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1 Kings 5:3–5 God has given Solomon the rest on every side that he had promised to David (2 Sam. 7:11). This picture reflects what happens when the people of Israel have a wise ruler and they walk in obedience to God’s commandments. The time is right for the divinely ordained temple-building project: build the house for my name. See 2 Sam. 7:13.
1 Kings 5:6 Sidonians is a general term for the Phoenicians, famous for their expertise in timber. Sidon, like Tyre, was on the Phoenician coast, south of what is now Beirut. my servants will join your servants . . . such wages as you set. Solomon suggests to Hiram a cooperative effort and, possibly (although the Hebrew is unclear), that Hiram should set the wages to be paid to his men.
1 Kings 5:7–8 Blessed be the Lord. A Gentile recognizes God’s blessing on his great people, Israel.
1 Kings 5:9–12 My servants shall bring it down. Hiram responds with proposals of his own—that his own men should cut the wood and transport it down the coast to Israel, and that Solomon’s men should be involved only after this has been done. Instead of wages for Hiram’s laborers, payment should be in the form of supplies of food for his royal household. Solomon agrees to supply food, but he sends workers to Lebanon “in shifts” to help with the timber (v. 14). Although he is happy to negotiate with Hiram to a certain extent, Solomon is also prepared to ignore terms that do not suit him. This clearly implies that Solomon has the upper hand in the relationship.
1 Kings 5:13 Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel. First Kings 9:15–23 makes it clear that Solomon did not force Israelites to work abroad, but only workers from the Canaanite population of Israel. Two quite distinct groups are intended in 5:13–18 and 9:15–23. The first group consists of 30,000 Canaanites and is supervised by 550 officials. The other comprises 150,000 Israelites and is supervised by 3,300 foremen.
1 Kings 5:14 At home likely refers to Solomon’s house or palace, the construction of which will be described in ch. 7. Even at this early stage, it seems, Solomon is spending twice as much time on his palace as on the temple (see 6:38–7:1), while giving the appearance that he is moving quickly ahead with the temple.
1 Kings 5:17–18 Dressed stones probably describes “ashlar” masonry, which uses uniform, rectangular blocks that can be joined with mortar.
1 Kings 5:18 The men of Gebal are workers from Byblos, a coastal city north of Tyre.
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