationship between Israel and Lebanon.
PULPIT, "And It came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon [reported
by his ambassadors], that he rejoiced greatly [see note on 1 Kings 5:1. The
continuance of the entente cordiale was ensured], and said, Blessed be the Lord [In
2 Chronicles 2:12, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel that made heaven and earth."
We are not warranted by the expression of the text in concluding that Hiram
believed in the exclusive divinity of the God of Israel, or "identified Jehovah with
Melkarth his god" (Rawlinson), much less that he was proselyte to the faith of David
and Solomon. All that is certain is that he believed the Jehovah as God was quite
compatible with the retention of a firm faith in Baa1 and Astarte. It is also possible
that he here adopts a language which he knew would be acceptable to Solomon, or
the historian may have given us his thoughts in a Hebrew dread It is noticeable that
the LXX. has simply εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς] which hath given unto David a wise son
[Compare 1 Kings 1:48; 1 Kings 2:9. The proof of wisdom lay in Solomon's fulfilling
his wise father's purposes, and in his care for the worship of God. "Wise," however,
is not used here in the sense of "pious," as Bähr affirms. In Hiram's lips the word
meant discreet, sagacious. He would hardly recognize the fear of the Lord as the
beginning of wisdom] over this great people.
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will
do all you want in providing the cedar and
juniper logs.
GILL, "And Hiram sent to Solomon,.... A letter to him, to the following purpose:
saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for; whether he
could, and whether it was fitting he should grant his request; which was acting like a
wise and prudent prince:
and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning
timber of fir; or of cypress, as in Josephus's copy of this letter, and which grew on

49. Lebanon (c); these were odorous, sound, and durable timber, especially the cedar, and
therefore chosen by Solomon for building.
HE RY 8-9, "(2.) He answered it with great satisfaction to Solomon, granting him
what he desired, and showing himself very forward to assist him in this great and good
work to which he was laying his hand. We have here his articles of agreement with
Solomon concerning this affair, in which we may observe Hiram's prudence. [1.] He
deliberated upon the proposal, before he returned an answer (1Ki_5:8): I have
considered the things. It is common for those that make bargains rashly afterwards to
wish them unmade again. The virtuous woman considers a field and then buys it, Pro_
31:16. Those do not lose time who take time to consider. [2.] He descended to particulars
in the articles, that there might be no misunderstanding afterwards, to occasion a
quarrel. Solomon had spoken of hewing the trees (1Ki_5:6), and Hiram agrees to what
he desired concerning that (1Ki_5:8); but nothing had been said concerning carriage,
and this matter therefore must be settled. Land-carriage would be very troublesome and
chargeable; he therefore undertakes to bring all the timber down from Lebanon by sea, a
coasting voyage. Conveyance by water is a great convenience to trade, for which God is
to have praise, who taught man that discretion. Observe what a definite bargain Hiram
made. Solomon must appoint the place where the timber shall be delivered, and thither
Hiram will undertake to bring it and be responsible for its safety. As the Sidonians
excelled the Israelites in timber-work, so they did in sailing; for Tyre and Sidon were
situate at the entry of the sea (Eze_27:3): they therefore were fittest to take care of the
water-carriage. Tractant fabrilia fabri - Every artist has his trade assigned. And, [3.] If
Hiram undertake for the work, and do all Solomon's desire concerning the timber (1Ki_
5:8), he justly expects that Solomon shall undertake for the wages: “Thou shalt
accomplish my desire in giving food for my household (1Ki_5:9), not only for the
workmen, but for my own family.” If Tyre supply Israel with craftsmen, Israel will supply
Tyre with corn, Eze_27:17. Thus, by the wise disposal of Providence, one country has
need of another and is benefited by another, that there may be mutual correspondence
and dependence, to the glory of God our common parent.
JAMISO , "Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things
... and I will do — The contract was drawn out formally in a written document (2Ch_
2:11), which, according to Josephus, was preserved both in the Jewish and Tyrian
records.
K&D, "1Ki_5:8-11
Hiram then sent to Solomon, and promised in writing (‫ב‬ ָ‫ת‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ , 2Ch_2:10) to comply
with his wishes. ‫י‬ ַ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ָ ְ‫ח‬ ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫א‬ ‫ת‬ ֵ‫,א‬ “that which thou hast sent to me,” i.e., hast asked of me
by messenger. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ּושׁ‬‫ר‬ ְ‫ב‬ are not firs, but cypresses. “My servants shall bring down (the
trees) from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts (i.e., bind them into rafts
and have them floated) upon the sea to the place which thou shalt send (word) to me,
and will take them (the rafts) to pieces there, and thou wilt take (i.e., fetch them
thence).” The Chronicles give Yafo, i.e., Joppa, Jaffa, the nearest harbour to Jerusalem
on the Mediterranean Sea, as the landing-place (see at Jos_19:46). “And thou wilt do all
my desire to give bread for my house,” i.e., provisions to supply the wants of the king's

50. court. “The ‫ר‬ ָ‫כ‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ mentioned in 1Ki_5:6 was also to be paid” (Thenius). This is quite
correct; but Thenius is wrong when he proceeds still further to assert, that the chronicler
erroneously supposed this to refer to the servants of Hiram who were employed in
working the wood. There is not a word of this kind in the Chronicles; but simply
Solomon's promise to Hiram (1Ki_5:9): “with regard to the hewers (the fellers of the
trees), I give thy servants wheat 20,000 cors, and barley 20,000 cors, and wine 20,000
baths, and oil 20,000 baths.” This is omitted in our account, in which the wages
promised in 1Ki_5:6 to the Sidonian fellers of wood are not more minutely defined. On
the other hand, the payment for the wood delivered by Solomon to Hiram, which is not
mentioned in the Chronicles, is stated here in 1Ki_5:11. “Solomon gave Hiram 20,000
cors of wheat as food (‫ת‬ ֶ‫ּל‬ⅴ ַ‫,מ‬ a contraction of ‫ת‬ ֶ‫ּל‬‫כ‬ ְ‫א‬ ַ‫,מ‬ from ‫ל‬ ַ‫כ‬ፎ; cf. Ewald, §79, b.) for his
house (the maintenance of his royal court), and 20 cors of beaten oil; this gave Solomon
to Hiram year by year,” probably as long as the delivery of the wood or the erection of
Solomon's buildings lasted. These two accounts are so clear, that Jac. Capp., Gramt.,
Mov., Thenius, and Bertheau, who have been led by critical prejudices to confound them
with one another, and therefore to attempt to emend the one from the other, are left
quite alone. For the circumstance that the quantity of wheat, which Solomon supplied to
Hiram for his court, was just the same as that which he gave to the Sidonian workmen,
does not warrant our identifying the two accounts. The fellers of the trees also received
barley, wine, and oil in considerable quantities; whereas the only other thing which
Hiram received for his court was oil, and that not common oil, but the finest olive oil,
namely 20 cors of ‫ית‬ ִ‫ת‬ ָⅴ ‫ן‬ ֶ‫מ‬ ֶ‫,שׁ‬ i.e., beaten oil, the finest kind of oil, which was obtained from
the olives when not quite ripe by pounding them in mortars, and which had not only a
whiter colour, but also a purer flavour than the common oil obtained by pressing from
the ripe olives (cf. Celsii Hierobot. ii. pp. 349f., and Bähr, Symbolik, i. p. 419). Twenty
cors were 200 baths, i.e., according to the calculations of Thenius, about ten casks (1
cask = 6 pails; 1 pail = 72 cans). If we bear in mind that this was the finest kind of oil, we
cannot speak of disproportion to the quantity of wheat delivered. Thenius reckons that
20,000 cors of wheat were about 38,250 Dresden scheffeln (? sacks).
PETT, "1 Kings 5:8
‘And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have
sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning
timber of pine.”
Then he got down to the practicalities of the matter. The contract, like all oriental
contracts, was made in the most euphemistic of terms, terms which hid, with a layer
of generosity and bonhomie, the hard bargaining that ensued (compare Genesis 23).
‘I have heard the message that you have sent me and I will fulfil all your timber
requirements of both cedar and pine (as long, of course, as the price is right,
although we gentlemen do not discuss such things as price)’.
PULPIT, "And Hiram sent to Solomon [in writing, 2 Chronicles 2:11. It is
instructive to remember in connexion with this fact that, according to the universal
belief of antiquity, the use of letters, i.e; the art of writing, was communicated to the
Greeks by the Phoenicians. Gesenius, indeed, holds that the invention of letters is
also due to them. See the interesting remarks of Mr. Twisleton, Dict. Bib. 2. pp. 866-

