13<\/strong>. a levy<\/em> ] The men selected had to give their labour. Such compulsory service has been a not unusual demand of Oriental monarchs. If we take the census of the people as it is given in 2Sa 24:9<\/span> we find that the 30,000 labourers required for this work were rather more than 2 per cent. of the numbers given in by Joab to David. Of course this levy only lasted so long as the work on Lebanon was in hand. The levy of bondservice mentioned in 1Ki 9:21<\/span> was of a different kind. The strangers there spoken of were made perpetually to do forced labour. Josephus considers the present levy to have been no hardship. He says that Solomon . And probably the object for which the work was done would lend some enthusiasm to the labourers. Samuel (1Sa 8:16<\/span>) had given the people warning that their kings would make such demands upon their service.<\/p>\n A levy out of all Israel – <\/B>This was, apparently, the first time that the Israelites had been called upon to perform forced labor, though it had been prophesied 1Sa 8:16<\/span>. David had bound to forced service the strangers 1Ch 22:2<\/span>; 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 2Sa 24:9<\/span>, a band of 30,000 – one in forty-four – was raised, of whom one-third was constantly at work in Lebanon, while two-thirds remained at home, and pursued their usual occupations. This, though a very light form of task work, was felt as a great oppression, and was the chief cause of the revolt of the ten tribes at Solomons death 1Ki 12:4<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 13<\/span>. The levy was thirty thousand men.<\/B><\/I>] We find from the following verse that only ten<\/I> thousand were employed at once, and those only for one month at a time; and having rested two months, they again resumed their labour. These were the persons over whom Adoniram was superintendent, and were all Israelites.<\/P> <\/p>\n Which were to be employed in the most honourable and easy parts of the work relating to the temple, in manner expressed, 1Ki 5:14<\/span>. And these were Israelites; but those 150,000, mentioned 1Ki 5:15<\/span>, were strangers, by comparing this with 1Ki 9:21<\/span>,22<\/span>. If it seem strange to any man that so many thousands should be employed about so small a building as the temple was, it must be considered, <\/P> 1. That the temple, all its parts being considered, was far larger than men imagine, of which more hereafter. <\/P> 2. That it is probable, that they were employed by turns, as the 30,000 were, 1Ki 5:14<\/span>, else they had been oppressed with hard and uninterrupted labours. <\/P> 3. That the timber and stone hewed and carried by them was designed, not only (though principally) for the temple, but also for Solomons own houses and buildings; because we read of no other levy of men, nor of any great care and pains taken, after the building of the temple, for the procurement or preparation of materials for his own houses, or his other buildings; which implies, that that work was done before; nay, that this very levy of men was made and employed for the building of the Lords house<\/I>, and Solomons house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor and Megiddo, and Gezer<\/I>, is expressed 1Ki 9:15<\/span>, which may fully satisfy that scruple. <\/P> <\/p>\n 13. Solomon raised a levy out of allIsrael<\/B>The renewed notice of Solomon’s divine gift of wisdom(1Ki 5:12<\/span>) is evidentlyintroduced to prepare for this record of the strong but prudentmeasures he took towards the accomplishment of his work. So great astretch of arbitrary power as is implied in this compulsory levywould have raised great discontent, if not opposition, had not hiswise arrangement of letting the laborers remain at home two monthsout of three, added to the sacredness of the work, reconciled thepeople to this forced labor. The carrying of burdens and the irksomework of excavating the quarries was assigned to the remnant of theCanaanites (1Ki 9:20<\/span>; 2Ch 8:7-9<\/span>)and war prisoners made by Davidamounting to 153,600. Theemployment of persons of that condition in Eastern countries forcarrying on any public work, would make this part of the arrangementsthe less thought of.<\/P><\/p>\n And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel<\/strong>,…. Not of money, but of men, as follows:<\/p>\n and the levy was thirty thousand men<\/strong>; for what purpose, and how they were employed, 1Ki 5:14<\/span> shows.