1 Kings 5:17-18

5:17 By royal order ¹  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, ²  along with men from Byblos, ³  did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple. ⁴ 

1 Kings 6:7

6:7 As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry ⁵  were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built.

Luke 14:28-30

14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down ⁶  first and compute the cost ⁷  to see if he has enough money to complete it? 14:29 Otherwise, ⁸  when he has laid ⁹  a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, ¹⁰  all who see it ¹¹  will begin to make fun of ¹²  him. 14:30 They will say, ¹³  ‘This man ¹⁴  began to build and was not able to finish!’ ¹⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “and the king commanded.”

² tn Heb “builders.”

³ tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”

⁴ tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”

⁵ tn Heb “finished stone of the quarry,” i.e., stones chiseled and shaped at the time they were taken out of the quarry.

⁶ tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁷ tn The first illustration involves checking to see if enough funds exist to build a watchtower. Both ψηφίζω (yhfizw, “compute”) and δαπάνη (dapanh, “cost”) are economic terms.

⁸ tn Grk “to complete it, lest.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and ἵνα μήποτε ({ina mhpote, “lest”) has been translated as “Otherwise.”

⁹ tn The participle θέντος (qentos) has been taken temporally.

¹⁰ tn The words “the tower” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

¹¹ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

¹² tn Or “mock,” “ridicule.” The person who did not plan ahead becomes an object of joking and ridicule.

¹³ tn Grk “make fun of him, saying.”

¹⁴ sn The phrase this man is often used in Luke in a derogatory sense; see “this one” and expressions like it in Luke 5:21; 7:39; 13:32; 23:4, 14, 22, 35.

¹⁵ sn The failure to finish the building project leads to embarrassment (in a culture where avoiding public shame was extremely important). The half completed tower testified to poor preparation and planning.