Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple
5 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon because he heard that Solomon had been anointed king in his father’s place, and because Hiram had been a dear friend of David all his days.[a]
2 Solomon sent the following message to Hiram.
3 You know that my father David was not able to build a house for the Name of the Lord his God, because of the wars that swirled around him until the Lord put his enemies under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. I have no adversary and face no dangerous situations. 5 Listen to this! I intend to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord told my father, “Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, will build the house for my Name.” 6 Now give the order to cut cedar logs for me from Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants, and I will reimburse you whatever you specify as the pay for your servants, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut lumber like the Sidonians.
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he was very happy and he said:
Blessed be the Lord this day because he has given David a wise son to rule over this great people.
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
I have heard the message you sent me. I will provide all the cedar and fir logs that you desire. 9 My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will put them into the sea as rafts and float them to the place that you tell me. Then we will dismantle them there, and you can transport them up from there. In exchange, you will provide all the food I desire for my palace.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir that he desired. 11 In return, Solomon gave Hiram one hundred twenty thousand bushels[b] of wheat as provisions for his palace and one hundred twenty thousand gallons[c] of beaten[d] olive oil. Solomon gave this amount to Hiram every year. 12 The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon just as he had promised him, so there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty.
13 King Solomon drafted a labor force from all over Israel. It numbered thirty thousand men. 14 He sent ten thousand men per month to Lebanon in shifts. They would spend one month in Lebanon. Then for two months they would be at home. Adoniram was in charge of this forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand men to transport materials and eighty thousand men to quarry stones in the mountains, 16 not counting the officials who were overseeing the work for Solomon. There were thirty-three hundred men supervising the people who were doing the work. 17 The king gave a command, and they quarried large, high-quality stones to serve as a foundation for the temple building, which was made of trimmed stones. 18 Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men from Gebal[e] cut and prepared the wood and stones to construct the temple building.[f]
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 5:1 The chapter division is different in the Hebrew text. English 4:21-34 equals Hebrew 5:1-14. English 5:1-18 equals Hebrew 5:15-32.
- 1 Kings 5:11 Literally twenty thousand cors. The values of the ancient measures of volume are uncertain.
- 1 Kings 5:11 Literally twenty thousand baths
- 1 Kings 5:11 It is assumed that oil from beaten olives is the highest grade olive oil from the first crushing of the olives, which was done by hand, not by a mechanical press.
- 1 Kings 5:18 A Phoenician city, also called Byblos
- 1 Kings 5:18 Literally the house or the building. The temple building is often called the house in Kings and Chronicles. The temple building, that is, the sanctuary proper, must be distinguished from the temple complex with its courtyards and side buildings. Both terms, the house of the Lord and the temple, may refer to the sanctuary itself or to the entire complex, depending on the context.