51. 868], saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest unto me for [Heb.
heard the things (i.e; message) which thou sentest unto me]: and I will do all thy
desire concerning [Heb. in, i.e; as to] timber [or trees] of cedar [Heb. cedars] and
timber of fir [Heb. trees of cypresses. This is, perhaps, the proper place to inquire
what. trees are intended by the words ‫ז‬ ֶ‫ר‬ֶ‫,א‬ and ‫ְרושׁ‬‫בּ‬, here respectively translated"
cedar" and "fir." As to the first, it is impossible to restrict the word to the one
species (Pinus cedrus or Cedrus Libani) which is now known as the cedar of
Lebanon, or, indeed, to any single plant. That the Cedrus Libani, one of the most
magnificent of trees, is meant in such passages as Ezekiel 31:1-18 ; Psalms 92:12,
etc; admits of no manner of doubt. It is equally clear, however, that in other
passages the term "cedar" must refer to some other tree. In umbers 19:6, and Le
umbers 14:6, e.g; the juniper would seem to be meant. "The cedar could not have
been procured in the desert without great difficulty, but the juniper (Juniperus
oxycedrus) is most plentiful there." In Ezekiel 27:5, "they have taken cedars of
Lebanon to make masts for thee," it is probable that the Pinus Halepensis, not, as
was formerly thought, the Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris), is intended. The Cedrus
Libani appears to be indifferently adapted to any such purpose, for which, however,
the Pinus Halepensis is eminently fitted. But in the text, as throughout ch. 5-8; the
reference, it can hardly be doubted, is to the Cedrus Libani. It is true the wood of
this species is neither beautiful nor remarkably durable. Dr. Lindley calls it the
"worthless, though magnificent cedar," but the former adjective, however true it
may be of English-grown cedar, cannot justly be applied to the tree of the Lebanon
mountain. The writer has some wood in his possession, brought by him from the
Lebanon, and though it has neither fragrance nor veining, it is unmistakably a hard
and resinous wood. And it should be remembered that it was only employed by
Solomon in the interior of the temple, and was there, for the most part, overlaid
with gold, and that the climate of Palestine is much less destructive than our own.
There seems to be no sufficient reason, therefore, for rejecting the traditional and
till recently universal belief that the Cedrus Libani was the timber chosen for the
temple use. Mr. Houghton, in Smith's Dict. Bib; vol. 3. App. A. p. 40; who speaks of
it "as being κατ ἐξοχὴν, the firmest and grandest of the conifers," says at the same
time that "it has no particular quality to recommend it for building purposes; it was
probably therefore not very extensively used in the construction of the temple." But
no other tree can be suggested which better suits the conditions of the sacred
narrative. The deodara, which has found favour with some writers, it is now
positively stated, does not grow near the Lebanon. It may be added that, under the
name of Eres, the yew was probably included. The timber used in the palaces of
ineveh, which was long believed to be cedar, is now proved to be yew (Dict. Bib;
art. "Cedar"). However it is certain that ‫ז‬ ֶ‫ר‬ֶ‫א‬ is a nomen generale which includes, at
any rate, the pine, the cedar, and the juniper, in confirmation of which it may be
mentioned that at the present day, "the name arz is applied by the Arabs to all
three" (Royle, in Kitto's Cyclop; art. "Eres").
The Grove of Cedars now numbers about 450 trees, great and small. Of these about
a dozen are of prodigious size and considerable antiquity, possibly carrying us back
(as the natives think) to the time of Solomon. Their precise age, however, can only
be a matter of conjecture.

52. The identification of the "fir" is even more precarious than that of the cedar.
Celsius would see in this the true cedar of Lebanon. Others identify it with the
juniper (Juniperus excelsa) or with the Pinus Halepensis, but most writers (among
whom are Keil and Bähr) believe the evergreen cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) to
be intended. Very probably the name Berosh comprehended two or three different
species, as the cypress, the juniper, and the savine. The first named grows even near
the summits of the mountain. Bähr says it is inferior to cedar (but see above).
According to Winer, it is well fitted for building purposes, as" it is not eaten by
worms, and is almost imperishable and very light." It is certainly of a harder and
closer grain, and more durable than the Cedrus Libani.
It shows the brevity of our account that Solomon has not mentioned his desire for
"fir" as well as" cedar." This is disclosed in Hiram's reply, and in the parallel
passage of the chronicler. It is also to be noticed that in the text the request for
materials is more prominently brought to view, while in Chronicles the petition is
for workmen.
9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to
the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as
rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will
separate them and you can take them away. And
you are to grant my wish by providing food for
my royal household.”
BAR ES, "See the marginal reference. The timber was first carried westward from
the flanks of Lebanon to the nearest part of the coast, where it was collected into floats,
or rafts, which were then conveyed southward along the coast to Joppa, now Jaffa, from
where the land journey to Jerusalem was not more than about forty miles. A similar
course was taken on the building of the second temple Ezr_3:7.
Food for my household - The Phoenician cities had very little arable territory of
their own, the mountain range of Lebanon rising rapidly behind them; and they must
always have imported the chief part of their sustenance from abroad. They seem
commonly to have derived it from Judaea (marginal references). Hiram agreed now to
accept for his timber and for the services of his workmen 1Ki_5:6 a certain annual
payment of grain and oil, both of them the best of their kind, for the sustentation of his
court. This payment was entirely distinct from the supplies furnished to the workmen

53. (marginal reference “l”).
CLARKE, "Shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea - As the river
Adonis was in the vicinity of the forest of Lebanon, and emptied itself into the
Mediterranean sea, near Biblos, Hiram could transport the timber all squared, and not
only cut to scantling, but cut so as to occupy the place it was intended for in the building,
without any farther need of axe or saw. It might be readily sent down the coast on rafts
and landed at Joppa, or Jamnia, just opposite to Jerusalem, at the distance of about
twenty-five miles. See 2Ch_2:16. The carriage could not be great, as the timber was all
fitted for the building where it was hewn down. The materials had only to be put
together when they arrived at Jerusalem. See 1Ki_6:7.
GILL, "My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea,....
The Mediterranean sea, on which Tyre stood:
and I will convey them by sea in floats; which were either a sort of carriage for the
timber the Tyrians and Sidonians had, being furnished with various navigable vessels; or
these were the timber itself, and the planks of it, which being fastened together, were set
afloat under the direction of some boats with oars, of which they had plenty:
unto the place that thou shalt appoint me; which was Joppa, as appears from
2Ch_2:16; belonging to the land of Israel, in the same sea:
and will cause them to be discharged there; either to be unloaded from the
vessels, or to be unloosed and taken up separately:
and thou shalt receive them; by his servants appointed there to bring them to
Jerusalem, which was forty miles from Joppa:
and thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household;
signifying, that all that he desired in return was, that he would supply him with corn or
wheat, which he stood in need of, and his letter in Josephus (d) expresses; and we find in
later times this place was supplied with bread corn from Judea, see Ezr_3:7 Act_12:20.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:9. From Lebanon unto the sea — The Mediterranean sea, on
which his city stood. I will convey them — in floats — Or rafts. It is thought the
pieces of timber were tied together in the water, as now is usual, and so, by the help
of boats or ships, conveyed to the appointed place, which was at no great distance.
Unto the place thou shalt appoint me — Which was Joppa, a famous seaport in the
country of Israel, 2 Chronicles 2:16. Will cause them to be discharged there —
Hebrew, dispersed, or dissolved; which implies that they were tied together. In
giving food for my household — My family and court; which, most properly, is
called his household. Though they had plenty of money, being great merchants, yet
they wanted corn and other provisions: and in after times, it appears, they were
supported by provisions from Judea, Acts 12:20.

54. PETT, "Verse 9
“My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them
into rafts to go by sea to the place that you shall appoint me, and will cause them to
be broken up there, and you will receive them, and you will accomplish my desire, in
giving food for my household.”
Hiram’s ‘servants’ (in this case his timber experts, in combination with bearers, and
with his seamen) would bring the timber from the mountains of Lebanon to the sea,
and would then make them into rafts and tow them along the coast to the place that
Solomon appointed, and would break up the rafts of timber and deliver the timber
to Solomon and his workmen so that they could do what they liked with them. And
in return Solomon would provide payment in the form of large amounts of food for
Hiram’s whole court, his ‘household’. This did not simply mean that he would
expect food for his workers. It was a requirement for large quantities of grain and
pure beaten olive oil (a staple Israelite luxury export) which would be paid to Hiram
in exchange for what he had provided (possibly along with an agreement allowing
Hiram to purchase a number of Israelite cities and their environs as we shall see
later - 1 Kings 9:11-12).
ELLICOTT, "(9) Shall bring them.—The timber was to be carried down, or,
perhaps, let down on slides along the face of the mountain towards the sea, and
brought round by rafts to Joppa (2 Chronicles 2:16), to save the enormous cost and
difficulty of land carriage. The grant of “food for his household” in return (instead
of “hire”) brings out that which is recorded so many ages afterwards in Acts
12:20—that the country of the Tyrians was “nourished” by Palestine. The
commerce and wealth of the Tyrians collected a large population; the narrow slip of
land along the coast, backed by Lebanon, must have been, in any case, insufficient
to maintain them; and, moreover, all their energies were turned, not to agriculture,
but to seamanship. In the grand description in Ezekiel 27 of the imports of Tyre
from all parts of the world, Judah and Israel are named as supplying “wheat, and
honey, and oil, and balm.”
PULPIT, "1 Kings 5:9
My servants shall bring them [ o word in the Hebrew; "Timber of Cedar," etc;
must be supplied or understood from the preceding verse] down [It is generally a
steep descent from the cedar grove, and indeed all the Lebanon district, to the coast]
from Lebanon unto the sea [This must have been a great undertaking. The cedars
are ten hours distant from Tripoli, and the road must always have been a bad one.
To the writer it appeared to be the most rugged and dangerous road in Palestine. It
is possible that the timber was collected and floated at Gebal (Biblus. See note on 1
Kings 5:18). Beyrout, the present port of the Lebanon, is 27 hours distant via
Tripoli. But cedars would then, no doubt, be found nearer the sea. And the ancients
(as the stones of Baalbek, etc; prove) were not altogether deficient in mechanical

55. appliances. The transport of cedars to the Mediterranean would be an easy
undertaking compared with the carriage of them to ineveh, and we know from the
inscriptions that they were imported by the Assyrian kings] and I will convey them
by sea in floats [Heb. "I will make (or put) them rafts in the sea." This was the
primitive, as it was the obvious, way, of conveying timber, among Greeks and
Romans, as well as among Eastern races. The reader will probably have seen such
rafts on the Rhine or other river] unto the place which thou shalt appoint [Heb.
send] me [In 2 Chronicles 2:16, Hiram assumes that this place will be Joppa, now
Yafo, the port of Jerusalem, and 40 miles distant from the Holy City. The transport
over these 40 miles, also of most rugged and trying road, must have involved, if
possible, a still greater toil than that from Lebanon to the sea] and will cause them
to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish
[Heb. do, same word as in verse 8, and probably used designedly—"I will perform
thy desire.; and thou shalt perform my desire." There shall be a strict quid pro quo]
my desire, in giving food for my household [Hiram states in his reply in what shape
he would prefer the hire promised by Solomon (verse 6). The food for the royal
household must be carefully distinguished from the food given to the workmen (2
Chronicles 2:10). The fact that 20,000 ears of wheat formed a part of each has led to
their being confounded. It is noticeable that when the second temple was built, cedar
wood was again brought to Jerusalem, rid Joppa, in return for "meat and drink and
oil unto them of Zidon" (Ezra 3:7). The selection of food as the hire of his servants
by Hiram almost amounts to an undesigned coincidence. Their narrow strip of
cornland, between the roots of Lebanon and the coast—Phoenicia proper ("the
great plain of the city of Sidon," Josephus. Ant. 5.3, 1) is only 28 miles long, with an
average breadth of one mile-compelled the importation of corn and oil. Ezekiel
(Ezekiel 27:17) mentions wheat, honey, oil, and balm as exported from Palestine to
the markets of Tyre. It has been justly remarked that the fact that Phoenicia was
thus dependent upon Palestine for its breadstuffs explains the unbroken peace that
prevailed between the two countries.
10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with
all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted,
GILL, "So Hiram, gave Solomon cedar trees, and fir trees,.... Ordered his
servants to cut them down from Lebanon, and sent them to him in floats, which he
received:
according to all his desire; he had as many as he requested, and what he wanted.

