Bible Commentaries

THIRD SECTION

Solomon’s Buildings

( 1 Kings 5:1, 5:15]– 1 Kings 9:28.)

A.—Treaty with Hiram in regard to the building of the Temple

1 Kings 5:1-18. 15–32]

1And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon;¹ for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever 2 a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, 3Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house unto the name of the Lord his God, for the wars² which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his³ feet 4 But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent 5 And, behold, I purpose⁴ to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy Song of Solomon, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build a [the] house unto my name 6 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.

7And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Song of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the Lord⁵ [Jehovah] this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people 8 And Hiram sent to Song of Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir 9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household 10 So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire 11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures [cor] of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures [cor⁶] of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year 12 And the Lord gave Solomon Wisdom of Solomon, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

13And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy 15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that 16 bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains; besides the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three^{7 8} hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work 17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house 18 And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.

Exegetical and Critical

1 Kings 5:1-6. And Hiram king of Tyre, &c. After the general description of Solomon’s government in the preceding section, the narrative now proceeds to give an account of his great and important undertaking, the building of the Temple (comp. the parallel account, 2 Chronicles 2). Hiram is called חִירוֹם in 1 Kings5:7, 19, and חוּרָם in Chron, and Εἵρωμος twice in Josephus. It is uncertain whether of these be the original form. According to 2 Chronicles 2:2, and the present passage also, this Hiram was the same as he who had sent David wood to build his house ( 2 Samuel 5:11), and it is unnecessary, on the ground of the unreliable chronology of Josephus, to reckon him to be the son of that Hiram (having his father’s name) as Le Clerc, Thenius, and others do (Antiq,viii31; comp. Contr. Apion,i18). If, according to Josephus, the beginning of the building of the Temple, which took place in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, occurred in the eleventh year of Hiram, it follows that the latter must have reigned several years contemporaneously with David, and may very well have reigned twenty years more, simultaneously with Solomon ( 1 Kings 9:10 sq.).—The purpose of his embassy to Solomon was to congratulate him on his accession. (The Syriac adds וַיְבָרֶךְ אֹתוֹ, which Thenius, without reason, deems original). It was evidence that he desired Solomon to continue in the same friendly relations to him as David had maintained; and it was the easier for Solomon to make that request to him, mentioned in 1 Kings 5:6. On 1 Kings 5:7-9, comp. 2 Samuel 8:13, and 1 Chronicles 22:7-11. According to Ewald and Thenius, מלחמה, ver3, is equivalent to enemies (surrounding him); but in Psalm 109:3, סבב is also bund with the double accusative: they compassed me about also with words of hatred. Upon לְשֵׁם יְהוָֹה, see on chap6—פֶּגַע רָע, i.e, an unhappy event, as, for instance, rebellion, famine, plague, or other suffering. It appears, from 1 Kings 5:6, that the part of Lebanon where the best cedars for building grew, belonged to Phœnicia; it was on the northwestern part of the mountain range (Robinson, Palest, vol. iii. pp588–594). The Sidonians are not the inhabitants of the city of Sidon simply, but of the entire district to which that part of Lebanon belonged. They knew how to hew and prepare wood for building, for they were skilled in ship-building beyond all other nations, and built their own houses also of wood (Schnaase, Gesch. der bildenden Künste,i. s. 249). We see from 1 Kings 5:8 and 1 Kings 7:13, that Solomon desired cypress-wood, and a Phœnician artisan besides (comp. 2 Chronicles 2:7; 2 Chronicles 2:13).

1 Kings 5:7-8. And it came to pass when Hiram, heard the words of Song of Solomon, &c. “ The king of Tyre must have been very desirous of remaining on good terms with Israel, because the land of Israel was a granary for Phoenicia, and the friendship of the former was very important to the Phoenician commercial interests “(Keil). The chronicler adds to יְהֹוָה ( 2 Chronicles 2:12), the God of Israel that made heaven and earth. It does not follow, however, as older commentators say, that Hiram acknowledged this God as the only true God, or had become a proselyte. Polytheism is not exclusive: it allows each nation to retain its divinity, and recognizes his power, when it thinks it perceives his workings or his agency and benefactions, without rejecting the specifically national gods. When Hiram, therefore, names Solomon חָכָם, because he is about to build a temple to Jehovah, it is evident that the idea of wisdom ( 1 Kings 5:7), essentially includes that of religion (fear of God). Cypress is, indeed, inferior to cedar; but is also fitted for building, because “it is not eaten by worms, and is almost imperishable, as well as very light” (Winer). According to 2 Chronicles 2:16, the wood for building was sent down on rafts (on the Mediterranean) to Joppa (i.e, Jaffa, coast-town on the borders of the tribe of Daniel, Joshua 19:46). Thence it was conveyed overland to Jerusalem, which is situated southeast thereof.

