1 Kings 5
5
Solomon Asks Hiram To Help Build the Temple
(2 Chronicles 2.1-16)
1King Hiram of Tyre#5.1 Tyre: The most important city in Phoenicia. It was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea north of Israel, in what is today southern Lebanon. had always been friends with Solomon's father David. When Hiram learned that Solomon was king, he sent some of his officials to meet with Solomon.
2Solomon sent a message back to Hiram:
3Remember how my father David wanted to build a temple where the Lord his God could be worshiped? But enemies kept attacking my father's kingdom, and he never had the chance. 4Now, thanks to the Lord God, there is peace in my kingdom and no trouble or threat of war anywhere.
5 #
2 S 7.12,13; 1 Ch 17.11,12. The Lord God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the Lord. So I've decided to do that.
6I'd like you to send your workers to cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. I will pay them whatever you say and will even have my workers help them. We both know that your workers are more experienced than anyone else at cutting lumber.
7Hiram was so happy when he heard Solomon's request that he said, “I am grateful that the Lord gave David such a wise son to be king of that great nation!” 8Then he sent back his answer:
I received your message and will give you all the cedar and pine logs you need. 9My workers will carry them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. They will tie the logs together and float them along the coast to wherever you want them. Then they will untie the logs, and your workers can take them from there.
To pay for the logs, you can provide the grain I need for my household.
10Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he needed. 11In return, Solomon gave Hiram over 2,000 tons of wheat and almost 4,000 liters of pure olive oil each year.
12The Lord kept his promise and made Solomon wise. Hiram and Solomon signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.
Solomon's Workers
13Solomon ordered 30,000 people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple, 14#1 K 12.15-19. and he put Adoniram in charge of these workers. Solomon divided them into three groups of 10,000. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and had two months off at home.
15He also had 80,000 workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, 70,000 workers to carry the stones, 16and over 3,000 assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers. 17He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.
18Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal,#5.18 Gebal: Later known as Byblos. and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.
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1 Kings 5: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
1 Kings 5
5
Wood and stone for the temple
1 # 5.1 5:15 in Heb Because King Hiram#5.1 Chronicles spells the king’s name Huram; for example, 2 Chron 2:3, 11-12; but cf 1 Chron 14:1 Kethib. of Tyre was loyal to David throughout his rule, Hiram sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that Solomon had become king after his father. 2Solomon sent the following message to Hiram: 3“You know that my father David wasn’t able to build a temple for the name of the LORD my God. This was because of the enemies that fought him on all sides until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. 4Now the LORD my God has given me peace on every side, without enemies or misfortune. 5So I’m planning to build a temple for the name of the LORD my God, just as the LORD indicated to my father David, ‘I will give you a son to follow you on your throne. He will build the temple for my name.’ 6Now give the order and have the cedars of Lebanon cut down for me. My servants will work with your servants. I’ll pay your servants whatever price you set, because you know we have no one here who is skilled in cutting wood like the Sidonians.”
7Hiram was thrilled when he heard Solomon’s message. He said, “Today the LORD is blessed because he has given David a wise son who is in charge of this great people.” 8Hiram sent word back to Solomon: “I have heard your message to me. I will do as you wish with the cedar and pinewood. 9My servants will bring the wood down the Lebanon Mountains to the sea. I’ll make rafts out of them and float them on the sea to the place you specify. There I’ll dismantle them, and you can carry them away. Now, as for what you must do for me in return, I ask you to provide for my royal house.”
10So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pinewood that he wanted. 11In return, Solomon gave an annual gift to Hiram of twenty thousand kors#5.11 One kor is possibly equal to fifty gallons. of wheat to eat, and twenty thousand kors of pure oil for his palace use. 12Now the LORD made Solomon wise, just as he had promised. Solomon and Hiram made a covenant and had peace.
13King Solomon called up a work gang of thirty thousand workers from all over Israel. 14He sent ten thousand to work in Lebanon each month. Then they would spend two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the work gang. 15Solomon had 70,000 laborers and 80,000 stonecutters in the highlands. 16This doesn’t include Solomon’s 3,300 supervisors in charge of the work, who had oversight over the laborers. 17At the king’s command, they quarried huge stones of the finest quality in order to lay the temple’s foundation with carefully cut stone. 18The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram, along with those of Byblos, prepared the timber and the stones for the construction of the temple.
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