56. JAMISO , "fir trees — rather, the cypress.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:10-11. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees — That is, he
agreed to give him all that he desired; but the trees were not yet cut down and
prepared. Twenty thousand measures of wheat — Each measure spoken of here is
supposed to contain six hundred and forty-eight pounds weight, so that the weight
of the wheat yearly given to Hiram was two millions one hundred and sixty
thousand pounds. Twenty measures of pure oil — In the parallel place, 2 Chronicles
2:10. it is twenty thousand baths of oil, which has the sanction of many of the
versions, and seems the most probable reading in this place; and so in 1 Kings 5:16,
instead of three hundred, it is six hundred in the Chronicles; a variation which it is
not easy to reconcile without supposing an error, most probably in this place, as the
Seventy give their authority to the reading in the Chronicles. But it is thought by
some that the place in Chronicles speaks of what was given to the workmen, who
had other things, there mentioned, besides, to support them in their labour; but that
this place speaks of what was given for the use of Hiram’s family. Thus gave
Solomon to Hiram year by year — Either for sustenance to the workmen during the
years wherein they were employed in cutting down or hewing of timber, or for the
yearly support of the king’s house during the said time. Thus, by the wise disposal
of Providence, one country has need of another, and is benefited by an other, that
there may be a mutual correspondence and dependence, to the glory of God our
common parent.
PETT, "1 Kings 5:10
‘So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of pine according to all his
desire.’
The contract having been agreed Hiram then supplied Solomon with all his timber
requirements, providing him with as much cedar and pine as he desired.
PULPIT, "So Hiram gave [Heb. kept giving, supplied] Solomon cedar trees and fir
[or cypress] trees, according to all his desire.
11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors
[b] of wheat as food for his household, in addition
to twenty thousand baths[c][d] of pressed olive oil.
Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after

57. year.
BAR ES, "The number of measures of wheat was considerably less than Solomon’s
own annual consumption, which exceeded 32,000 cors 1Ki_4:22; but the small amount
of twenty cors of oil, which seems at first sight scarcely to match with the 20,000 cors of
wheat, will not appear improbable, if we consider that the oil was to be” pure” - literally
“beaten” - i. e., oil extracted from the olives by pounding, and not by means of the press.
Year by year - i. e., during all the years that Solomon was engaged in building and
was helped by Hiram.
CLARKE, "And Solomon gave Hiram, etc. - The information in this verse of the
annual stipend paid to Hiram, is deficient, and must be supplied out of 2Ch_2:10. Here
twenty thousand measures of wheat, and twenty measures of pure oil, is all that is
promised: there, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, twenty thousand measures
of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil, is the
stipulation; unless we suppose the first to be for Hiram’s own family, the latter for his
workmen. Instead of twenty measures of oil, the Syriac, Arabic, and Septuagint, have
twenty thousand measures, as in Chronicles. In 2 Chron., instead of cors of oil, it is
baths. The bath was a measure much less than the cor.
GILL, "And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for
food to his household,.... This measure was the Hebrew measure "cor", or "corus",
and, according to Bishop Cumberland (e), its contents were 17,477 solid inches; it was
equal to ten ephahs, each of which held two gallons and an half, and the cor held seventy
five wine gallons five pints, and somewhat more; according to some (f), what it held was
equal to six hundred forty eight Roman pounds; so that twenty thousand of them
contained 12,960,000 pounds of wheat:
and twenty measures of pure oil; squeezed out of the olives without breaking them;
the same kind of measure is here expressed as before, and the quantity answered to
12,960 Roman pounds; another writer (g) reckons a cor to contain 1080 Roman pounds;
so that Hiram had every year 21,600 pounds of oil. In 2Ch_2:10, it is twenty thousand
baths of oil now not to take notice that the measures are different, a bath was but the
tenth part of a cor, reference is had to different things; here the writer relates what was
given to Hiram for his own family, there what was given to the workmen, where several
other things are mentioned besides these:
thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year: so long as the building lasted, and the
workmen were employed; but Abarbinel thinks that he gave it to him as long as he lived,
out of his great munificence and liberality.

58. JAMISO , "food to his household — This was an annual supply for the palace,
different from that mentioned in 2Ch_2:10, which was for the workmen in the forests.
COKE, "1 Kings 5:11. Twenty measures of pure oil— In the parallel place, 2
Chronicles 2:10 it is twenty thousand baths of oil, which has the sanction of many of
the versions, and seems the most probable reading in this place: and so in the 16th
verse, instead of three hundred, it is six hundred in the Chronicles; to which reading
the LXX give their authority.
PETT, "1 Kings 5:11
‘And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food for his
household, and twenty measures of pure oil. Thus did Solomon give to Hiram year
by year.’
And in return Solomon gave Hiram ‘twenty thousand measures (cors) of wheat for
food for his household, and twenty measures (cors) of pure oil’ each year over a
number of years. The number of years was possibly determined by the number of
years in which Solomon required assistance, that is, for the length of time that it
took to build the Temple, and possibly the palace. A ‘cor’ is 220 litres.
We should not confuse these figures with the figures in 2 Chronicles 2:10 which
were given once for all and were specifically for the workforce, ‘the hewers who cut
timber
ELLICOTT, "(11) Twenty thousand measures of wheat.—This agrees well enough
with the calculation in 1 Kings 4:22 of ninety measures a day—something over
32,000 a year—for Solomon’s Court, presumably greater than that of Hiram. But
the “twenty measures of oil “—even of the pure refined oil—is so insignificant in
comparison, that it seems best to adopt the Greek reading here (agreeing with 2
Chronicles 2:10, and with Josephus) of 20,000 baths, or 2,000 cors, of oil.
PULPIT, "1 Kings 5:11
And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures [Heb. cots. See 1 Kings 4:22]
of wheat for food [ ‫מכלת‬ for ‫]מאכלת‬ to his household [Rawlinson remarks that this
was much less than Solomon's own consumption (1 Kings 4:22). But he did not
undertake to feed Hiram's entire court, but merely to make an adequate return for
the timber and labour he received. And the consumption of fine flour in Solomon's
household was only about 11,000 cors per annum] and twenty measures of pure oil
[lit; beaten oil, i.e; such as was obtained by pounding the olives, when not quite ripe,
in a mortar. This was both of whiter colour and purer flavour, and also gave a
clearer light, than that furnished by the ripe olives in the press. See the authorities
quoted in Bähr's Symbolik, 1. p. 419]: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year

59. [probably so long as the building lasted or timber was furnished. But the agreement
may have been for a still longer period.]
12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had
promised him. There were peaceful relations
between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them
made a treaty.
BAR ES, "The Lord gave Solomon wisdom - It seems to be implied that
Solomon’s divine gift of wisdom enabled him to make such favorable arrangements with
Hiram.
GILL, "And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him,.... Which,
among other things, appeared in his preparations for building the temple, and in his
agreements with Hiram for timber and workmen for that purpose and by continuing and
confirming friendship between himself and Hiram, who was so serviceable to him:
and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a
league together; in order to continue and establish peace and friendship between
them, which Solomon might lawfully do, the Tyrians being no part of the seven nations
with whom alliances were forbidden.
K&D, "1Ki_5:12
The remark that “the Lord gave Solomon wisdom” refers not merely to the treaty
which Solomon made with Hiram, through which he obtained materials and skilled
workmen for the erection of the house of God (Thenius), but also to the wise use which
he made of the capacities of his own subjects for this work. For this verse not only brings
to a close the section relating to Solomon's negotiations with Hiram, but it also forms an
introduction to the following verses, in which the intimation given by Solomon in 1Ki_
5:6, concerning the labourers who were to fell wood upon Lebanon in company with
Hiram's men, is more minutely defined.
COKE, "1 Kings 5:12. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, &c.— There
can be no reason why any Christian prince may not make a league and peace with
the Great Turk, Mogul, or the Tartar, as well as David and Solomon did with
Hiram; the latter of whom renewed the same league that his father had made,

60. according to the wisdom which God had given him. And, no doubt, the elements of
the Christian religion advise and enjoin a peace with all men; that is, to refrain from
and avoid all acts of hostility with all the world, who will live peaceably with us, as
the best, if not the only way to propagate the true religion, and all manner of truth;
and it is very strange, that they who do believe that the conscience cannot be
compelled by war or violence, can believe that there are any people in the world
with whom we should not preserve peace; except they think that there are men
whom God has so reprobated, that he would by no means have them drawn from
their error, and instructed in the knowledge of him; and that those men are to beget
others of the same infidelity to the end of the world; a conclusion, which, how
inevitably soever it must follow from such propositions, no man is arrived at the
madness and wickedness to avow.
PETT, "1 Kings 5:12
‘And YHWH gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him, and there was peace (or
‘concord’) between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together.’
But the greatest gift was seen by the writer as coming from YHWH. He it was who
gave Solomon wisdom as He had promised him, and part of that wisdom consisted
in his political and negotiating ability which resulted in peace and concord between
the two great countries and a firm treaty between them. By this time Tyre and Sidon
were becoming even more important because they were beginning to rule the waves
and trade far and wide by sea (see for example Isaiah 23:8). ‘Peace’ might be better
translated as ‘concord’.
PULPIT, "And the Lord gave [Can there be any reference to the repeated "gave" of
the two preceding verses?] to Solomon wisdom, as he promised him (1 Kings 3:12)
and there was peace [one fruit of the gift. Cf. James 3:17] between Hiram and
Solomon, and they two made a league together [Heb. "cut a covenant." Cf. ὅρκια
τέµνειν. Covenants were ratified by the slaughter of victims, between the parts of
which the contracting parties passed (Genesis 15:18; Jeremiah 34:8, Jeremiah 34:18,
Jeremiah 34:19). Similarly σπονδή, "libation," in the plural, means "league, truce,"
and σπονδὰς τέµνειν is found in classic Greek.]
13 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all
Israel—thirty thousand men.