1 Kings 5:9-13. And thou shalt … in giving food, &c. Every year, as long as Hiram furnished building-materials and workmen, he received, for the sustenance of his court, 20,000⁹ (cor) measures of wheat, i.e, by Thenius’ reckoning, 38, 250 Dresden bushels, from Solomon; also20 (cor) measures of oil, i.e, 100 casks, the cask containing6 buckets. Pure oil is the finest, not going, after the usual fashion, through the press, but is obtained by pounding olives not quite ripe in a mortar (my Symbolik des Mos. Cult., i. s. 419). The chronicler does not mention this delivery to the court of Hiram; but he gives, in 2 Chronicles 2:10, the reward of the laborers promised in our 6 th verse: “I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, 20,000 (cor) measures of beaten wheat, and20,000 (cor) measures of barley, and20,000 baths of wine, and20,000 baths of oil.” The narrative here concerns a different thing, and no one has a right, as Thenius, to turn the20 (cor) measures of the finest oil, destined for the court, into20,000 of ordinary quality, and to suppose, with Bertheau, that the quantity of wine and oil is added by the chronicler according to his own whim. “Because the quantity of the wheat which Solomon gave Hiram for the use of the court was as large as that which he delivered for the Sidonian hewers of wood, it does not follow that we are justified in identifying the two accounts” (Keil). Besides, as Bertheau remarks, it appears that the account in the Chronicles does not, like our own, speak of an annual, but only of one delivery. The one account, as often happens, supplements the other. The addition, 1 Kings 5:12, means: Song of Solomon, by virtue of the wisdom he had received from God, came to the conclusion that it would be well to accept Hiram’s propositions, and to enter into terms of friendship with him. Keil also thinks that the verse refers to the wise use he made of the working capacities of his subjects, which is referred to in the following verses, and that this verse, therefore, leads on to them.

1 Kings 5:13-15. And king Solomon raised a levy.וַיַּעַל, strictly adscendere fecit, to take out, to take away ( Psalm 102:25). All Israel does not mean here the whole territory, but, as often elsewhere, the people ( 1 Kings 1:20; 1 Kings 8:65; 1 Kings 12:16; 1 Kings 12:20; 1 Kings 14:13). In 1 Kings 5:13 it is expressly said that these30,000 men were (born) Israelites. Of these, 10,000 were always one month in service, and free the two following, when they cultivated their fields and took care of their houses. For Adoniram, see 1 Kings 4:6.—Besides these30,000 men, who were not sufficient, there were ( 1 Kings 5:15) 70,000 that bore burdens, and80,000 hewers in the mountains. חצב, is, “according to all Versions, to be understood of stone-cutters alone, not of wood-cutters (Gesenius, Ewald), for the (easier) working in wood was sufficiently provided for by the changing30,000 laborers” (Thenius). The בָּהָר can be understood only of Lebanon, from the context, and not, as Bertheau thinks, of the stone-quarries of the mountains. The70+80,000 = 150,000 men ( 2 Chronicles 2:18) were not changed, but were in constant service; they were not Israelites, but, on the contrary, גֵּירִים (as the parallel passage alluded to expressly says), i.e, strangers in the land of Israel; those of the Canaanites that remained when their land was conquered, and who were made servants ( Judges 1:27-30; Joshua 16:10). In contradistinction to these30,000 Israelites, they are named, in 1 Kings 9:21, מַם עֹבֵד, i.e, servants ( 2 Chronicles 8:7-9). The assertion of Ewald and Distel that these150,000 servants were of the “people of Israel,” and only “came later when the several buildings became enlarged,” is utterly erroneous.—The total number of these workmen is great, but not surprising when we consider those times, when there was no machinery, and everything had to be done by the human hand. According to Pliny (Hist. Nat, xxxvi12), 360,000 men had to work twenty years long at one pyramid (comp. Calmet on the place).

