seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Kings 5:1 [a]When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’
6 “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.”
10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors(b) of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths[c][d] of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
13 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16 as well as thirty-three hundred[e] foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.
3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’
6 “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.”
10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors(b) of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths[c][d] of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
13 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16 as well as thirty-three hundred[e] foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.
a. 1 Kings 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1-18 is numbered 5:15-32.
b. 1 Kings 5:11 That is, probably about 3,600 tons or about 3,250 metric tons
c. 1 Kings 5:11 Septuagint (see also 2 Chron. 2:10); Hebrew twenty cors
d. 1 Kings 5:11 That is, about 120,000 gallons or about 440,000 liters
e. 1 Kings 5:16 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 2:2,18) thirty-six hundred
This is interesting to me. As a bookkeeper, I spent some time during my working years, billing to documents.... federal, state, local, and private contracts.... so this is interesting to me. I'm sure there are people who think these verses are boring. To me... today's verses would make a really cool documentary. [giggle]
This comes from blueletterbible.org.
"Hiram is an abbreviation of Ahiram which means 'Brother of Ram,' or 'My brother is exalted,' or 'Brother of the lofty one.' … Archaeologists have discovered a royal sarcophagus in Byblos of Tyre dated about 1200 B.C. inscribed with the king's name, 'Ahiram.' Apparently it belonged to the man in this passage." (Dilday)
Then Solomon sent to Hiram: "According to Josephus, copies of such a letter along with Hiram's reply were preserved in both Hebrew and Tyrian archives and were extant in his day (Antiquities, 8.2.8)." (Dilday)
I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God: Of course, Solomon did not build a temple for a name but for a living God. This is a good example of "avoiding" direct mention of the name of God in Hebrew writing and speaking. They did this in reverence to God.
"The Sidonians were noted as timber craftsmen in the ancient world, a fact substantiated on the famous Palmero Stone. Its inscription from 2200 B.C. tells us about timber-carrying ships that sailed from Byblos to Egypt about four hundred years previously. The skill of the Sidonians was expressed in their ability to pick the most suitable trees, know the right time to cut them, fell them with care, and then properly treat the logs." (Dilday)
It also means that Solomon was willing to build this great temple to God with "Gentile" wood and using "Gentile" labor. This was a temple to the God of Israel, but it was not only for Israel. Only Jews built the tabernacle, "but the temple is not build without the aid of the Gentile Tyrians. They, together with us, make up the Church of God. (Trapp)
Adoniram was in charge of the labor force: Solomon's wisdom was evident in the way he employed this great workforce. First, he wisely delegated responsibility to men like Adoniram. Second, instead of making the Israelites work constantly away from Israel and home, he worked them in shifts.
Seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone: This seems to describe the number of Canaanite slave laborers that Solomon used.
Besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies: This was the "middle management" team administrating the work of building the temple.
Then Solomon sent to Hiram: "According to Josephus, copies of such a letter along with Hiram's reply were preserved in both Hebrew and Tyrian archives and were extant in his day (Antiquities, 8.2.8)." (Dilday)
I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God: Of course, Solomon did not build a temple for a name but for a living God. This is a good example of "avoiding" direct mention of the name of God in Hebrew writing and speaking. They did this in reverence to God.
Solomon also used this phrase because he wanted to explain that he didn't think the temple would be the house of God in the way pagans thought. "It is to be 'an house for the name of the LORD.' That is not the same as 'for the LORD.' Pagan temples might be intended by their builders for the actual residence of the god, but Solomon knew that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less this house which he was about to build." (Maclaren)
"The Sidonians were noted as timber craftsmen in the ancient world, a fact substantiated on the famous Palmero Stone. Its inscription from 2200 B.C. tells us about timber-carrying ships that sailed from Byblos to Egypt about four hundred years previously. The skill of the Sidonians was expressed in their ability to pick the most suitable trees, know the right time to cut them, fell them with care, and then properly treat the logs." (Dilday)
It also means that Solomon was willing to build this great temple to God with "Gentile" wood and using "Gentile" labor. This was a temple to the God of Israel, but it was not only for Israel. Only Jews built the tabernacle, "but the temple is not build without the aid of the Gentile Tyrians. They, together with us, make up the Church of God. (Trapp)
Adoniram was in charge of the labor force: Solomon's wisdom was evident in the way he employed this great workforce. First, he wisely delegated responsibility to men like Adoniram. Second, instead of making the Israelites work constantly away from Israel and home, he worked them in shifts.
Seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone: This seems to describe the number of Canaanite slave laborers that Solomon used.
Ginzberg relates some of the legends surrounding the building of the temple. "During the seven years it took to build the Temple, not a single workman died who was employed about it, nor even did a single one fall sick. And as the workmen were sound and robust from first to last, so the perfection of their tools remained unimpaired until the building stood complete. Thus the work suffered no sort of interruption." (Ginzberg)
Besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies: This was the "middle management" team administrating the work of building the temple.
Well, all the parts of the contract are there.
- The Parties are listed
- The Scope is defined
- The Project Cost and Payment Terms are agreed upon
- The Schedule of Work is defined
- The Authority is biblical
So... this is one example of what business was like in the days of the wise king Solomon. Cool Huh!
