1 Kings 5:13

Solomon's Work Force

13 Then King Solomon drafted forced laborers from all Israel;^[a] the labor force numbered 30,000 men.

1 Kings 5:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:13

And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel
Not of money, but of men, as follows:

and the levy was thirty thousand men;
for what purpose, and how they were employed, ( 1 Kings 5:14 ) shows.

1 Kings 5:13 In-Context

11 and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels of wheat as food for his household and 110,000 gallons of beaten oil. Solomon did this for Hiram year after year.

12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

13 Then King Solomon drafted forced laborers from all Israel; the labor force numbered 30,000 men.

14 He sent 10,000 to Lebanon each month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon, two months they were at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

15 Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains,

Footnotes

• [a]. 1 Sm 8:10-18