61. BAR ES, "A levy out of all Israel - This was, apparently, the first time that the
Israelites had been called upon to perform forced labor, though it had been prophesied
1Sa_8:16. David had bound to forced service “the strangers” 1Ch_22:2; but hitherto the
Israelites had escaped. Solomon now, in connection with his proposed work of building
the temple, with the honor of God as an excuse, laid this burden upon them. Out of the
1,300, 000 able-bodied Israelites 2Sa_24:9, a band of 30,000 - one in forty-four - was
raised, of whom one-third was constantly at work in Lebanon, while two-thirds
remained at home, and pursued their usual occupations. This, though a very light form
of task work, was felt as a great oppression, and was the chief cause of the revolt of the
ten tribes at Solomon’s death 1Ki_12:4.
CLARKE, "The levy was thirty thousand men - We find from the following
verse that only ten thousand were employed at once, and those only for one month at a
time; and having rested two months, they again resumed their labor. These were the
persons over whom Adoniram was superintendent, and were all Israelites.
GILL, "And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel,.... Not of money, but of
men, as follows:
and the levy was thirty thousand men; for what purpose, and how they were
employed, 1Ki_5:14 shows.
JAMISO , "1Ki_5:13-18. Solomon’s workmen and laborers.
Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel — The renewed notice of Solomon’s divine
gift of wisdom (1Ki_5:12) is evidently introduced to prepare for this record of the strong
but prudent measures he took towards the accomplishment of his work. So great a
stretch of arbitrary power as is implied in this compulsory levy would have raised great
discontent, if not opposition, had not his wise arrangement of letting the laborers
remain at home two months out of three, added to the sacredness of the work,
reconciled the people to this forced labor. The carrying of burdens and the irksome work
of excavating the quarries was assigned to the remnant of the Canaanites (1Ki_9:20;
2Ch_8:7-9) and war prisoners made by David - amounting to 153,600. The employment
of persons of that condition in Eastern countries for carrying on any public work, would
make this part of the arrangements the less thought of.
K&D 13-14, "The tributary labourers out of Israel. - 1Ki_5:13, 1Ki_5:14. Solomon
raised a tribute (‫ס‬ ַ‫,מ‬ tribute-labourers, as in 1Ki_4:6) out of all Israel, i.e., out of the
whole nation (not “out of the whole territory of Israel,” as Ewald supposes), 30,000
men, and sent them up to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in rotation; one month they were on
Lebanon (doing tribute work), two months at home (looking after the cultivation of their
own ground). ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ַ ַ‫,ו‬ from ‫ה‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֱ‫ע‬ ֶ‫,ה‬ does not mean in tabulas referre, in support of which
appeal is made to 1Ch_27:24, though on insufficient ground, but ascendere fecit,

62. corresponding to the German ausheben (to raise). He raised them out of the nation, to
send the up Lebanon (cf. 1Ki_9:25). These 30,000 Israelitish labourers must be
distinguished from the remnants of the Canaanites who were made into tribute-slaves
(1Ki_5:15 and 1Ki_9:20). The latter are called ‫ד‬ ֵ‫ּב‬‫ע‬ ‫ס‬ ַ‫,מ‬ tribute-slaves, in 1Ki_9:21 as in
Jos_16:10. That the Israelites were not to render the service of bondsmen is evident
from the fact, that they only rendered tribute for four months of the year, and were at
home for eight months; and the use of the epithet ‫ס‬ ַ‫מ‬ is not at variance with this. For
even if this word is applied elsewhere to the Canaanitish bondsmen (e.g., Jos_17:13;
Jdg_1:28, Jdg_1:30, and 2Ch_8:8), a distinction is decidedly made in our account of
Solomon between ‫ס‬ ַ‫מ‬ and ‫ד‬ ֵ‫ּב‬‫ע‬ ‫ס‬ ַ‫,מ‬ inasmuch as in 1Ki_9:22, after the Canaanitish
bondsmen have been mentioned, it is expressly stated that “of Israel Solomon made no
one a slave” (‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ָ‫ג‬ ֲ‫.)ע‬ The 30,000 Israelitish tribute-servants are “to be thought of as free
Israelites, who simply performed the less severe work of felling trees in fellowship with
and under the direction of the subjects of Hiram _(see at 1Ki_5:6), according to the
command of the king, and probably not even that without remuneration” (Thenius). For
Adoniram see at 1Ki_4:6.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:13. Solomon raised a levy — Which were to be employed in
the most honourable and easy parts of the work relating to the temple, in the
manner expressed 1 Kings 5:14; and these were Israelites; but those one hundred
and fifty thousand mentioned 1 Kings 5:15 were strangers. if it seem strange that so
many thousands should be employed about so small a building as the temple was, it
must be considered, 1st, That the temple, all its parts being considered, was far
larger than men imagine: 2d, That it is probable they were employed by turns, as
the thirty thousand were, (1 Kings 5:13,) else they had been oppressed with hard
and uninterrupted labours: 3d, That the timber and stone hewed and carried by
them were designed, not only for the temple, but also for Solomon’s own houses and
buildings; because we read of no other levy of men, nor of any care and pains taken,
after the building of the temple, for the procurement or preparation of materials for
his own houses, or his other buildings; nay, that this very levy of men was made and
employed for the building of the Lord’s house, and Solomon’s house, and Millo, and
the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer, is expressed chap. 1
Kings 9:15.
COFFMA , "Here is a summary of the manpower required to build Solomon's
Temple, the great burden of which was discharged by 150,000 slaves, who were
remnants of the Canaanites whom Israel had enslaved rather than exterminating
them as God had commanded. (See our commentary on Judges and Ruth for a full
discussion of this shameful action on the part of Israel. (pp. 10-22).)
"Solomon raised a levy ... of thirty thousand men from all Israel" (1 Kings 5:13). All
of these were able-bodied citizens of Israel who were thus conscripted for forced
labor for a total of one fourth of each year! It should be remembered also, in this
connection, that they no doubt bore the full share of the enormous tax burden in

63. addition. Some have supposed that Solomon remunerated these men; but there is
not a word in the text that supports such an improbable notion. Solomon referred to
all of them contemptuously as "my servants." This type of forced labor had first
been introduced in Israel by David (2 Samuel 20:24); but, as was also the case in the
harem which David introduced, Solomon's excessive indulgence in both outstripped
anything ever contemplated by David.
Regarding the forced labor on the part of the Israelites, Cook noted that, "They felt
that this was a great oppression, and it was the chief cause of the revolt of the ten
northern tribes following Solomon's death."[8]
"Adoniram was over the men subject to taskwork" (1 Kings 5:14). "The man thus
placed over the levy was the same as Adoram (so-called in the days of David); and
he came to be thoroughly detested in Israel (1 Kings 12:18)."[9]
We should not be particularly concerned with the variations in the numbers given
for the supervisors in 2 Chronicles 2:17 as contrasted with here. "The total number
in both accounts terminates at exactly 3,850; and the variations may be accounted
for by the different classifications."[10]
"And (they) prepared the timber and the stones to build the house" (1 Kings 5:18).
The foundation stones for Solomon's Temple have been the marvel of all who ever
saw them. "Those great beveled or grooved stones, measuring twenty or thirty feet
in length, and from five to six feet in breadth, may still be seen in the substructure of
the ancient site of the Temple; and, in the judgment of the most competent
observers, are actually the original stones employed by Solomon's workers `to lay
the foundation of the house.'"[11]
PETT, "1 Kings 5:13
‘And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand
men.’
For the purpose of building the Temple Solomon raised a compulsory levy from
Israel itself. This levy on Israel was probably seen as necessary in order that the
work might not be done by ‘profane’ Canaanite hands, the Sidonian contribution
being seen as not quite in the same category because it could be looked at as part of
the purchase of the timber and they would not be seen as ‘Canaanites’. Canaanites
were seen as off limits (Deuteronomy 23:1-2; Exodus 23:23 and often). The levy
consisted of thirty large work units.
Alternately it may have been due to the fear that Canaanite bondsmen sent to Tyre
and Sidon may not have chosen to return to Israel, and may have found it easy to
escape from there.
ELLICOTT, "(13) Levy out of all Israel.—This, though far from being onerous,
appears to have been at this time exceptional. For in 1 Kings 9:22 we read that “of

64. the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war,
and his servants, and his princes, and his captains.” Thus exceptionally introduced
at first for the special service of God, it may have been the beginning of what was
hereafter an oppressive despotism over the Israelites themselves. Probably even now
the Israelite labourers were (under the chief officers) put in authority over the great
mass of 150,000 bondmen, evidently drawn from the native races. (See 2 Chronicles
2:17.) But the whole description suggests to us—what the history of Exodus, the
monuments of Egypt, and the description by Herodotus of the building of the
Pyramids confirm—the vast sacrifice of human labour and life, at which (in the
absence of machinery to spare labour) the great monuments of ancient splendour
were reared.
PARKER 13-14, ""And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy
was thirty thousand men." ( 1 Kings 5:13)
In vain had Hiram responded in the language of generous sympathy if Israel itself
had been a divided people. This must be the condition of the Church as a great
working body in the world. It will be in vain that poetry, history, literature, music,
and things which apparently lie outside the line of spiritual activity, send in their
offers, tributes, and contributions, each according to its own kind, if the Church to
which the offer is made is a divided and self-destroying body. When all Israel is one,
the contributions of Tyre will be received with thankfulness and be turned to their
highest uses. When the Church meets in one place with one accord, then there will
come a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind; but that sound of blessing
and inspiration will never come to a Church that is torn by intestinal strife.
A beautiful picture is given in verse fourteen:
"And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they
were in Lebanon, and two months at home." ( 1 Kings 5:14)
The picture represents the difference between cutting down and setting up; in other
words, the difference between destruction and construction. It was easier to cut
down than it was to build up. Enough could be cut down in one month to require
two months for the putting of it together in architectural form. The two operations
should always go on together. The business of the Church is to pull down, and to
build up; even to use the materials of the enemy in building up the temple of the
living God. The picture has an evident relation to the ease with which men can pull
down faith and darken hope and unsettle confidence. What can be easier than to fell
a tree which has required centuries in which to perfect its strength and beauty?
Who could not in one hour, having made proper preparation, blow to pieces the
finest fabric ever reared by the genius of man? Who could not by one blow destroy a
picture painted by the hand of the greatest master? The picture also shows us the
beautiful idea of foreign labour and home service being united in the same men.
Thus the work of foreign missions should help the work of missions at home. Every
idolatry that is thrown down abroad should be turned into a contribution for the

