1 Kings 5:17

New Revised Standard

At the king's command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.

Hebrew Names Version
The king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.

King James Version
And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

English Standard Version
At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.

New Century Version
King Solomon commanded them to cut large blocks of fine stone to be used for the foundation of the Temple.

New English Translation
By royal order they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple's foundation with chiseled stone.

Amplified Bible
The king gave orders, and they quarried great stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house (temple) with cut stones.

New American Standard Bible
Then the king issued orders, and they quarried large stones, valuable stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the King commanded them, and they brought great stones and costly stones to make the foundation of the house, euen hewed stones.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, precious stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones.

Contemporary English Version
He ordered the workers to cut and shape large blocks of good stone for the foundation of the temple.

Complete Jewish Bible
"You know that David my father wasn't able to build a house for the name of Adonai his God, because of the wars that beset him from every side, until Adonai put his enemies under the soles of my feet.

Darby Translation
And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

Easy-to-Read Version
King Solomon commanded them to cut large, expensive stones for the foundation of the Temple.

George Lamsa Translation
And the king commanded and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones to complete the house.

Good News Translation
At King Solomon's command they cut fine large stones for the foundation of the Temple.

Lexham English Bible
When the king commanded, they quarried great stones and precious stones to lay the foundation of the house with hewn stones.

Literal Translation
And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, quarried stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And ye kynge commaunded, that they shulde breake out greate and costly stones, namely frestone, for the foundacion of the house.

American Standard Version
And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone.

Bible in Basic English
By the king's orders great stones, stones of high price, were cut out, so that the base of the house might be made of squared stone.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the king commaunded them to bring great stones, costly stones, & hewed stones, for the foundatio of the house.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of my feet.

King James Version (1611)
And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

English Revised Version
And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone.

Berean Standard Bible
And the king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the kyng comaundide, that thei schulden take greete stonys, `and preciouse stonys, in to the foundement of the temple, and that thei schulden make tho square;

Young's Literal Translation
And the king commandeth, and they bring great stones, precious stone, to lay the foundation of the house, hewn stones;

Update Bible Version
And the king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with wrought stone.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, [and] hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

World English Bible
The king commanded, and they hewed out great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.

New King James Version
And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the temple. [fn]

New Living Translation
At the king's command, they quarried large blocks of high-quality stone and shaped them to make the foundation of the Temple.

New Life Bible
Then as the king told them, they cut out large stones of much worth for the house of God to be built on.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to found the house with hewn stones.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king commanded that they should bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the temple, and should square them:

Revised Standard Version
At the king's command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ So Hiram supplied Solomon's every need for timber of cedar and cypress. ¹¹ Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty cors of fine oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. ¹² So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them made a treaty. ¹³ King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the levy numbered thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵Preparations and Materials for the Temple Now King Hiram of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father; for Hiram had always been a friend to David. Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, "You know that my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. So I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.' Therefore command that cedars from the Lebanon be cut for me. My servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants; for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians." When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and said, "Blessed be the Lord today, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people." Hiram sent word to Solomon, "I have heard the message that you have sent to me; I will fulfill all your needs in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. My servants shall bring it down to the sea from the Lebanon; I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will have them broken up there for you to take away. And you shall meet my needs by providing food for my household." So Hiram supplied Solomon's every need for timber of cedar and cypress. Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty cors of fine oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them made a treaty. King Solomon conscripted forced labor out of all Israel; the levy numbered thirty thousand men. He sent them to the Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts; they would be a month in the Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. Solomon also had seventy thousand laborers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hill country, ¹⁶ besides Solomon's three thousand three hundred supervisors who were over the work, having charge of the people who did 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 Gebalites did the stonecutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

costly stones: 1 Kings 6:7, 1 Kings 7:9, 1 Chronicles 22:2, Isaiah 28:16, 1 Corinthians 3:11, 1 Corinthians 3:12, 1 Peter 2:6, 1 Peter 2:7, Revelation 21:14-21

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 12:12 - masons Proverbs 24:27 - General Isaiah 54:11 - I will lay

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the king commanded, and they brought great stones,.... Not in quality, but in quantity, large stones, fit to lay in the foundation; strong, and durable against all the injuries of time, as Josephus says i:

costly stones; not what are commonly called precious stones, as gems, pearls, c. but stones of value, as marble, porphyry, c.

[and] hewed stones not rough as they were taken out of the quarry, but hewed, and made smooth:

to lay the foundation of the house which, though out of sight, was to be laid with goodly stones for the magnificence of the building; so the church of Christ, its foundation is said to be laid even with sapphires and other precious stones, see Isaiah 54:11.

i Antiqu. l. 8. c. 3. sect. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Some of these “great, hewed (no and) stones,” are probably still to be seen in the place where they were set by Solomon’s builders, at the southwestern angle of the wall of the Haram area in the modern Jerusalem. The largest found so far is 38 ft. 9 in. long, and weighs about 100 tons.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 5:17. Great stones — Stones of very large dimensions.

Costly stones — Stones that cost much labour and time to cut them out of the rock.

Hewed stones — Everywhere squared and polished.