7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to 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 of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
7 And it came to pass, when Hiram H2438 heard H8085 the words H1697 of Solomon, H8010 that he rejoiced H8055 greatly, H3966 and said, H559 Blessed H1288 be the LORD H3068 this day, H3117 which hath given H5414 unto David H1732 a wise H2450 son H1121 over this great H7227 people. H5971
8 And Hiram H2438 sent H7971 to Solomon, H8010 saying, H559 I have considered H8085 the things which thou sentest H7971 to me for: and I will do H6213 all thy desire H2656 concerning timber H6086 of cedar, H730 and concerning timber H6086 of fir. H1265
9 My servants H5650 shall bring them down H3381 from Lebanon H3844 unto the sea: H3220 and I will convey H7760 them by sea H3220 in floats H1702 unto the place H4725 that thou shalt appoint H7971 me, and will cause them to be discharged H5310 there, and thou shalt receive H5375 them: and thou shalt accomplish H6213 my desire, H2656 in giving H5414 food H3899 for my household. H1004
10 So Hiram H2438 gave H5414 Solomon H8010 cedar H730 trees H6086 and fir H1265 trees H6086 according to all his desire. H2656
11 And Solomon H8010 gave H5414 Hiram H2438 twenty H6242 thousand H505 measures H3734 of wheat H2406 for food H4361 to his household, H1004 and twenty H6242 measures H3734 of pure H3795 oil: H8081 thus gave H5414 Solomon H8010 to Hiram H2438 year H8141 by year. H8141
7 And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard `the message' which thou hast sent unto me: 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 make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
7 And it cometh to pass at Hiram's hearing the words of Solomon, that he rejoiceth exceedingly, and saith, `Blessed `is' Jehovah to-day, who hath given to David a wise son over this numerous people.'
8 And Hiram sendeth unto Solomon, saying, I have heard that which thou hast sent unto me, I do all thy desire concerning cedar-wood, and fir-wood,
9 my servants bring down from Lebanon to the sea, and I make them floats in the sea unto the place that thou sendest unto me, and I have spread them out there; and thou dost take `them' up, and thou dost execute my desire, to give the food of my house.'
10 And Hiram is giving to Solomon cedar-trees, and fir-trees, all his desire,
11 and Solomon hath given to Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat, food for his house, and twenty cors of beaten oil; thus doth Solomon give to Hiram year by year.
7 And it came to pass when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.
8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the things which thou sentest to me for: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress.
9 My servants shall bring [them] down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will convey them by sea [in] rafts to the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up 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 cypress-trees [according to] all his desire.
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty measures of beaten oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
7 It happened, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.
8 Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard [the message] which you have sent to me: I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.
9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you shall appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you shall receive them; and you shall accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire.
11 Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
7 And these words of Solomon made Hiram glad, and he said, Now may the Lord be praised who has given to David a wise son to be king over this great people.
8 Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying; The words you sent have been given to me: I will do all your desire in the question of cedar-wood and cypress-wood.
9 My men will take them down from Lebanon to the sea, where I will have them corded together to go by sea to whatever place you say, and I will have them cut up there so that you may take them away; as for payment, it will be enough if you give me food for my people.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar-wood and cypress-wood he had need of;
11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of grain, as food for his people, and twenty measures of clear oil; this he did every year.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 5
Commentary on 1 Kings 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
1Ki 5:1-6. Hiram Sends to Congratulate Solomon.
1. Hiram … sent his servants unto Solomon—the grandson of David's contemporary [Kitto]; or the same Hiram [Winer and others]. The friendly relations which the king of Tyre had cultivated with David are here seen renewed with his son and successor, by a message of condolence as well as of congratulation on his accession to the throne of Israel. The alliance between the two nations had been mutually beneficial by the encouragement of useful traffic. Israel, being agricultural, furnished corn and oil, while the Tyrians, who were a commercial people, gave in exchange their Phœnician manufactures, as well as the produce of foreign lands. A special treaty was now entered into in furtherance of that undertaking which was the great work of Solomon's splendid and peaceful reign.
6. command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon—Nowhere else could Solomon have procured materials for the woodwork of his contemplated building. The forests of Lebanon, adjoining the seas in Solomon's time, belonged to the Phœnicians, and the timber being a lucrative branch of their exports, immense numbers of workmen were constantly employed in the felling of trees as well as the transportation and preparation of the wood. Hiram stipulated to furnish Solomon with as large a quantity of cedars and cypresses as he might require and it was a great additional obligation that he engaged to render the important service of having it brought down, probably by the Dog river, to the seaside, and conveyed along the coast in floats; that is, the logs being bound together, to the harbor of Joppa (2Ch 2:16), whence they could easily find the means of transport to Jerusalem.
my servants shall be with thy servants—The operations were to be on so extensive a scale that the Tyrians alone would be insufficient. A division of labor was necessary, and while the former would do the work that required skilful artisans, Solomon engaged to supply the laborers.
1Ki 5:7-12. Furnishes Timber to Build the Temple.
7. Blessed be the Lord—This language is no decisive evidence that Hiram was a worshipper of the true God, as he might use it only on the polytheistic principle of acknowledging Jehovah as the God of the Hebrews (see on 2Ch 2:11).
8. Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things … and I will do—The contract was drawn out formally in a written document (2Ch 2:11), which, according to Josephus, was preserved both in the Jewish and Tyrian records.
10. fir trees—rather, the cypress.
11. food to his household—This was an annual supply for the palace, different from that mentioned in 2Ch 2:10, which was for the workmen in the forests.
1Ki 5:13-18. Solomon's Workmen and Laborers.
13. Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel—The renewed notice of Solomon's divine gift of wisdom (1Ki 5:12) is evidently introduced to prepare for this record of the strong but prudent measures he took towards the accomplishment of his work. So great a stretch of arbitrary power as is implied in this compulsory levy would have raised great discontent, if not opposition, had not his wise arrangement of letting the laborers remain at home two months out of three, added to the sacredness of the work, reconciled the people to this forced labor. The carrying of burdens and the irksome work of excavating the quarries was assigned to the remnant of the Canaanites (1Ki 9:20; 2Ch 8:7-9) and war prisoners made by David—amounting to 153,600. The employment of persons of that condition in Eastern countries for carrying on any public work, would make this part of the arrangements the less thought of.
17. brought great stones—The stone of Lebanon is "hard, calcareous, whitish and sonorous, like free stone" [Shaw]. The same white and beautiful stone can be obtained in every part of Syria and Palestine.
hewed stones—or neatly polished, as the Hebrew word signifies (Ex 20:25). Both Jewish and Tyrian builders were employed in hewing these great stones.
18. and the stone squarers—The Margin, which renders it "the Giblites" (Jos 13:5), has long been considered a preferable translation. This marginal translation also must yield to another which has lately been proposed, by a slight change in the Hebrew text, and which would be rendered thus: "Solomon's builders, and Hiram's builders, did hew them and bevel them" [Thenius]. These great bevelled or grooved stones, measuring some twenty, others thirty feet in length, and from five to six feet in breadth, are still seen in the substructures about the ancient site of the temple; and, in the judgment of the most competent observers, were those originally employed "to lay the foundation of the house."