5:13 King Solomon conscripted 1 work crews 2 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 3 the work crews. 5:15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers 4 and 80,000 stonecutters 5 in the hills, 5:16 besides 3,300 6 officials who supervised the workers. 7 5:17 By royal order 8 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, 9 along with men from Byblos, 10 did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple. 11
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.
3 tn Heb “was over.”
4 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
5 tn Heb “cutters” (probably of stones).
6 tc Some Greek
7 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.”
8 tn Heb “and the king commanded.”
9 tn Heb “builders.”
10 tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”
11 tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”