1 Kings 5:15
in 1 Kings 5Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;
KJV
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
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This verse in 1 Kings 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseListen to even greater mysteries. At the time when Solomon built the temple, it was our peacemaker who says, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you," "for he himself is our peace," "the peace of God that surpasses all understanding," who himself built the temple for God. Observe what Scripture says about the building of the temple by Solomon: "And there were seventy thousand quarrymen and eighty thousand carriers." Mark the number.
This site's exposition
threescore and ten thousand
on 1 Kings 5:15-16
A second and larger workforce stands behind the thirty thousand: threescore and ten thousand bearers of burdens and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains, and Barnes reads these as the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite and Jebusite remnant David had already put to permanent tribute service at 1 Chronicles 22:2, the same class of workers 1 Kings 9:20-22 later says Solomon never made bondmen of Israel. The distinction matters: verses 13-14 conscript free Israelites on rotation, verses 15-16 describe a standing labor force drawn from the conquered peoples, and the text keeps the two groups named apart even while counting both. The officer total of three thousand three hundred is given as thirty six hundred at 2 Chronicles 2:18, a variant the commentators leave as a copying difference rather than a contradiction to settle.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
These thousands of men employed in the cutting and transportation of the wooden beams and the stones signify the thousands of thousands of assistant spirits sent for our salvation. In the first place, [we see that] God ordered his angels to cut from the rock …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is here said of Hiram their king that he was ever a lover of David; and we have reason to think he was a worshipper of the true God, and had himself renounced, though he could not reform, the idolatry of his city.
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
That bare burdens ... - Compare the marginal references. These laborers, whose services were continuous, consisted of “strangers” - “the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites” - whom Solomon, following the example of his father 1Ch 22:2, condemned to slavery, and employed in this way.
Threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens - These were all strangers, or proselytes, dwelling among the Israelites; as we learn from the parallel place, 2Ch 2:17, 2Ch 2:18.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֧י | vayhi | and it belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִשְׁלֹמֹ֛ה | lishlomoh | to Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| שִׁבְעִ֥ים | shivim | seventy | H7657 → | |
| אֶ֖לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| נֹשֵׂ֣א | nose' | carrier[s] | H5375 → | 656 times |
| סַבָּ֑ל | sabal | burden-bearer[s] | H5449 → | |
| וּשְׁמֹנִ֥ים | ushemonim | and eighty | H8084 → | 38 times |
| אֶ֖לֶף | ʾelef | thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| חֹצֵ֥ב | chotzev | stone-cutter[s] | H2672 → | |
| בָּהָֽר׃ | bahar | in the hill country | H2022 → | 546 times |
וַיְהִ֧יand it belonged
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
לִשְׁלֹמֹ֛הto Solomon
lishlomohH8010 →291 times
שִׁבְעִ֥יםseventy
shivimH7657 →
אֶ֖לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
נֹשֵׂ֣אcarrier[s]
nose'H5375 →656 times
סַבָּ֑לburden-bearer[s]
sabalH5449 →
וּשְׁמֹנִ֥יםand eighty
ushemonimH8084 →38 times
אֶ֖לֶףthousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
חֹצֵ֥בstone-cutter[s]
chotzevH2672 →
בָּהָֽר׃in the hill country
baharH2022 →546 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ezra 2:58The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 9:2
Now the first to resettle their own property in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.
- 1 Kings 9:21
their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.
- Joshua 9:21
They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the whole congregation.” So the leaders kept their promise.
- Joshua 9:23
Now therefore you are under a curse and will perpetually serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”
- Joshua 9:27
On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He would choose.
- 1 Chronicles 9:2
Through
Nehemiah 7:57The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Sophereth, the descendants of Perida,
it leads to
- Ezra 2:55
The descendants of the servants of Solomon: the descendants of Sotai, the descendants of Sophereth, the descendants of Peruda,
- Nehemiah 11:3
These are the heads of the provinces who settled in Jerusalem. (In the villages of Judah, however, each lived on his own property in their towns—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of…
- Ezra 2:55
Through
Nehemiah 7:60The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.
it leads to
- Ezra 2:58
The temple servants and descendants of the servants of Solomon numbered 392 in all.
- Ezra 2:58
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 5:10; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 19 (PS 89 [90]); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.