65. upbuilding and strengthening of the Church at home. Sometimes there is greater
difficulty at home than there is on the distant mountains or in the provinces of a
foreign king. The Christian, turning all these historical instances to their highest
spiritual uses, should know himself to be bound to destroy and to create, to tear up
and to plant, and to conduct generally the double and contradictory work of
uprooting error and planting the vine of heavenly truth.
GUZIK, "B. Solomon’s labor force.
1. (1 Kings 5:13-14) The labor force of freemen.
Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was
thirty thousand men. 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.
a. The labor force was thirty thousand men: This huge labor force shows that
temple could only be built when Israel could afford the manpower and the
materials. It could only be built under the peace and prosperity won by David and
enjoyed by Solomon.
b. Adoniram was in charge of the labor force: Solomon’s wisdom was evident in the
way he employed this great workforce. First, he wisely delegated responsibility to
men like Adoniram. Second, instead of making the Israelites work constantly away
from Israel and home, he worked them in shifts.
PULPIT, "And King Solomon raised a levy [Marg; tribute of men, i.e; conscription]
out of all Israel [i.e; the people, not the land—Ewald] and the levy was thirty
thousand men. [That is, if we may trust the figures of the census given in 2 Samuel
24:9 (which do not agree, however, with those of 1 Chronicles 21:5), the conscription
only affected one in forty of the male population. But even the lower estimate of
Samuel is regarded with some suspicion. Such a levy was predicted (1 Samuel 8:16).
14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten
thousand a month, so that they spent one month
in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram
was in charge of the forced labor.

66. GILL, "And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses,.... In
their turns; these are the servants of his he proposed to be with Hiram's servants,
assisting in cutting down the trees, and squaring the timber in Lebanon, 1Ki_5:6;
a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; that they might not
be overworked; for they wrought but four months in the year in the hard service in
Lebanon, the rest of their time was spent in managing their domestic affairs; these were
Israelites:
and Adoniram was over the levy: the same that was over the tribute or the
collectors of the tax, 1Ki_4:6; and, according to the Targum, these were such persons.
PETT, "1 Kings 5:14
‘And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were
in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to
taskwork.’
Each group of ten work units would spend one month working in the Lebanon, and
two months back at their homes. They were thus very much not seen as slave labour,
which would have been required to work permanently, and Solomon (like any
politician who did not have to get his hands dirty) probably thought that they
should feel privileged to be doing such work. They were, however, under
Adoniram’s control and, as we know from what happened later, he was not very
much admired as a result of the way in which he treated them. In those days under
such circumstances being whipped was normal (1 Kings 12:4; 1 Kings 12:11; 1
Kings 12:18), even though it is very possible that they were working as paid
labourers.
PULPIT, "And he sent them to Lebanon ten thousand a month, by courses [Heb.
changes]: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home [they had to
serve, that is to say, four months out of the twelve—no very great hardship], and
Adoniram [see on 1 Kings 4:6; 1 Kings 12:18] was over the levy.
15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and
eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills,

67. BAR ES, "That bare burdens ... - Compare the marginal references. These
laborers, whose services were continuous, consisted of “strangers” - “the people that
were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites” - whom Solomon,
following the example of his father 1Ch_22:2, condemned to slavery, and employed in
this way.
CLARKE, "Threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens - These were all
strangers, or proselytes, dwelling among the Israelites; as we learn from the parallel
place, 2Ch_2:17, 2Ch_2:18.
GILL, "And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens,....
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
2Ch_2:17; according to Jacob Leon (g), the number of workmen at the temple for seven
years was 163,600, and some make them more.
K&D, "And Solomon had 70,000 bearers of burdens and 80,000 hewers of stone on
the mountains (of Lebanon). ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ּצ‬‫ח‬ is understood by the older translators as referring
simply to hewers of stone. This is favoured both by the context, since 1Ki_5:18 speaks of
stone-mason's work, and also by the usage of the language, inasmuch as ‫ב‬ ַ‫צ‬ ָ‫ח‬ is mostly
applied to the quarrying and cutting of stones (Deu_6:11; Isa_5:2; Pro_9:1; 2Ki_12:13),
and only occurs in Isa_10:15 in connection with the cutting of wood. The hewing and
preparing of the wood were amply provided for by 30,000 Israelites. That the 150,000
bearers of burdens and hewers of stone were not taken from the Israelites, is evident
from the fact that they are distinguished from the latter, or at all events are not
described as Israelites. We obtain certainty on this point from the parallel passages, 1Ki_
9:20-21; 2Ch_2:16-17, and 2Ch_8:1-9, according to which Solomon pressed the
Canaanites who were left in the land to this bond-service.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:15-16. That bare burdens — amely, porters, carters,
seamen, and such like. Fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains — That is,
hewers of stone, for timber was hewed by Hiram’s servants in Lebanon. Officers
over the work three thousand three hundred — Whereof three thousand were set
over the one hundred and fifty thousand mentioned 1 Kings 5:15, each of these over
fifty of them, and the odd three hundred were set over these three thousand; each of
them to have the oversight of ten, to take an account of the work from them. But in

68. 2 Chronicles 2:18, these overseers are said to be three thousand six hundred. The
three hundred added in 2 Chronicles 2. might be a reserve to supply the places of
the other three thousand; yea, or of the three thousand six hundred, as any of them
should be taken off from the work by death, or sickness, or weakness, or any
necessary occasion; which was a prudent provision, and not unusual in like cases.
And so there were three thousand six hundred commissioned for the work, but only
three thousand three hundred employed at one time; and therefore both
computations fairly stand together.
PETT, "1 Kings 5:15-16
‘And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand who bore burdens, and fourscore
thousand who were hewers in the mountains, besides Solomon’s chief officers who
were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule over the
people who wrought in the work.’
As well as these thirty work units working in Lebanon there were seventy work
units who ‘bore burdens’ (were shifters and carriers), and eighty work units of
quarrymen. These were Canaanite bond-slaves (compare 2 Chronicles 2:17-18).
Over all these were the general Canaanite overseers who were directly supervising
the work, who numbered three thousand three hundred, a figure which seemingly
excluded three hundred senior Canaanite overseers who were included in the figure
of three thousand six hundred in 2 Chronicles 2:2. In Kings these were rather
included in the figure of five hundred and fifty chief overseers mentioned in 1 Kings
9:23, which was made up of three hundred chief Canaanite overseers plus two
hundred and fifty chief Israelite overseers (2 Chronicles 8:10). The numbers all tie
in once we recognise that each writer was selecting different statistics and referring
to different levels.
Alternately we may see three levels of ‘chief officers’, the three thousand three
hundred who directly supervised the workers, the three hundred who supervised
the supervisors, and the two hundred and fifty who were the overall supervisors.
ote that all the ‘numbers’ are round numbers, and are significant numbers, ‘three’
indicating completeness, ‘seven’ indicating divine perfection, and ‘eight’ signifying
the new springing out of the old (compare the eight people in the Ark and the
circumcision on the eighth day). They were intended to give the impression of the
completely satisfactory nature of the work force at work on the Temple rather than
as indicating the exact actual size of the workforce.
GUZIK, "2. (1 Kings 5:15-18) The labor force of slaves.
Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who
quarried stone in the mountains, besides three thousand three hundred from the
chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work.
And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn
stones, to lay the foundation of the temple. So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders,

69. and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the
temple.
a. Seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone:
This seems to describe the number of Canaanite slave laborers that Solomon used.
i. Ginzberg relates some of the legends surrounding the building of the temple.
“During the seven years it took to build the Temple, not a single workman died who
was employed about it, nor even did a single one fall sick. And as the workmen were
sound and robust from first to last, so the perfection of their tools remained
unimpaired until the building stood complete. Thus the work suffered no sort of
interruption.” (Ginzberg)
b. Besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon’s deputies: This
was the “middle management” team administrating the work of building the temple.
c. Costly stones: This is literally “quality stones,” showing that Solomon used high
quality materials even in the foundation where the stones could not be seen.
i. This speaks to the way we should work for God. We don’t work for appearance
only, but also to excel in the deep and hidden things. “I want, dear friends, to urge
that all our work for God should be done thoroughly, and especially that part of it
which lies lowest, and is least observed of men.” (Spurgeon)
ii. This speaks to the way God works in us. He works in the deep and hidden things
when others are concerned with mere appearances. “We have been the subjects of a
great deal of secret, unseen, underground work. The LORD has spent upon us a
world of care. My brother, you would not like to unveil those great searchings of
heart of which you have been the subject. You have been honored in public; and, if
so, you have had many a whipping behind the door lest you should glory in your
flesh . . . All those chastenings, humblings, and searchings of heart have been a
private laying of foundations for higher things.” (Spurgeon)
iii. This speaks to the way God builds the church. He wants to do a work of deep,
strong foundations instead of a work a mile wide but an inch deep. “ To maintain
solid truth you need solid people. Vital godliness is therefore to be aimed at. Twenty
thousand people, all merely professing faith, but having no energetic life, may not
have grace enough among them to make twenty solid believers. Poor, sickly
believers turn the church into an hospital, rather than a camp.” (Spurgeon)
d. The Gebalites quarried them: “Some suppose that these Giblites were the
inhabitants of Biblos, at the foot of Mount Libanus, northward of Sidon, on the
coast of the Mediterranean Sea.” (Clarke)
PULPIT, "And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and
fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains. [These 150,000, destined for the more