<\/p>\n The tributary labourers out of Israel<\/em>. – 1Ki 5:13<\/span>, 1Ki 5:14<\/span>. Solomon raised a tribute ( , tribute-labourers, as in 1Ki 4:6<\/span>) out of all Israel, i.e., out of the whole nation (not “out of the whole territory of Israel,” as Ewald supposes), 30,000 men, and sent them up to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in rotation; one month they were on Lebanon (doing tribute work), two months at home (looking after the cultivation of their own ground). , from , does not mean in tabulas referre <\/em>, in support of which appeal is made to 1Ch 27:24<\/span>, though on insufficient ground, but ascendere fecit <\/em>, corresponding to the German ausheben <\/em> (to raise). He raised them out of the nation, to send the up Lebanon (cf. 1Ki 9:25<\/span>). These 30,000 Israelitish labourers must be distinguished from the remnants of the Canaanites who were made into tribute-slaves (1Ki 5:15<\/span> and 1Ki 9:20<\/span>). The latter are called , tribute-slaves, in 1Ki 9:21<\/span> as in Jos 16:10<\/span>. That the Israelites were not to render the service of bondsmen is evident from the fact, that they only rendered tribute for four months of the year, and were at home for eight months; and the use of the epithet is not at variance with this. For even if this word is applied elsewhere to the Canaanitish bondsmen (e.g., Jos 17:13<\/span>; Jdg 1:28<\/span>, Jdg 1:30<\/span>, and 2Ch 8:8<\/span>), a distinction is decidedly made in our account of Solomon between and , inasmuch as in 1Ki 9:22<\/span>, after the Canaanitish bondsmen have been mentioned, it is expressly stated that “of Israel Solomon made no one a slave” ( ). The 30,000 Israelitish tribute-servants are “to be thought of as free Israelites, who simply performed the less severe work of felling trees in fellowship with and under the direction of the subjects of Hiram _(see at 1Ki 5:6<\/span>), according to the command of the king, and probably not even that without remuneration” (Thenius). For Adoniram<\/em> see at 1Ki 4:6<\/span>.<\/p>\n 1Ki 5:13-18<\/span> AND <\/strong>2Ch 2:2<\/span>; <\/strong>2Ch 2:17-18<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Where Chronicles is more detailed <\/em>in matters pertaining to the sanctuary itself, Kings has the more facts about the building. Adoniram, who was over the tribute, had the responsibility of raising a levy of thirty thousand special workmen from among the Israelites. These men worked by rotation, one month in the mountain forests of Lebanon and two months at home. In addition to these there were seventy thousand ordinary laborers sent into the mountains to bear burdens, and another eighty thousand to hew the timbers. These hundred and fifty thousand men, that Chronicles account relates, were taken from among the strangers, or foreigners, who lived in Israel. This work program may have been a great boon to them, for their livelihood depended on service to the Israelites, since the land was all apportioned to Israel. Overseeing the work Solomon set thirty-six hundred men of his chief officers. Kings account adds that this work force was also charged with preparation of great and costly stones for the foundation of the house of God. They joined with the hewers and stone squarers of Hiram to prepare the timber and stone in the land of Lebanon.<\/em><\/p>\n Lessons from chapter 5: 1) <\/em>God will make those willing to help who are needed in accomplishment of His appointed tasks (2Co 8:1-4<\/span>); 2) manifestation of the Lord in one’s life commends him to others (Mat 5:16<\/span>); all the Lord’s people working together will bring benefits even to those not of His people (Php_2:15)<\/em><\/p>\n B. THE ORGANIZATION OF LABORERS 5:1318<\/p>\n TRANSLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n (13) Then King Solomon raised a levy from all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. (14) And he sent them to Lebanon ten thousand a month in shifts; a month they were in Lebanon, two months in their homes. And Adoniram was over the levy. (15) And Solomon had seventy thousand burden bearers, and eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountains, (16) besides Solomons superintendents who were over the work, thirty-three hundred who supervised the people who labored in the work. (17) And the king commanded and they quarried great stones, precious stones, to lay the foundation of the house, dressed stones. (18) So the builders of Solomon and the builders of Hiram, even the Gegalites, dressed them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.<\/strong><\/p>\n COMMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n Solomon made further preparation for the construction work by drafting out of Israel a labor force numbering some thirty thousand (1Ki. 5:13<\/span>). Solomons Temple was built with forced labor; Moses Tabernacle was built through freewill offerings and volunteer services. While thirty thousand appears to be rather large, the conscription only affected one in forty of the male population.[165] The thirty thousand were divided into three shifts of ten thousand, and each shift was compelled to labor in Lebanon four months of the year (1Ki. 5:14<\/span>). These workmen should be thought of as free Israelites who worked in consort with and under the direction of the servants of Hiram. Whether or not they received remuneration for their labor is uncertain. Certainly the present verse does not contradict 1Ki. 9:22<\/span> which asserts that Solomon did not make bondmen of the children of Israel as he did of the Canaanites.