1 Kings 5:16. Beside the chief, &c. Thenius: “literally the chief of the overseers, and hence the usual expression, overseer: but there are no subaltern overseers mentioned. How great, then, must the number of these have been, when the chief overseers numbered several thousands? The הנצבים לשׁלמה as a description of the substantive (Vatablus: principes, qui prœfecti erant) is properly connected therewith by the Stat. construct. (comp. Ewald, § 287 b); Song of Solomon, the chiefs not reckoned, those who were appointed by (or for) Song of Solomon, and who oversaw the works.”—Chron. gives, instead of the number3,300 ( 1 Kings 2:17), 3,600, which Thenius thinks the right one, and he would have the text altered accordingly; but Ewald, on the other hand, declares our number to be correct, and that of Chron. wrong. But both numbers are right, as J. H. Michaelis has proved; the difference comes from the different division of the offices of superintendence. In 1 Kings 9:23, 550 שָׂרֵי הַנִּצָּבִים are named; these, with the3,300, make3,850. The parallel passage of Chron. ( 1 Kings 8:10) mentions only250, which, added to the3,600, gives the same number, 3,850. This coincidence cannot be chance; the number550 evidently contains the250, and the300, by which the3,600 exceed the3,300: 250 of the whole number of overseers were, as appears from the context in 2 Chronicles 8:10, native Israelites; but300 were foreigners. The chronicler, however, no doubt includes the latter among the subaltern overseers (3,300+300 = 3,600), because they were not on the same footing with the Israelitish overseers.

1 Kings 5:17-18. And the king commanded. The great stones should be יְקָרוֹת, not “weighty” (Thenius), for that is, of course, understood, nor “precious” (Keil), for why should the value of these stones be especially insisted on? but glorious, splendid, fine stones ( Psalm 36:8; Psalm 45:9; Esther 1:4). It is plainly said here, as in 2 Chronicles 3:3, that these stones were for the foundation of the building, and not, therefore, for the “consolidation of the Temple structure” (Thenius). Of the latter kind, which Josephus (Arch, 15, 11, 3) so minutely describes, the Bible-text makes no mention. The אַבְנֵי גָזִית are nothing else than the splendid great stones, which were shaped after being hewn out of the quarry. Vulgate: ut tollerent lapides grandes, lapides pretiosos, in fundamentum templi et quadrarent eos.—The Giblites, 1 Kings 5:18, are the inhabitants of גְּבַל ( Joshua 13:5), a Phœnician town near that part of Lebanon, where the largest cedars were found; i.e, the Byblos of the Greeks. [The Engl. Ver. has simply for this word, “stone-squarers.”—E. H.] It appears, from Ezekiel 27:9, that the Giblites were remarkable for their technical skill in ship-building especially. Thenius reads וַיַּגְבִּלוּם, and translates: “they wreathed the stones—put a border round them.” Robinson stated (Palest.) that he had found stones carved in that manner. Böttcher rightly names these conjectures “ill-founded.” Comp. what Keil, on the passage, says against them.

Historical and Ethical

1. Solomon’s undertaking to build a “house” to the name of Jehovah was not an arbitrary, self-devised Acts, nor was it prompted solely through the wish and will of his father David, but rested upon a divine decision ( 1 Kings 5:5), and, as already shown in the Introduction, § 3, has its inward, necessary reason in the development of the Old Testament theocracy. The assertion that “the thought to build a magnificent temple to Jehovah in Jerusalem proceeded from the sight of the temple-service of the Phœnicians and Philistines, and of their ostentatious cultus” (Duncker, Gesch. des Alt., i. s. 397), is entirely without foundation and contradicts all historical records. When Stephen, in his discourse before the Sanhedrin, says: “Solomon built him an house. But the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” &c. ( Acts 7:47), he does not mean in any way to blame Solomon’s undertaking, or to say, as Lechler supposes (in his Bibelwerk on the place), the tabernacle was set up at God’s will and command; but the design of building a temple and the completion of it is only a human design and a human performance. For that the Most High cannot be shut up within a house, Solomon himself expressly declared at the consecration of the Temple ( 1 Kings 8:27). Stephen was opposing rather, from the stand-point of the New Testament, the stiff-necked, Jewish authorities, who, when the promised Messiah appeared, and the New Covenant was introduced along with Him, rejected the same, and clung with tenacious unbelief to the outward sign of the Old Covenant, to the Temple as the permanent central-point of all divine revelation. The accusation, he would say, that this Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this holy place, was in so far correct, as that He certainly had taken away the Old Covenant, and with it had abolished its sign and pledge ( John 2:19). For the day of the New Covenant, the temple at Jerusalem has lost all significance. For the dwelling of God in the midst of His people conditioned through natural descent, has become transferred into a dwelling in the midst of the people who are believers in Christ, to whom the apostle appeals: Ye are the temple of the living God, in you is fulfilled, in truth, the word spoken once by God unto Israel: I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and will be their God, and they shall be my people ( 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21; 1 Peter 2:4-5). To cling now to the Old Testament temple built by human hands, and to reject the living temple of the living God, Stephen pronounces as a striving against the Holy Ghost ( Acts 7:51).