70. laborious and menial works, were not Israelites, but Canaanites. We learn from 2
Chronicles 2:17, 2 Chronicles 2:18 that "all the strangers that were in the land of
Israel" were subjected to forced labour by Solomon—there were, that is to say, but
150,000 of them remaining. They occupied a very different position from that of the
30,000 Hebrews. one of the latter were reduced to bondage (1 Kings 9:22), while
the former had long been employed in servile work. The Gibeonites were reduced to
serfdom by Joshua (Joshua 9:27), and the rest of the Canaanites as they were
conquered (Joshua 6:10; Joshua 17:13; 1:29, 1:30). In 1 Chronicles 22:2, we find
some of them employed on public works by David. By the "hewers" many
commentators have supposed that stonecutters alone are intended (so Jos; Ant; 1
Chronicles 8:2. 9) partly because stone is mentioned presently, and partly because
‫ַב‬‫צ‬ָ‫ח‬ is mostly used of the quarrying or cutting of stone, as in Deuteronomy 6:11;
Deuteronomy 8:9; 2 Kings 12:12, etc. Gesenius understands the word both of stone
and wood cutters. But is it not probable that the latter alone are indicated? That the
word is sometimes used of woodcutting Isaiah 10:15 shows. And the words, "in the
mountain" ( ‫ָר‬‫ה‬ָ‫בּ‬ ) almost compel us so to understand it here. "The mountain" must
be Lebanon. But surely the stone was not transported, to any great extent, like the
wood, so great a distance over land and sea, especially when it abounded on the
spot. It is true the number of wood cutters would thus appear to be very great, but it
is to be remembered how few comparatively were the appliances or machines of
those days: almost everything must be done by manual labour. And Pliny tells us
that no less than 360,000 men were employed for twenty years on one of the
pyramids. It is possible, however, that the huge foundations mentioned below
(Isaiah 10:17) were brought from Lebanon.]
16 as well as thirty-three hundred[e] foremen
who supervised the project and directed the
workers.
BAR ES, "Comparing this verse and 1Ki_9:23 with 2Ch_2:18; 2Ch_8:10, the entire
number of the overseers will be seen to be stated by both writers at 3,850; but in the one
case nationality, in the other degree of authority, is made the principle of the division.
CLARKE, "Besides - three thousand and three hundred which ruled over
the people - In the parallel place, 2Ch_2:18, it is three thousand six hundred. The

71. Septuagint has here the same number.
GILL, "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 2Ch_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 (h) observes there were 3300 master workmen, and
three hundred commanders over them all.
JAMISO , "“Beside (‫ד‬ ַ‫ב‬ ְ‫,)ל‬ i.e., without reckoning, the princes, Solomon's officers,
who were over the work (i.e., the chiefs appointed by Solomon as overlookers of the
work), 3300, who ruled over the people who laboured at the work.” ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ ַ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫,שׂ‬ as
Thenius correctly observes, cannot be the chief of the overlookers, i.e., the head
inspectors, as there is no allusion made to subordinate inspectors, and the number given
is much too large for head inspectors. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ‫,נ‬ which is governed by ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ in the construct
state, is to be taken as defining the substantive: principes qui praefecti erant (Vatabl.; cf.
Ewald, §287, a.). Moreover, at the close of the account of the whole of Solomon's
buildings (1Ki_9:23), 550 more ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ ַ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ are mentioned as presiding over the people
who did the work. The accounts in the Chronicles differ from these in a very peculiar
manner, the number of overseers being given in 2Ch_2:17 and 3600, and in 2Ch_8:10 as
250. Now, however natural it may be, with the multiplicity of errors occurring in
numerical statements, to assume that these differences have arisen from copyists' errors
through the confounding together of numerical letters resembling one another, this
explanation is overthrown as an improbable one, by the fact that the sum-total of the
overseers is the same in both accounts (3300 + 550 = 3850 in the books of Kings, and
3600 + 250 = 3850 in the Chronicles); and we must therefore follow J. H. Michaelis, an
explain the differences as resulting from a different method of classification, namely,
from the fact that in the Chronicles. the Canaanitish overseers are distinguished from
the Israelitish (viz., 3600 Canaanites and 250 Israelites), whereas in the books of Kings
the inferiores et superiores praefecti are distinguished. Consequently Solomon had
3300 inferior overseers and 550 superior (or superintendents), of whom 250 were
selected from the Israelites and 300 from the Canaanites. In 2Ch_2:16-17, it is expressly
stated that the 3600 were taken from the ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ֵ, i.e., the Canaanites who were left in the
land of Israel. And it is equally certain that the number given in 1Ki_9:23 and 2Ch_8:10
(550 and 250) simply comprises the superintendents over the whole body of builders,
notwithstanding the fact that in both passages (1Ki_5:16 and 1Ki_9:23) the same epithet
‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ ַ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ is used. If, then, the number of overseers is given in 1Ki_9:23 and 550, i.e.,
300 more than in the parallel passage of the Chronicles, there can hardly be any doubt
that the number 550 includes the 300, in which the number given in our chapter falls
short of that in the Chronicles, and that in the 3300 of our chapter the superintendents

72. of Canaanitish descent are not included.
(Note: Ewald (Gesch. iii. p. 292) assumes that “by the 550 (1Ki_9:23) we are to
understand the actual superintendents, whereas the 3300 (1Ki_5:13) include inferior
inspectors as well; and of the 550 superintendents, 300 were taken from the
Canaanaeans, so that only 250 (2Ch_8:10) were native Hebrews;” though he
pronounces the number 3600 (2Ch_2:17) erroneous. Bertheau, on the other hand, in
his notes in 2Ch_8:10, has rather complicated than elucidated the relation in which
the two accounts stand to one another.)
K&D, "“Beside (‫ד‬ ַ‫ב‬ ְ‫,)ל‬ i.e., without reckoning, the princes, Solomon's officers, who
were over the work (i.e., the chiefs appointed by Solomon as overlookers of the work),
3300, who ruled over the people who laboured at the work.” ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ ַ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫,שׂ‬ as Thenius
correctly observes, cannot be the chief of the overlookers, i.e., the head inspectors, as
there is no allusion made to subordinate inspectors, and the number given is much too
large for head inspectors. ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ‫,נ‬ which is governed by ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ in the construct state, is to be
taken as defining the substantive: principes qui praefecti erant (Vatabl.; cf. Ewald, §287,
a.). Moreover, at the close of the account of the whole of Solomon's buildings (1Ki_
9:23), 550 more ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ ַ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ are mentioned as presiding over the people who did the work.
The accounts in the Chronicles differ from these in a very peculiar manner, the number
of overseers being given in 2Ch_2:17 and 3600, and in 2Ch_8:10 as 250. Now, however
natural it may be, with the multiplicity of errors occurring in numerical statements, to
assume that these differences have arisen from copyists' errors through the confounding
together of numerical letters resembling one another, this explanation is overthrown as
an improbable one, by the fact that the sum-total of the overseers is the same in both
accounts (3300 + 550 = 3850 in the books of Kings, and 3600 + 250 = 3850 in the
Chronicles); and we must therefore follow J. H. Michaelis, an explain the differences as
resulting from a different method of classification, namely, from the fact that in the
Chronicles. the Canaanitish overseers are distinguished from the Israelitish (viz., 3600
Canaanites and 250 Israelites), whereas in the books of Kings the inferiores et
superiores praefecti are distinguished. Consequently Solomon had 3300 inferior
overseers and 550 superior (or superintendents), of whom 250 were selected from the
Israelites and 300 from the Canaanites. In 2Ch_2:16-17, it is expressly stated that the
3600 were taken from the ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ֵ, i.e., the Canaanites who were left in the land of Israel.
And it is equally certain that the number given in 1Ki_9:23 and 2Ch_8:10 (550 and 250)
simply comprises the superintendents over the whole body of builders, notwithstanding
the fact that in both passages (1Ki_5:16 and 1Ki_9:23) the same epithet ‫ים‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ ִ ַ‫ה‬ ‫י‬ ֵ‫ר‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ is
used. If, then, the number of overseers is given in 1Ki_9:23 and 550, i.e., 300 more than
in the parallel passage of the Chronicles, there can hardly be any doubt that the number
550 includes the 300, in which the number given in our chapter falls short of that in the
Chronicles, and that in the 3300 of our chapter the superintendents of Canaanitish
descent are not included.
(Note: Ewald (Gesch. iii. p. 292) assumes that “by the 550 (1Ki_9:23) we are to
understand the actual superintendents, whereas the 3300 (1Ki_5:13) include inferior
inspectors as well; and of the 550 superintendents, 300 were taken from the
Canaanaeans, so that only 250 (2Ch_8:10) were native Hebrews;” though he
pronounces the number 3600 (2Ch_2:17) erroneous. Bertheau, on the other hand, in

73. his notes in 2Ch_8:10, has rather complicated than elucidated the relation in which
the two accounts stand to one another.)
ELLICOTT, "(16) The chief of Solomon’s officers we should certainly have
supposed to have been taken from the Israelites (as clearly were the 550 named in 1
Kings 9:23). But the passage in Chronicles (2 Chronicles 2:18)—reckoning them at
3,600—seems to imply that they were, like the overseers of Israel in the Egyptian
bondage (Exodus 5:14-15), taken from the subject races.
PULPIT, "Beside [without counting] the chief of Solomon's officers [Heb. the
princes of the overseers, i.e; the princes who acted as overseers, principes qui
praefecti erant (Vatabl.)] which were over the work three thousand and three
hundred [This large number proves that the "chiefs of the overseers" cannot be
meant. Were all the 3,300 superior officers, there must have been quite an army of
subalterns. But we read of none. In 1 Kings 9:23, an additional number of 550
"princes of the overseers" (same expression) is mentioned, making a total of 3,850
superintendents, which agrees with the total stated in the Book of Chronicles. It is
noteworthy, however, that the details differ from those of the Kings. In 2 Chronicles
2:17 we read of a body of 3,600 "overseers to set the people a work," whilst in 1
Kings 8:10 mention is made of 250 "princes of the overseers." These differences
result, no doubt, from difference of classification and arrangement (J.H. Michaelis).
In Chronicles the arrangement is one of race, i.e; 3,600 aliens ‫ים‬ ֵ‫גּר‬ ; cf. 2 Chronicles
2:18) and 250 Israelites, whilst in Kings it is one of status, i.e; 3,300 inferior and 550
superior officers. It follows consequently that all the inferior and 300 of the superior
overseers were Canaanites] which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
17 At the king’s command they removed from the
quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide
a foundation of dressed stone for the temple.
BAR ES, "Some of these “great, hewed (no and) stones,” are probably still to be seen
in the place where they were set by Solomon’s builders, at the southwestern angle of the
wall of the Haram area in the modern Jerusalem. The largest found so far is 38 ft. 9 in.
long, and weighs about 100 tons.

