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1 Kings 5:6

in 1 Kings 5

Now therefore, order that cedars of Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Sidonians.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now therefore command thou that they cut me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that knoweth how to cut timber like unto the Sidonians.

KJV

Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

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This verse in 1 Kings 5

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Of the Temple of Solomon 1.2.4-5 · Written before 735.

For the servants of Hiram who cut down cedars from Lebanon for Solomon are the teachers chosen from among the Gentiles whose task is to fell those who enjoy the goods and glory of this world by correcting their pride and arrogance and convert their …

This site's exposition

can skill to hew timber

on 1 Kings 5:6-7

Solomon's admission that no one in Israel can skill to hew timber like the Sidonians sends the temple's timber outside the covenant people from the first plank; Wesley reads the Gentile labor as a type of the nations later built into Christ's own temple, a reading he names as his own rather than as the text's claim. Hiram answers with a blessing on the Lord who gave David so wise a son, language Adam Clarke takes as evidence of a genuine worshipper of Israel's God, while Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it more cautiously, as a foreign king honoring another nation's deity by custom. The text itself gives only the blessing and leaves the man behind it for the reader to weigh.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

They - That is, thy servants. And this assistance which these Gentiles gave to the building of Solomon's temple, was a type of the calling of the Gentiles, and that they should be instrumental in building and constituting Christ's spiritual temple.
Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedars out of Lebanon,.... That is, order his servants to cut them down there for him.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Any that can skill to hew timber - An obsolete and barbarous expression for any that know how to cut timber. They had neither sawyers, carpenters, joiners, nor builders among them, equal to the Sidonians. Sidon was a part of the territories of Hiram, and its inhabitants appear to have been the most expert workmen. It requires more skill to fell and prepare timber than is generally supposed. Vitruvius gives some rules relative to this, lib. ii., cap. 9, the sum of which is this:

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

A division of labor was necessary, and while the former would do the work that required skilful artisans, Solomon engaged to supply the laborers. FURNISHES TIMBER TO BUILD THE TEMPLE.
Solomon’s message to Hiram and Hiram’s answer 1Ki 5:8-9 are given much more fully in 2Ch 2:3-16. Cedar-trees - The Hebrew word here and elsewhere translated “cedar,” appears to be used, not only of the cedar proper, but of other timber-trees also, as the fir, and, perhaps, the juniper. Still there is no doubt that the real Lebanon cedar is most commonly intended by it. This tree, which still grows on parts of the mountain, but which threatens to die out, was probably much more widely spread anciently. The Tyrians made the masts of their ships from the wood Eze 27:5, and would naturally be as careful to cultivate it as we have ourselves been to grow oak. The Assyrian kings, when they made their expeditions into Palestine, appear frequently to have cut it in Lebanon and Hermon, and to have transported it to their own capitals. Skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians - The mechanical genius and nautical skill of the Phoenicians generally, and of the Sidonians in particular, is noticed by Homer and Herodotus. In the reign of Hiram, Sidon, though perhaps she might have a king of her own, acknowledged the supremacy of Tyre.

The words behind it

29 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְעַתָּ֡הand therefore

    veatahH6258 →433 times

  • צַוֵּה֩command

    tzavehH6680 →494 times

  • וְיִכְרְתוּ־so they may cut

    veyikhretu-H3772 →288 times

  • לִ֨יfor <the> me

    li

  • אֲרָזִ֜יםcedars

    ʾarazimH730 →73 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַלְּבָנ֗וֹן<the> Lebanon

    halevanonH3844 →71 times

  • וַֽעֲבָדַי֙and servants my

    vaavadaiH5650 →799 times

  • יִהְי֣וּthey will be

    yihyuH1961 →3559 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • עֲבָדֶ֔יךָservants your

    ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times

  • וּשְׂכַ֤רand [the] wage[s] of

    usekharH7939 →

  • עֲבָדֶ֙יךָ֙servants your

    ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times

  • אֶתֵּ֣ןI will give

    ʾetenH5414 →2011 times

  • לְךָ֔to <the> you

    lekha

  • כְּכֹ֖לaccording to all

    kekholH3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רthat

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • תֹּאמֵ֑רyou will say

    tomerH559 →5305 times

  • כִּ֣י׀for

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אַתָּ֣הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • יָדַ֗עְתָּyou know

    yada'taH3045 →945 times

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אֵ֥יןthere not

    ʾeinH369 →789 times

  • בָּ֛נוּamong <the> us

    banu

  • אִ֛ישׁ[is] anyone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • יֹדֵ֥עַ[who] knows

    yodea'H3045 →945 times

  • לִכְרָת־to cut

    likhrot-H3772 →288 times

  • עֵצִ֖יםwood<s>

    ʾetzimH6086 →328 times

  • כַּצִּדֹנִֽים׃like the Sidonians

    katzidonimH6722 →16 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

17 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Ezra 3:7They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.4 works2 Chronicles 2:8Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber there. And indeed, my servants will work with yours3 works1 Kings 9:27And Hiram sent his servants, men who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.3 worksPhilippians 4:8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.2 worksEphesians 4:7Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.2 worksPsalms 29:5The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.2 works
The other 11 cross-references, with their words ▾
1 Kings 6:20The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.2 works1 Kings 6:16He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.2 works1 Kings 6:9–10So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.2 worksGenesis 10:15And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,2 works1 Corinthians 12:14–21For the body does not consist of one part, but of many.2 worksRomans 12:17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.2 works2 Chronicles 2:10I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”2 worksPsalms 74:5like men wielding axes in a thicket of trees2 worksEzekiel 27:5They constructed all your planking with cypress from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.2 works1 Chronicles 14:1Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters, to build a palace for him.2 worksEzekiel 27:8The men of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen. Your men of skill, O Tyre, were there as your captains.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Philippians 4:8

    Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.

    it leads to

    • James 3:17

      But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

    • Titus 2:7

      In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity,

    • Romans 12:9–21

      Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.

    • 2 Corinthians 8:21

      For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.

    • Galatians 5:22

      But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

  • Through

    Ephesians 4:7

    Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

    it leads to

    • Romans 12:3

      For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure…

    • 1 Peter 4:10

      As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.

    • 1 Corinthians 12:7–11

      Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

About 1 Kings

Cedars Are Cut Down for the Jerusalem Temple — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Cedars Are Cut Down for the Jerusalem Temple — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 5 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Of the Temple of Solomon 1.2.4-5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.

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