2. It is one of those significant divine providenoes in which the history of Israel is so rich, that as in the development of the “sacred history” the time had come for “the house of the Lord” (or for for Jehovah), in the land which alone possessed those means and agencies for the execution of the undertaking in which Israel was wanting, a king ruled who entertained a friendly sentiment towards David and Song of Solomon, and was prepared gladly for every assistance, so that even heathen nations, whether friendly or conquered, took part in the building of the house for the God of Israel, and so contributed indirectly to the glorifying of God. It was a setting forth in act of the word: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all that therein is” ( Psalm 24:1); “For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He is governor among the nations” ( Psalm 22:28); and “all the heathen shall serve Him” ( Psalm 72:11). And as Solomon’s kingdom, as the most complete outward kingdom of peace, is frequently, with the prophets, a type of the Messiah’s kingdom (see above, Historical and Ethical on chap4), so do they behold, in the participation by the heathen in the building of the temple, a type and prophecy that the Messiah “shall build the temple of the Lord … and that they who are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord,” &c. ( Zechariah 6:12-15).

3. “In the very time of their highest earthly splendor the people of God, in respect of worldly art, pursuit, and skill, were inferior to the neighboring Phœnicians” (Gerlach). Solomon had no one amongst his people who could execute a work of art such as the temple was to be ( 1 Kings 5:6). As to individual men ( 1 Corinthians 7:7), so also to nations, God has distributed divers gifts, powers, and destiny. It was not the office of Israel to exercise the arts, but to be the bearer of divine Revelation, and to communicate the knowledge of the One living and all-holy God to all nations. To this end God has chosen this people out of all peoples; and their entire mode of life and occupation, yea, their whole development and history, are closely connected with it. To the achievement of this its destiny must even other nations serve, with the especial gifts and powers conferred upon them. High as the Phœnicians stood above Israel at that time in technical and artistic accomplishments (cf. Duncker, a. a. O, s. 317–320), so nevertheless did Israel, notwithstanding all its sins and errors, excel the Phœnicians in the knowledge of the truth. Distinguished as Phœnicia was for its art and commerce, its religion was the most depraved, and its worship most crude (Duncker, s. 155 sq.).

4. The genius of the Jewish people never achieved anything eminent in plastic art. Skill in architecture, and in sculpture, and in painting, seems to have been denied them. Their religion forbade it, and the hereditary feeling of the race was one of aversion to all arts of the “graver,” to images and forms cut in stones or upon stone, and so in their want of appreciation of beauty of form they were unable to conceive of grand structures; and when Solomon’s great buildings were undertaken, the skilled workmen and the artists connected with the work were foreigners. Dr. Prideaux quotes Josephus to this effect (Antiq, Bk18. c7): “When Vitellius governor of Syria was going to pass through Judæa with a Roman army to make war against the Arabians, the chief of the Jews met him, and earnestly entreated him to lead his army another way; for they could not bear the sight of those images which were in the ensigns under which they marched, they were so abominated by them. The ensigns therefore, for the sake of those images in them, were abominations to the Jews; and by reason of the desolations which were wrought under them by the Roman armies in conquered countries, they were called desolating abominations, or abominations of desolation, and they were never more so than when under them the Roman armies besieged and destroyed Jerusalem.” Poetic feeling, the power of Song of Solomon, belonged to the race; and these, under God, have impressed themselves upon the heart of the nations, so that to this day the “songs of Zion” are sung in temples which the Jewish people never could have built.—E. H.]

Homiletical and Practical

1 Kings 5:1-5. Solomon’s purpose to build a house to the Lord. (1) The motive. 1 Kings 5:3-5. Not ambition, the love of glory, the love of pomp, but the divine will, and the charge of his father. In every weighty undertaking one must examine and be assured that it do not proceed from selfish motives, but is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God ( Romans 12:2). (2) The time, rest and peace ( 1 Kings 5:4). A time of peace is the time for building in general, but especially for building houses of God, which are a memorial of thanksgiving for the blessings of peace and prosperity. (3) The request for assistance, 1 Kings 5:6. In important undertakings which are agreeable to the will of God, and propose His honor, we may and should not hesitate to trust in Him who directs men’s hearts, like the water-brooks, to ask others for aid and assistance.