74. CLARKE, "Great stones - Stones of very large dimensions.
Costly stones - Stones that cost much labor and time to cut them out of the rock.
Hewed stones - Everywhere squared and polished.
GILL, "And the king commanded, and they brought great stones,.... Not in
quality, but in quantity, large stones, fit to lay in the foundation; strong, and durable
against all the injuries of time, as Josephus says (i):
costly stones; not what are commonly called precious stones, as gems, pearls, &c. but
stones of value, as marble, porphyry, &c.
and hewed stones; not rough as they were taken out of the quarry, but hewed, and
made smooth:
to lay the foundation of the house; which, though out of sight, was to be laid with
goodly stones for the magnificence of the building; so the church of Christ, its
foundation is said to be laid even with sapphires and other precious stones, see Isa_
54:11.
JAMISO , "brought great stones — The stone of Lebanon is “hard, calcareous,
whitish and sonorous, like free stone” [Shaw]. The same white and beautiful stone can
be obtained in every part of Syria and Palestine.
hewed stones — or neatly polished, as the Hebrew word signifies (Exo_20:25). Both
Jewish and Tyrian builders were employed in hewing these great stones.
K&D, "And the king had large, costly stones broken, “to lay the foundation of the
house with hewn stones.” ‫ּות‬‫ר‬ ָ‫ק‬ְ‫י‬ does not mean heavy (Thenius), for this would be a
perfectly superfluous remark, inasmuch as large stones are always heavy, but costly,
valuable stones, qui multa pecunia constabant (Cler.); compare 1Ki_10:2, where the
word stands for precious stones. ‫ד‬ ֵ ַ‫י‬ ְ‫,ל‬ i.e., to lay the foundation for the temple, by which
we are to understand not merely the foundation for the temple-house, but the
magnificent substructions for the whole of the temple area, even though the strong walls
which surrounded the temple mountain, and which Josephus describes in his
Antiquities, viii. 3, 9, and xv. 11, 3, and in his de Bell. Jud. v. 5, 1, may not have been all
completed by Solomon, but may have been a work of centuries. For further remarks on
this subject, see at 1Ki_6:38. ‫ית‬ִ‫ז‬ָ‫ג‬ ‫י‬ֵ‫נ‬ ְ‫ב‬ፍ are squared stones, according to 1Ki_7:10, of ten
and eight cubits.
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:17. Costly stones — Marble and porphyry, or other stones of
great size and value. To lay the foundation of the house — Where they could not
afterward be seen; and therefore that this was done, is mentioned only as a point of

75. magnificence, except it was intended for a type or mystical signification of the
preciousness of Christ, who is the foundation of the true temple, and the church of
God. “It should seem,” says Henry, “that Solomon was himself present at the
founding of the temple, and that the first stone, as has been usual in famous
buildings, was laid with great solemnity. Solomon commanded, and they brought
costly stones — For a foundation; though, being out of sight, worse might have
served. Christ, who is laid for a foundation, is an elect and precious stone, (Isaiah
28.,) and the foundations of the church are said to be laid with sapphires, Isaiah
54:11. and Revelation 21:19. Sincerity obligeth us to lay our foundation firm, and to
bestow most pains on that part of our religion which lies out of the sight, of men.”
PETT, "1 Kings 5:17
‘And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the
foundation of the house with wrought stone.’
At the king’s command the Canaanite levies hewed out, from the quarries in the
hills, stones which were especially valued, being of a type which could be easily
dressed and shaped, and then became hardened, in order for them to be delivered to
the Israelite workers at the quarry (1 Kings 6:7). Presumably as this was simply
seen as the extraction of rough unshaped stones the use of Canaanites was not seen
as profaning them. But they would not be allowed to dress or shape them.
ELLICOTT, "(17) Great stones.—The stones, so emphatically described as “great
stones, costly stones, and hewed stones,” were necessary, not so much for “the
foundation” of the Temple itself, which was small, but for the substructure of the
area, formed into a square on the irregular summit of Mount Moriah. In this
substructure vast stones are still to be seen, and are referred by many authorities to
the age of Solomon. The labour of transport must have been enormous, especially as
all were worked beforehand. (See 1 Kings 6:7.)
PARKER 17-18, ""And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly
stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon"s
builders and Hiram"s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they
prepared timber and stones to build the house" ( 1 Kings 5:17-18).
The care thus shown of the foundation is another instance of the wisdom of
Solomon. The stones which were used in the foundation were in no sense considered
insignificant or worthless. We cannot read the epithets which are applied to them
without being reminded of the foundation which God himself has laid in Zion.
There is no straining of the merely historical event connected with Solomon"s
temple in seeing in it hints and suggestions regarding the greater temple of which it
was but a faint emblem. The stones which Solomon used are described as "great
stones, costly stones, and hewed stones;" the terms which are used to describe the
foundation which was laid in Zion are these—"A stone, a tried stone, a precious

76. corner-stone, a sure foundation." We read also of the foundations of the wall of the
city which John saw in vision—"The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in
them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
A curious illustration of the union between the permanent and the temporary is
shown in all earthly arrangements. Solomon laid foundations which might have
lasted as long as the earth itself endured. Judging by the foundations alone, one
would have said concerning the work of Song of Solomon , This is meant for
permanence; no thought of change or decay ever occurred to the mind of the man
who laid these noble courses. It is the same with ourselves in nearly all the relations
of life. We know that we may die today, yet we lay plans which will require years
and generations to accomplish. We are perfectly aware that our breath is in our
nostrils, yet we build houses which we intend to stand for centuries—knowing that
we cannot occupy them ourselves, yet by some impulse or instinct which we cannot
control, in building for ourselves we build for others, and it is to the future that we
owe the strength of the present. Yet we often speak as having no obligation to the
future, or as if the future would do nothing for us, not knowing that it is the future
which makes the present what it Isaiah , and that but for the future all our
inspiration would be lost because our hope would perish. Let us see that our
foundations are strong. He who is more anxious for decoration than solidity knows
not the climate in which he builds, and knows not the forces by which his work will
be assailed. In all building consider strength first, and beauty next Especially let this
be so in the building of character. Let even the foundations be of precious stones, as
of jasper and sapphire, chalcedony and emerald, sardonyx and sardius, chrysolite
and beryl, topaz and chrysoprasus, jacinth and amethyst. Having spent such great
and costly care upon the foundations, surely we cannot but be just to ourselves in
making the superstructure worthy of the base on which it stands.
A beautiful illustration of contrast and harmony is to be found in the distribution
which Solomon made of his workers and the labour they were required to
undertake:—"And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens,
and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains; beside the chief of Solomon"s
officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled
over the people that wrought in the work" ( 1 Kings 5:15-16). Here we find burden-
bearers, hewers in the mountains, officers, and rulers. There was no standing upon
one level or claiming of one dignity. Each man did what he could according to the
measure of his capacity, and each man did precisely what he was told to do by his
commanding officer. It is in vain to talk about any equality that does not recognise
the principle of order and the principle of obedience. Our equality must be found in
our devotion, in the pureness of our purpose, in the steadfastness of our loyalty, and
not in merely official status or public prominence. The unity of the Church must be
found, not in its forms, emoluments, dignities, and the like, but in the simplicity of
its faith and the readiness of its eager and affectionate obedience. Looking for a
moment at the seventeenth verse, we find the arrangement perfected by the words
"and the king commanded." ow let us read the whole as if it were a catalogue—
burden-bearers, hewers in the mountains, officers, rulers,—and the king
commanded. There is the true picture of a working Church. There is no indignity in

77. any department of Church service. It is honour enough for an angel to go upon any
errand which God may appoint. Looking at ourselves and amongst ourselves, we
may begin to speak about diversity of honours, but looking at God and taking our
commands from him, we shall not fasten our attention upon the thing which has to
be done as compared with something which another man may be called to do, but
shall see in the glory of the King, honour enough to fill not only our ambition but
our imagination.
PULPIT, "And the king commanded and they brought [or cut out, quarried
(Gesen.), as in Ecclesiastes 10:9; see also Ecclesiastes 6:7 (Heb.) ] great stones, costly
[precious, not heavy, as Thenius. Cf. Psalms 36:8; Psalms 45:9; Esther 1:4 in the
Heb.], stones and [omit and. The hewed stones were the great and costly stones]
hewed stones [or squared (Isaiah 9:10; cf. 1 Kings 6:36; 1 Kings 7:9; 1 Kings 11:12).
We learn from 1 Kings 7:10 that the stones of the foundation of the palace were
squared to 8 cubits and 10 cubits] to lay the foundation of the house. [Some of these
great squared stones, we can hardly doubt, are found in situ at the present day. The
stones at the south-east angle of the walls of the Haram (Mosque of Omar) are
"unquestionably of Jewish masonry". "One is 23 1 Kings 2:9 in. long; whilst others
vary from 17 to 20 feet in length. Five courses of them are nearly entire" (ib.) As
Herod, in rebuilding the edifice, would seem to have had nothing to do with the
foundations, we may safely connect these huge blocks with the time of Solomon. It is
also probable that some at least of the square pillars, ranged in fifteen rows, and
measuring five feet each side, which form the foundations of the Mosque El Aksa,
and the supports of the area of the Haram, are of the same date and origin (cf.
Ewald, Hist. Israel, 3:233). Porter holds that they are "coeval with the oldest part of
the external walls." Many of them, the writer observed, were monoliths. The
extensive vaults which they enclose are unquestionably "the subterranean vaults of
the temple area" mentioned by Josephus (B.J. 1 Kings 5:3. 1), and the "cavati sub
terra montes" of Tacitus. It may be added here that the recent explorations in
Jerusalem have brought to light many evidences of Phoenician handiwork.]
18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiramand
workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber
and stone for the building of the temple.
BAR ES, "The stone-squarers - The Gebalites (see the margin), the inhabitants
of Gebal, a Phoenician city between Beyrout and Tripolis, which the Greeks called