[166]<\/p>\n [165] According to the census taken by Joab in the reign of David, Israel numbered eight hundred thousand and Judah five hundred thousand fighting men (2Sa. 24:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n [166] The Canaanites are called tribute-slaves (masobed) while the thirty thousand Israelites are called tribute-laborers (mas).<\/p>\n In addition to the thirty thousand Israelite draftees, Solomon compelled the remnants of the Canaanites to become tribute slaves (1Ki. 9:20-21<\/span>). The seventy thousand bearers of burdens and the eighty thousand hewers of stone mentioned in 1Ki. 5:15<\/span> were the last of the Canaanites remaining in the land.[167] It is a matter of dispute whether or not the phrase in the mountain refers to the Lebanon mountains or the hill country of Canaan. It is hard to imaginethough it is not impossiblethat the massive Temple stones were brought from Lebanon to Jerusalem. Fine quality limestone can be obtained near Jerusalem. This stone is soft when quarried, but gradually hardens under exposure. The term hew (Heb., chasab) denotes the splitting of blocks from the living rock rather than the more skilled operation of dressing the stone (Heb., pasal).<\/p>\n [167] According to 2Ch. 2:17<\/span> Davids census had found 153,600 Canaanite men remaining. The burden bearers and stonecutters totaled 150,000 and there were 3,600 Canaanite officers over them (2Ch. 2:18<\/span>).<\/p>\n Thirty-three hundred foremen (lit., the princes of the overseers) supervised the various work crews (1Ki. 5:16<\/span>). At the end of the construction account, mention is made of five hundred fifty additional princes of the overseers (1Ki. 9:23<\/span>). This yields a total of 3,850 superintendents which agrees with the total stated in the Book of Chronicles. However, 2Ch. 2:18<\/span> refers to a body of thirty-six hundred overseers to set the people at -work while 2Ch. 8:10<\/span> speaks of two hundred fifty princes of the overseers. Thus while the totals are the same in Kings and Chronicles, it is obvious that the two sacred writers have employed different systems of classification and arrangement of these superintendents. The author of Chronicles has made race the basis of arrangement. The thirty-six hundred mentioned in 2Ch. 2:18<\/span> were Canaanites, while the two hundred fifty mentioned in 2Ch. 8:10<\/span> were no doubt Israelites. Kings, on the other hand, has used rank as the basis of classification. There were thirty-three hundred subordinate (1Ki. 5:16<\/span>) and five hundred fifty superior officers (1Ki. 9:23<\/span>).<\/p>\n SOLOMONS SUPERINTENDENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n A Harmony of Kings and Chronicles<\/p>\n CLASSIFICATION BY RACE CLASSIFICATION BY RANK 2Ch. 2:18<\/span><\/p>\n Canaanice Officers 3,600<\/p>\n 2Ch. 8:10<\/span><\/p>\n Israelite Officers 250<\/p>\n Total 3,850<\/p>\n 1Ki. 5:16<\/span><\/p>\n Subordinate Officers 3.300<\/p>\n 1Ki. 9:23<\/span><\/p>\n Superior Officers 550<\/p>\n Total 3,850<\/p>\n CONCLUSIONS<\/p>\n 1. Of the 550 superior officers. 300 were Canaanites.<\/p>\n 2. All of the 3.300 officers in 1Ki. 5:16<\/span> were Canaanites.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n ORGANIZATION OF SOLOMONS WORK FORCE Cabinet Level<\/p>\n ADONIRAM<\/p>\n 1Ki. 4:6<\/span>; 1Ki. 5:14 Superior Officers<\/p>\n 250 Israelites<\/p>\n 2Ch. 8:10 300 Canaanites Foremen<\/p>\n Probably Hirams men served as crew Foremen Cf. 1Ki. 5:6 3.300 Canaanites<\/p>\n 2Ch. 2:18<\/span>; 1Ki. 5:16<\/span><\/p>\n (Each over a Crew of about 45 Men)<\/p>\n Laborers<\/p>\n 30.000 Israelites who Cut Timber 1Ki. 5:13 70.000 Canaanice Burden Bearers 80,000 Canaanice Stonecutters 1Ki. 5:15<\/span>; 2Ch. 2:18 Total<\/p>\n 30.2S0 Israelites<\/p>\n 153.600 Canaanites<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The workingmen having been secured and organized, Solomon issued the order for the foundation stones to be cut out and brought to the Temple site (1Ki. 5:17<\/span>). Although the foundation stones would not be seen, equal care was given to their preparation. Ordinarily plain stones were used for foundations; but the king commanded that they should prepare great, costly, hewn stones. Some of these very stones can still be viewed at the excavations on Mt. Moriah. There is no contradiction between the reference to hewn stone and the statement in 1Ki. 6:7<\/span> that neither hammer nor axe nor iron was heard in the house while it was being built since the stone was made ready at the quarry.