1 Kings 5:13

Contextual Overview

¹⁰In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and pine logs he wanted, ¹⁰ In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, ¹⁰So Hiram gave Solomon as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber. ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber. ¹⁰ Aud so Hiram gaue Solomon Cedar trees and firre trees according to all his desyre. ¹⁰ And Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees, all his desire. ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir logs that he wanted. ¹⁰ So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, ¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire. ¹⁰ So Hiram gaue Solomon Cedar trees, and Firre trees, according to all his desire.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

levy: Heb. tribute of men, 1 Kings 4:6

the levy: 1 Kings 9:15

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 5:1 - Hiram 1 Kings 9:21 - levy 2 Chronicles 2:17 - numbered 2 Chronicles 8:8 - to pay Ecclesiastes 5:11 - they

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A levy out of all Israel - This was, apparently, the first time that the Israelites had been called upon to perform forced labor, though it had been prophesied 1 Samuel 8:16. David had bound to forced service “the strangers” 1 Chronicles 22:2; but hitherto the Israelites had escaped. Solomon now, in connection with his proposed work of building the temple, with the honor of God as an excuse, laid this burden upon them. Out of the 1,300, 000 able-bodied Israelites 2 Samuel 24:9, a band of 30,000 - one in forty-four - was raised, of whom one-third was constantly at work in Lebanon, while two-thirds remained at home, and pursued their usual occupations. This, though a very light form of task work, was felt as a great oppression, and was the chief cause of the revolt of the ten tribes at Solomon’s death 1 Kings 12:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 5:13. The levy was thirty thousand men. — We find from the following verse that only ten thousand were employed at once, and those only for one month at a time; and having rested two months, they again resumed their labour. These were the persons over whom Adoniram was superintendent, and were all Israelites.