1 Kings 5:1-2. True friends whom parents have gained, are an invaluable legacy for the children, for whom the latter cannot be sufficiently thankful ( Ecclesiastes 30:4). To a God-fearing man like David, if he have many enemies, yet there will never be wanting those who love him his life long, and who prize and honor him after his death, even in his children.

1 Kings 5:3. With every son it should be his earnest business, and likewise pleasure, to fulfil the will of his father, and to complete the good work which he had begun, but could not carry out.

1 Kings 5:4. When God has granted rest and peace, health and happiness, prosperity and blessing, an opportunity is thus at hand to do something for His great name.

1 Kings 5:5. If it cannot come into the mind of every one to build a house of wood and stone unto the Lord, nevertheless, every one to whom God has given wife and children is in condition to vow and to build a house unto the Lord out of living stones. I and my house will serve the Lord ( Joshua 24:15).

1 Kings 5:5. Starke: One man needs another; on this account one should always serve and be amiable towards another, ministering to his good ( 1 Peter 4:10).—The superfluity of one must minister to the need of the others, in order that hereafter, also, the superfluity of the latter may serve for the wants of the former ( 2 Corinthians 8:14).—Israel knew not how to plan great buildings, especially works of art, but they did know how to serve the living God. Better to live without art than without God in the world.

1 Kings 5:21–25. The heathen king Hiram: (1) His rejoicing over Solomon and his undertaking; (2) his praise of the God of Israel; (3) his willingness to help. How far stands this heathen above so many who call themselves Christians!

1 Kings 5:6. Würt. Summ.: When we see that it goes well with our neighbor, we should not envy him such prosperity, but rather rejoice with him and wish him good-luck. Since Hiram, although a heathen king, has done this, how much more does it befit Christians to act thus towards each other? It proves a noble heart when a man, free from envy and jealousy, sincerely praises and thanks God for the gifts and blessings which He grants to others.—Starke: When God wishes well to a nation He bestows upon it godly rulers; but when He wills to chastise it he removes them. Hiram praises God that He bestows upon another people a wise monarch; how much more should that people itself thank God since He bestowed upon it a wise, viz, a pious king?

1 Kings 5:9. How pleasing it is when the assistance of those who can help is not wrung from them, but offered in friendship, and they are ready and heart-willing to do what lies in their power ( 2 Corinthians 9:7).—Würt. Summ.: No house, even though it be the church and temple of God, should be built to the hurt and oppression of one’s fellow-creatures.

1 Kings 5:12. The league between Solomon and Hiram: (1) Its object: a good, God-pleasing work begun in the service of God. Like kings and nations, even so individual men should unite only for such purposes. (2) The conditions of the league: each gave to the other according to his desire; neither sought to overreach the other; the compact was based upon honesty and fairness, not upon cunning and selfishness: only upon such compacts does the blessing of God rest, for unjust possessions do not prosper.

1 Kings 5:13-18. The workmen at the temple-building: (1) Israelites. Solomon acted not like unto Pharaoh ( Exodus 2:23), he laid no insupportable burdens upon his people, but permits variety in the work, and Israel itself undertakes it without murmurs or complaints. How high do these Israelites stand above so many Christian communities, who constantly object or murmur when they are about to undertake any labor for their temple, or must needs bring a sacrifice of money or time. (2) Heathen ( Psalm 22:29; vide Historical and Ethical). Jew and heathen together must build the temple of God, according to divine decree—a prophetic anticipation of fact as set forth Ephesians 2:14; Ephesians 2:19-22; Ephesians 3:4-6.—Seiler: The great preparations of Solomon must naturally remind us of the far greater preparations and arrangements which God has made for the building of the spiritual temple of the New Testament. How many thousand faithful laborers, how many wise and good men, has he placed in every known part of the world; how has he furnished them with wisdom and many other gifts of the Spirit, so that the great work of the glorious building may be completed! … O God! do thou still prosper thy work! Help the faithful workers in thy Church, that they may enlighten many men to thy glorification, &c.—Richter: Well for us if we serve the true Solomon in the preparations for His eternal temple. But still better is it if we are ourselves prepared as living stones to shine forever in the living temple ( 1 Peter 2:4-5).

Footnotes