Text -- 1 Kings 5:13-18 (NET)

5:13 King Solomon conscripted work crews from throughout Israel, 30,000 men in all. 5:14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of the work crews. 5:15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, 5:16 besides 3,300 officials who supervised the workers. 5:17 By royal order they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple’s foundation with chiseled stone. 5:18 Solomon’s and Hiram’s construction workers, along with men from Byblos, did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ki 5:13

¹ tn Heb “raised up.”

² sn Work crews. This Hebrew word (מַס, mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.

NET Notes: 1Ki 5:14

¹ tn Heb “was over.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 5:15

¹ tn Heb “carriers of loads.”

² tn Heb “cutters” (probably of stones).

NET Notes: 1Ki 5:16

¹ tc Some Greek mss of the OT read “3,600”; cf. 2 Chr 2:2, 18 and NLT.

² tn Heb “besides thirty-three hundred from the officials of Solomon’s governors who were over the work, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 5:17

¹ tn Heb “and the king commanded.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 5:18

¹ tn Heb “builders.”

² tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”

³ tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”