1 Kings 5 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~967 BC, the fourth year of Solomon's reign, as temple construction begins
Location
Jerusalem and the Phoenician coastal city of Tyre, with timber cut in the mountains of Lebanon and floated south along the Mediterranean shore
Audience
Judeans in Babylonian exile, whose own temple lay in ruins
Situation
Hiram, king of Tyre, congratulates Solomon on his accession, and the two rulers negotiate a trade agreement: Lebanese cedar and cypress timber in exchange for large annual shipments of wheat and olive oil. Solomon then conscripts a labor force of tens of thousands for the work.
Key Background
Phoenicia had the best shipwrights and the best forests in the region but almost no farmland, while Israel had grain and oil to spare, so this was a natural exchange rather than a lopsided favor. Cedar from Lebanon was the prestige building material of the entire ancient Near East, sought by Egyptian and Assyrian kings alike, and floating log rafts down the coast was the standard way to move it. The forced labor levy described here, drawn from Israel's own population, was normal practice for a monarchy building on this scale, and the memory of it becomes the specific grievance that fractures the kingdom in chapter twelve.
king of Tyre sent his officials to Solomon because he had heard that Solomon had been king to succeed his father. had always been an of David.
Solomon sent word back to Hiram:
"You know that my father David wasn't able to build a for the name of God because of all the wars surrounding him on every side, until put enemies
But now Yahweh my God has given me on every side — no no of
So I intend to build a house for the of Yahweh my God, just as Yahweh told my father David: 'Your son, the one I'll put on your throne after you — he's the one who will build the house for my
Now give orders to cut down from Lebanon for me. My workers will work alongside yours, and I'll pay your workers whatever wages you set. You know we don't have anyone who knows how to cut timber like the do."
When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was He said, "Today I Yahweh, who has given David a son to rule over this great people!"
Hiram sent word to Solomon: "I received your message. I'll do everything you want with the cedar and timber.
My workers will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea. I'll float them as by sea to whatever location you specify. I'll have them broken apart there, and you can take them away. In return, you'll provide food for my household."
So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted,
and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand of wheat as food for his household, plus twenty of Solomon provided this to Hiram year after year.
Yahweh gave Solomon just as he had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a formal
King Solomon drafted from all of Israel — thirty thousand men.
He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand per month — one month in Lebanon, two months at home. was in charge of the forced labor.
Solomon also had seventy thousand and eighty thousand in the hill country,
plus thirty-three hundred who supervised the workers and directed the project.
The king ordered them to quarry large, to lay a foundation of cut stone for the
Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders, along with the cut and prepared the timber and stone for building the Temple.