1st Kings Chapter 5 verse 15 Holy Bible

ASV 1stKings 5:15

And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;
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BBE 1stKings 5:15

Then he had seventy thousand for the work of transport, and eighty thousand stone-cutters in the mountains;
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DARBY 1stKings 5:15

And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountains;
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KJV 1stKings 5:15

And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
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WBT 1stKings 5:15

And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens, and eighty thousand hewers in the mountains;
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WEB 1stKings 5:15

Solomon had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains;
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YLT 1stKings 5:15

And king Solomon hath seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain,
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 15. - And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains. [These 150,000, destined for the more laborious and menial works, were not Israelites, but Canaanites. We learn from 2 Chronicles 2:17, 18 that "all the strangers that were in the land of Israel" were subjected to forced labour by Solomon - there were, that is to say, but 150,000 of them remaining. They occupied a very different position from that of the 30,000 Hebrews. None of the latter were reduced to bondage (1 Kings 9:22), while the former had long been employed in servile work. The Gibeonites were reduced to serfdom by Joshua (Joshua 9:27), and the rest of the Canaanites as they were conquered (Joshua 6:10; Joshua 17:13; Judges 1:29, 30). In 1 Chronicles 22:2, we find some of them employed on public works by David. By the "hewers" many commentators have supposed that stonecutters alone are intended (so Jos., Ant., 8:02.9) partly because stone is mentioned presently, and partly because חָצַב is mostly used of the quarrying or cutting of stone, as in Deuteronomy 6:11; Deuteronomy 8:9; 2 Kings 12:12, etc. Gesenius understands the word both of stone and wood cutters. But is it not probable that the latter alone are indicated? That the word is sometimes used of woodcutting Isaiah 10:15 shows. And the words, "in the mountain" (בָּהָר) almost compel us so to understand it here. "The mountain" must be Lebanon. But surely the stone was not transported, to any great extent, like the wood, so great a distance over land and sea, especially when it abounded on the spot. (The tradition that the stone was quarried at Baalbek is quite unworthy of credence. It has no doubt sprung from the huge stones found there. "The temple was built of the beautiful white stone of the country, the hard missal" (Warren, p. 60.) It is true the number of wood cutters would thus appear to be very great, but it is to be remembered how few comparatively were the appliances or machines of those days: almost everything must be done by manual labour. And Pliny tells us that no less than 360,000 men were employed for twenty years on one of the pyramids. It is possible, however, that the huge foundations mentioned below (ver. 17) were brought from Lebanon.]

Ellicott's Commentary