1 Kings 5:16

16 besides Solomon's 3,300 ¹chief officers who were over the work, ²who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

1 Kings 5:16 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:16

Besides the chief of Solomon's officers which [were] over the
work
Over the whole work, preparatory for the building of the temple; though it seems chiefly to have respect to that of hewing the stones, and bringing them to the city:

three thousand and three hundred which ruled over the people that
wrought in the work;
to keep them to their work, and to see that they performed it well: in ( 2 Chronicles 2:18 ) ; they are said to be 3600, which is three hundred more than here; those three hundred are the chief officers mentioned in the former part of this verse, which were over the whole work, and even over the 3600 overseers, and with them made up the sum of 3600; so Jacob Leon ^F8 observes there were 3300 master workmen, and three hundred commanders over them all.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Relation of Memorable Things in the Temple, ch. 3. p. 14.

1 Kings 5:16 In-Context

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.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Kings 4:5
• 2. 1 Kings 9:23