1 Kings 5:14

14 He sent them to Levanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Levanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to forced labor.

1 Kings 5:14 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:14

And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses,
&c.] In their turns; these are the servants of his he proposed to be with Hiram's servants, assisting in cutting down the trees, and squaring the timber in Lebanon, ( 1 Kings 5:6 ) ;

a month they were in Lebanon, [and] two months at home;
that they might not be overworked; for they wrought but four months in the year in the hard service in Lebanon, the rest of their time was spent in managing their domestic affairs; these were Israelites:

and Adoniram [was] over the levy:
the same that was over the tribute or the collectors of the tax, ( 1 Kings 4:6 ) ; and, according to the Targum, these were such persons.

1 Kings 5:14 In-Context

12 The LORD gave Shlomo wisdom, as he promised him; and there was shalom between Hiram and Shlomo; and they two made a league together.

13 King Shlomo raised a levy out of all Yisra'el; and the levy was thirty thousand men.

14 He sent them to Levanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Levanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to forced labor.

15 Shlomo had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains;

16 besides Shlomo's chief officers who were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work.