<\/p>\n Hirams workers assisted in the work of quarrying the great Temple stones as well as in securing the timber (1Ki. 5:18<\/span>). The King James rendering stonecutters in 1Ki. 5:18<\/span> is best taken as a proper noun, Gebalites. Gebal (Byblos) was a Phoenician city not far from the coast about twenty miles north of modern Beirut. According to Eze. 27:9<\/span> the Gebalites were skilled ship builders and therefore, were probably skillful builders generally. They would be the most suitable of Hirams subjects to superintend the working of the wood and stone for Solomons building projects.<\/p>\n (13) Levy out of all Israel.<\/strong>This, though far from being onerous, appears to have been at this time exceptional. For in 1Ki. 9:22<\/span> we read that of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains. Thus exceptionally introduced at first for the special service of God, it may have been the beginning of what was hereafter an oppressive despotism over the Israelites themselves. Probably even now the Israelite labourers were (under the chief officers) put in authority over the great mass of 150,000 bondmen, evidently drawn from the native races. (See 2Ch. 2:17<\/span>.) But the whole description suggests to uswhat the history of Exodus, the monuments of Egypt, and the description by Herodotus of the building of the Pyramids confirmthe vast sacrifice of human labour and life, at which (in the absence of machinery to spare labour) the great monuments of ancient splendour were reared.<\/p>\n THE LABORERS AT LEBANON, 1Ki 5:13-18<\/span>.<\/p>\n 13<\/strong>. <\/strong> Levy <\/strong> See note on 1Ki 4:6<\/span>, and 2Sa 20:24<\/span>.<\/p>\n 1Ki 5:13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.<\/p>\n Ver. 13. And king Solomon raised a levy.<\/strong> ] Heb., A tribute of men, perhaps of aliens, or such as the Gibeonites were in Israel.<\/p>\n levy = tribute of men for free labour, not the bond service of 1Ki 9:21, 1Ki 9:22. Compare 1Ki 4:6. 2Sa 20:24. Foretold in 1Sa 8:16. David employed forced service of resident aliens (1Ch 22:2; and notes on 2Sa 12:31). <\/p>\n levy: Heb. tribute of men, 1Ki 4:6 <\/p>\n the levy: 1Ki 9:15 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Ki 5:1 – Hiram 1Ki 9:21 – levy 2Ch 2:17 – numbered 2Ch 8:8 – to pay Ecc 5:11 – they<\/p>\n 1Ki 5:13. Solomon raised a levy Which were to be employed in the most honourable and easy parts of the work relating to the temple, in the manner expressed 1Ki 5:14; and these were Israelites; but those one hundred and fifty thousand mentioned 1Ki 5:15 were strangers. if it seem strange that so many thousands should be employed about so small a building as the temple was, it must be considered, 1st, That the temple, all its parts being considered, was far larger than men imagine: 2d, That it is probable they were employed by turns, as the thirty thousand were, (1Ki 5:13,) else they had been oppressed with hard and uninterrupted labours: 3d, That the timber and stone hewed and carried by them were designed, not only for the temple, but also for Solomons own houses and buildings; because we read of no other levy of men, nor of any care and pains taken, after the building of the temple, for the procurement or preparation of materials for his own houses, or his other buildings; nay, that this very levy of men was made and employed for the building of the Lords house, and Solomons house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer, is expressed chap. 1Ki 9:15.<\/p>\n Solomon’s conscription of laborers 5:13-18<\/span><\/p>\n Solomon’s forced laborers were non-Israelites (2Ch 8:7-8). Israelites also served, but they were not slaves (1Ki 9:22). Solomon’s method of providing workers for state projects became very distasteful to the people eventually, perhaps because of how it was administered (cf. 1Ki 12:18).<\/p>\n "[Adoniram, also known as Hadoram, 2Ch 10:18] was probably one of the most hated men in Israel, an embodiment of autocracy." [Note: J. Barton Payne, "Second Chronicles," in The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 399. Cf. 1 Kings 4:6.] <\/span><\/p>\n Solomon’s temple rested on massive limestone blocks that he had quarried out of the hills north of Jerusalem (1Ki 5:17). The Gebelites (1Ki 5:18) lived in Byblos, 13 miles north of modern Beirut and 60 miles north of Tyre.<\/p>\n The main emphasis in this chapter is on the favorable response of the Phoenician king, Hiram, with which God blessed Israel through Solomon’s wisdom (1Ki 5:7). Solomon wrote that "when a person’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Pro 16:7). Such was God’s blessing on Solomon at this time.<\/p>\n And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. 13 18. Solomon’s levy of forced labourers for the work on Lebanon (2Ch 2:1-2; 2Ch 2:17-18) 13. a levy ] The men selected had to give their labour. Such compulsory service has been a not unusual demand of … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 5:13”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Chronicles<\/p>\n
Kings<\/p>\n
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(Each in Charge of 11 Crews)<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nFuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"