1 Kings 5:16
in 1 Kings 5not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
besides Solomon’s chief officers that were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
KJV
Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
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This verse in 1 Kings 5
Commentary
10 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.
This site's exposition
his 3,300 foremen
Solomon’s 3,300 foremen supervised the porters and stonecutters of verse 15. Albert Barnes finds the foremen of both books total 3,850 once the officers of 9:23 are added, with the counts grouped by nation or by rank. John Wesley sets each of the foremen over fifty workers.
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 Awakening4 voices
Three thousand &c. - Whereof three thousand were set over the fifteen hundred thousand, expressed ver. 15, each of these, over fifty of them, and the odd three hundred were set over these three thousand, each of these to have the oversight of ten of them, to take an account of the work for them. But in 2 Chron. ii, 18, these overseers are said to be thirty-six hundred.
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.
He speaks of the vastness of his undertakings ( Eccl. ii. 4 , I made me great works ), which required this vast number of workmen. The laying of the foundation of the temple; for that is the building his heart is chiefly upon, and therefore he begins with that,
Besides the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Besides - three thousand and three hundred which ruled over the people - In the parallel place, 2Ch 2:18, it is three thousand six hundred. The Septuagint has here the same number.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Comparing this verse and 1Ki 9:23 with 2Ch 2:18; 2Ch 8:10, the entire number of the overseers will be seen to be stated by both writers at 3,850; but in the one case nationality, in the other degree of authority, is made the principle of the division.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לְ֠בַד | levad | <to> apart | H905 → | 200 times |
| מִשָּׂרֵ֨י | misarei | from [the] leaders of | H8269 → | 421 times |
| הַנִּצָּבִ֤ים | hanitzavim | the overseers | H5324 → | 75 times |
| לִשְׁלֹמֹה֙ | lishlomoh | of Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [were] over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמְּלָאכָ֔ה | hamelakhah | the work | H4399 → | 167 times |
| שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת | sheloshet | three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| אֲלָפִ֖ים | ʾalafim | thousand<s> | H505 → | 505 times |
| וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ | ushelosh | and three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| מֵא֑וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| הָרֹדִ֣ים | harodim | who ruled | H7287 → | 26 times |
| בָּעָ֔ם | baam | over the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הָעֹשִׂ֖ים | haosim | who were doing | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בַּמְּלָאכָֽה׃ | bamelakhah | <in> the work | H4399 → | 167 times |
לְ֠בַד<to> apart
levadH905 →200 times
מִשָּׂרֵ֨יfrom [the] leaders of
misareiH8269 →421 times
הַנִּצָּבִ֤יםthe overseers
hanitzavimH5324 →75 times
לִשְׁלֹמֹה֙of Solomon
lishlomohH8010 →291 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עַל־[were] over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמְּלָאכָ֔הthe work
hamelakhahH4399 →167 times
שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁתthree
sheloshetH7969 →432 times
אֲלָפִ֖יםthousand<s>
ʾalafimH505 →505 times
וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁand three
usheloshH7969 →432 times
מֵא֑וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
הָרֹדִ֣יםwho ruled
harodimH7287 →26 times
בָּעָ֔םover the people
baamH5971 →1873 times
הָעֹשִׂ֖יםwho were doing
haosimH6213 →2628 times
בַּמְּלָאכָֽה׃<in> the work
bamelakhahH4399 →167 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
3 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
2 Chronicles 2:2So he conscripted 70,000 porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 2:18
Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 5:15–16
Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,
- 2 Chronicles 2:18
Through
1 Kings 9:23They were also the chief officers over Solomon’s projects: 550 supervisors over the people who did the work.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 8:10
They were also the chief officers for King Solomon: 250 supervisors.
- 2 Chronicles 8:10
About 1 Kings
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.