1 Kings 5--Preparations for Building the Temple

1 Kings 5
English Standard Version

Preparations for Building the Temple
5  Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. 2 And Solomon sent word to Hiram, 3 “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. 5 And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ 6 Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

7 As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” 8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. 9 My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.” 10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, 11 while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. 12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

13 King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft. 15 Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16 besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. 17 At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. 18 So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

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Right away, Hiram, king of Tyre, sends diplomatic envoys to King Solomon to establish diplomatic relations with him, as Hiram had always had good relations with King David.  Solomon immediately seizes on the opportunity to get to work on building the Temple to the LORD for although David and the people had stored up much wealth for this purpose (we'll see that when we get to 1 Chronicles), there are raw materials missing that Solomon would like to use--namely cedar from the best cedar and cypress trees in the whole world that grow in Lebanon.  This area is currently under the control of the king of Tyre and Sidon, so Solomon says he desires for Hiram to give the order for these his servants to cut down enough trees for Solomon to build the Temple and Solomon would pay the Sidonians whatever wages Hiram set for them.  Solomon would also send his own servants (though they were not skilled in gathering lumber like this).

Hiram was delighted to hear that Solomon's first order of business was to build the Temple, and he was overjoyed to be able to help out.  Hiram already had a plan on how to get all the timber from Lebanon to Solomon in Israel.  His plan is to take all the cut lumber to the Mediterranean Sea, make rafts out of it, and then send these rafts down to Israel where they can be taken apart and the lumber could be used for construction (leaving Hiram's servants with no way to get back but a long trek across lots of land if the were the ones sailing the rafts across the Sea).  All that Hiram asks in return is that Solomon feeds Hiram's household (probably meaning that he needs to provide provisions for all the servants that he is sending to Solomon, but this could also include sending food and provisions to Hiram himself for his family and servants that remained in Tyre).  The negotiated price was an annual payment of 20,000 cors of wheat and 20,000 cors of beaten oil.  In this way there was lasting peace between the two kingdoms, and this was the first nation to make a peace treaty with Solomon.

Solomon drafted 30,000 men to assist with the labor and sent 10,000 men every month to Lebanon to help with the work (each shift would work for a month and then have two months off).  He but Adoniram in charge of the draft.  Solomon also provided 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stone-cutters for the work and committed all 3,300 of his chief officers to this project, giving them charge over the people doing the day-to-day work.

Solomon ordered that a great number of costly stones be quarried and dressed to be used to lay the foundation for the Temple (what we might call the Temple Mount today).  Even as magnificent and beautiful as these costly stones were, they are nothing compared to the foundations of the New Jerusalem that the LORD is preparing for His people when we read Revelation 21 and 22.  So all this labor to get the timer and the stone was accomplished by the servants of Hiram, the servants of Solomon, and the men of Gebal (not previously mentioned, but mentioned in this last verse).  The LORD provided everything that Solomon needed to build the Temple and it would be so magnificent that people from all around the world would come to visit and know more about who that LORD was that He had such a magnificent temple.  This was quite a long construction project, as you might imagine, so the next several chapters will all be devoted to the building of the Temple, bringing all the furnishings to the Temple and dedicating the Temple.