78. Byblus, and which is now known as Jebeil.
CLARKE, "And the stone-squarers - Instead of stone-squarers the margin very
properly reads Giblites, ‫הגבלים‬ haggiblim; and refers to Eze_27:9, where we find the
inhabitants of Gebal celebrated for their knowledge in ship-building. Some suppose that
these Giblites were the inhabitants of Biblos, at the foot of Mount Libanus, northward of
Sidon, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea; famous for its wines; and now called
Gaeta. Both Ptolemy and Stephanus Byzantinus speak of a town called Gebala, to the
east of Tyre: but this was different from Gebal, or Biblos. It seems more natural to
understand this of a people than of stone-squarers, though most of the versions have
adopted this idea which we follow in the text.
GILL, "And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them,.... The
stones; for it seems Solomon had not only hewers of wood, but of stone, from Hiram:
and the stonesquarers; or rather the Giblites, the men of Gebal, which were under
the jurisdiction of Tyre, and were skilful in this sort of work, as some of them were in
others, see Eze_27:9;
so they prepared timber and stones to build the house; both Solomon's and
Hiram's builders, and the large number of workmen, both Israelites and strangers;
which latter were an emblem of the Gentiles concerned in the building of the spiritual
temple, the church of Christ, Zec_6:15; and whereas the number of strangers that
wrought for the building was far greater than that of the Israelites, it may denote the
greater number of Gentiles in the Gospel church state mentioned besides these: thus
gave Solomon to Hiram year by year: so long as the building lasted, and the workmen
were employed; but Abarbinel thinks that he gave it to him as long as he lived, out of his
great munificence and liberality.
JAMISO , "and the stone squarers — The Margin, which renders it “the
Giblites” (Jos_13:5), has long been considered a preferable translation. This marginal
translation also must yield to another which has lately been proposed, by a slight change
in the Hebrew text, and which would be rendered thus: “Solomon’s builders, and
Hiram’s builders, did hew them and bevel them” [Thenius]. These great beveled or
grooved stones, measuring some twenty, others thirty feet in length, and from five to six
feet in breadth, are still seen in the substructures about the ancient site of the temple;
and, in the judgment of the most competent observers, were those originally employed
“to lay the foundation of the house.”
K&D, "With 1Ki_5:18 the account of the preparations for the building of the temple,
which were the object of Solomon's negotiations with Hiram, is brought to a close.
“Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders, even the Giblites, hewed and prepared the
wood and the stones for the building of the house.” The object to ‫לוּ‬ ְ‫ס‬ ְ‫פ‬ִ‫י‬ is not the square
stones mentioned before, but the trees (beams) and stones mentioned after ‫נוּ‬ ִ‫כ‬ָ ַ‫.ו‬ ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫ב‬ִ ַ‫ה‬ְ‫ו‬

79. is to be taken as explanatory, “even the Giblites,” giving a more precise definition of
“Hiram's builders.” The Giblites are the inhabitants of the town of Gebal, called Byblos
by the Greeks, to the north of Beirut (see at Jos_13:5), which was the nearest to the
celebrated cedar forest of the larger Phoenician towns. According to Eze_27:9, the
Giblites (Byblians) were experienced in the art of shipbuilding, and therefore were
probably skilful builders generally, and as such the most suitable of Hiram's subjects to
superintend the working of the wood and stone for Solomon's buildings. For it was in
the very nature of the case that the number of the Phoenician builders was only a small
one, and that they were merely the foremen; and this may also be inferred from the large
number of his own subjects whom Solomon appointed to the work.
(Note: Without any satisfactory ground Thenius has taken offence at the word
‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫ב‬ִ ַ‫ה‬ְ‫,ו‬ and on the strength of the critically unattested καᆳ ᅞβαλον αᆒτούς of the lxx
and the paraphrastic ᅋρµόσαντας καᆳ συνδήσαντας of Josephus, which is only
introduced to fill in the picture, has altered it into ‫ילוּם‬ ִ ְ‫ג‬ַ ַ‫,ו‬ “they bordered them (the
stones).” This he explains as relating to the “bevelling” of the stones, upon the
erroneous assumption that the grooving of the stones in the old walls encircling the
temple area, which Robinson (Pal. i. 423) was the first to notice and describe,
“occurs nowhere else in precisely the same form;” whereas Robinson found them in
the ancient remains of the foundations of walls in different places throughout the
land, not only in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, viz., at Bethany, but also at
Carmel on the mountains of Judah, at Hebron, Semua (Esthemoa), Beit Nusib
(Nezib), on Tabor, and especially in the north, in the old remains of the walls of the
fortification es Shukif, Hunîn, Banias, Tyrus, Jebail (Byblus), Baalbek, on the island
of Ruwad (the ancient Aradus), and in different temples on Lebanon (see Rob. Pal.
ii. 101,198, 434,627; iii. 12,213, 214; and Bibl. Researches, p. 229). Böttcher (n. ex.
Krit. Aehrenl. ii. p. 32) has therefore properly rejected this conjecture as “ill-
founded,” though only to put in its place another which is altogether unfounded,
namely, that before ‫ים‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫ב‬ִ ַ‫ה‬ְ‫ו‬ the word ‫ים‬ ִ‫ּר‬ ַ‫ה‬ (“the Tyrians”) has dropped out. For this
has nothing further in its favour than the most improbable assumption, that king
Hiram gathered together the subjects of his whole kingdom to take part in Solomon's
buildings. - The addition of τρία ᅞτη, which is added by the lxx at the end of the verse,
does not warrant the assumption of Thenius and Böttcher, that ‫ים‬ִ‫נ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫לשׁ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ has dropped
out of the text. For it is obvious that the lxx have merely made their addition e
conjectura, and indeed have concluded that, as the foundation for the temple was
laid in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, the preliminary work must have occupied
the first three years of his reign.)
BE SO , "1 Kings 5:18. Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s did hew them — It
seemed Solomon’s servants learned of Hiram’s, or, at least, were directed by them to
assist in the work. And the stone-squarers — Hebrew, the Giblites, the inhabitants
of Gebal, a place near Zidon, mentioned Psalms 83:7; Ezekiel 27:9, famous for
artificers and architects, Joshua 13:5. These are here distinguished from the rest of
Hiram’s builders, as the most eminent of them. So they prepared timber and stones
to build the house — Made all ready, not only to lay the foundation, but to raise the
superstructure.

80. COKE, "1 Kings 5:18. And the stone-squarers— Calmet and Houbigant, after the
Vulgate, understand the Hebrew here as a proper name, ‫הגבלים‬ haggibliim, the
Giblites: so it is rendered in the Margin of our Bibles. The people of Giblos were
celebrated for their works in stone and wood. See Ezekiel 27:9 and Psalms 83:7.
ote; 1. Where the heart is set upon the work of building up God's church, we shall
do it with all our might. 2. The stones being prepared, the foundation of the temple
is laid: they were rich and costly, to support the glorious superstructure. Christ is
this precious foundation; built upon him, every believer's soul exceeds even
Solomon's temple in all its glory, as being the everlasting habitation of God through
the Spirit.
PETT, "1 Kings 5:18
‘And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites fashioned them,
and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.’
Solomon’s builders then worked alongside Hiram’s builders, and with specialists
brought in from Gebal (Greek - Byblos) further up the coast, in order to fashion and
shape the stones, and prepare the stones and timber for building the Temple.
All this is a reminder to us that if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well. As
Paul reminds us, whatever we do, we should do it heartily to the Lord and not to
men (Colossians 3:21). evertheless it was unnecessary effort which could have been
better put into building up the spiritual life of Israel, and preventing their worship
at syncretistic high places.
ELLICOTT, "(18) The stone-squarers.—This rendering is a curious gloss on the
proper name, “Giblites” (see margin)—the inhabitants of Gebal (mentioned in
Ezekiel 27:9 in connection with Tyre, and probably in Psalms 83:7), a city on the
coast of Phœnicia—simply because the context shows that they were clever in stone-
squaring. As they are distinguished from Hiram’s builders, it is possible that they
were serfs under them, like the Canaanites under Solomon’s builders.
PULPIT, "And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the
stone squarers: [the marg. Giblites, i.e; people of Gebal, is to be preferred. For
Gebal (= mountain) see Joshua 13:5 ("the land of the Giblites and Lebanon");
Psalms 83:7 ("Gebal and they of Tyro"); and Ezekiel 27:9, where the LXX. translate
the word Biblus, which was the Greek name of the city and district north of the
famous river Adonis, on the extreme border of Phoenicia. It is now known as Jebeil.
It has been already remarked that Tyre and Sidon, as well as Gebal, have Hebrew
meanings. These are among the proofs of the practical identity of the Hebrew and
Phoenician tongues. The Aramaean immigrants (Deuteronomy 26:5; Genesis 12:5)
no doubt adopted the language of Canaan (Dict. Bib; art. "Phoenicians"). Keil

81. renders, "even the Giblites." He would understand, i.e; that the Zidonian workmen
were Giblites; but this is doubtful. The Giblites are selected, no doubt, for special
mention because of the prominent part they took in the work. Gebal, as its ancient
and extensive ruins prove, was a place of much importance, and lying as it did on
the coast, and near the cedar forests, would naturally have an important share in
the cutting and shipping of the timber. Indeed, it is not improbable that it was at
this port that the land transport ended, and the rafts were made. A road ran
anciently from Gebal to Baalbak, so that the transport was not impracticable. But
as the forests were probably of great extent, there may have been two or three
depots at which the timber was floated] so they prepared timber [Heb. the timber]
and stones [Heb. the stones] to build the house. [The LXX. (Vat. and Alex. alike)
add here, "three years." It is barely possible that these words may have dropped out
of the text, but they look more like a gloss, the inference from the chronological
statement of 1 Kings 6:1.]