Monday, August 5, 2013

Reflections on 1 Kings 5

    1 Kings 05 (Contemporary English Version)
  1. King Hiram of Tyre had always been friends with Solomon's father David. When Hiram learned that Solomon was king, he sent some of his officials to meet with Solomon.
  2. Solomon sent a message back to Hiram:
  3. Remember how my father David wanted to build a temple where the LORD his God could be worshiped? But enemies kept attacking my father's kingdom, and he never had the chance.
  4. Now, thanks to the LORD God, there is peace in my kingdom and no trouble or threat of war anywhere.
  5. The LORD God promised my father that when his son became king, he would build a temple for worshiping the LORD. So I've decided to do that.
  6. I'd like you to have your workers cut down cedar trees in Lebanon for me. I will pay them whatever you say and will even have my workers help them. We both know that your workers are more experienced than anyone else at cutting lumber.
  7. Hiram was so happy when he heard Solomon's request that he said, "I am grateful that the LORD gave David such a wise son to be king of that great nation!"
  8. Then he sent back his answer: I received your message and will give you all the cedar and pine logs you need.
  9. My workers will carry them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. They will tie the logs together and float them along the coast to wherever you want them. Then they will untie the logs, and your workers can take them from there. To pay for the logs, you can provide the grain I need for my household.
  10. Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he needed.
  11. In return, Solomon gave Hiram about one hundred twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat and about one thousand one hundred gallons of pure olive oil each year.
  12. The LORD kept his promise and made Solomon wise. Hiram and Solomon signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.
  13. Solomon ordered thirty thousand people from all over Israel to cut logs for the temple,
  14. and he put Adoniram in charge of these workers. Solomon divided them into three groups of ten thousand. Each group worked one month in Lebanon and had two months off at home.
  15. He also had eighty thousand workers to cut stone in the hill country of Israel, seventy thousand workers to carry the stones,
  16. and over three thousand assistants to keep track of the work and to supervise the workers.
  17. He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.
  18. Solomon's and Hiram's men worked with men from the city of Gebal, and together they got the stones and logs ready for the temple.


An early priority in Solomon's rule was the building of a temple for the Lord. The timing of this seems to have been prompted by the visit of an envoy from king Hiram of Tyre. Hiram had been a good friend of David and wished to extend this friendship to Solomon. Solomon sent a message back to Hiram through his envoy telling him of his interest in building a temple and asking Hiram to give orders for cedars from Lebanon to be cut for him. Solomon would also send workers from Israel and would pay the Sidonians whatever Hiram thought was fair. Hiram was very pleased with this and agreed to do everything Solomon wanted. In return, he asked Solomon to provide food for his household. Along with this agreement regarding materials for the temple, the two drafted a treaty of peace.

The temple project was a huge undertaking just to gather the materials. Solomon drafted 30,000 forced laborers for the gathering of cedars from Lebanon alone. In addition, he drafted another 150,000 laborers to quarry and transport stone from the mountains to the construction site. Piecing together various accounts in 1 Kings, it appears that there was a distinction between forced laborers and slaves. This distinction was evidently to do both length of service and receipt of pay for their service. Forced laborers were temporary and were paid while the slaves were permanent and not paid. Solomon was forbidden to make slaves of his own people, so the slaves came from the Amorites, Hittites, and other Canaanite nations whose descendants remained in the land. But to enlist enough workers Solomon resorted to forced labor from his own people. This arose to become a point of contention, being a major cause of the division of the kingdom.

Solomon had some great accomplishments as king of Israel, but they also came at a great cost of resources, including people resources.

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