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, 1 Kings 5:14 shows. read more
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, 1 Kings 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... read more
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 2 Chronicles 2:17 ; according to Jacob Leon F7 Relation of... read more
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. read more
Threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens - These were all strangers, or proselytes, dwelling among the Israelites; as we learn from the parallel place, 2 Chronicles 2:17 , 2 Chronicles 2:18 . read more
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... read more
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. read more
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains. [These 150,000, destined for the more 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... read more
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 1 Samuel 8:16. David had bound to forced service “the strangers” 1 Chronicles 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 2 Samuel 24:9, a band of 30,000... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 5:10-18
Here is, I. The performance of the agreement between Solomon and Hiram. Each of the parties made good his engagement. 1. Hiram delivered Solomon the timber, according to his bargain, 1 Kgs. 5:10. The trees were Solomon?s, but perhaps?Materiam superabat opus?The workmanship was of more value than the article. Hiram is therefore said to deliver the trees. 2. Solomon conveyed to Hiram the corn which he had promised him, 1 Kgs. 5:11. Thus let justice be followed (as the expression is, Deut.... read more