skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to devise any device: that there may be a place appointed unto him with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father. 15Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants: 16and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to [1]Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem. 17And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. 18And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people awork.
3Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, [2]which he made ready [3]in the place that
16. Joppa] Heb. Japho, modern Jaffa (Yāfā).
17, 18 [16, 17, Heb.] (cp. ver. 2 above). Bearers and Hewers.
17. David his father] See 1 Chr. xxii. 2.
18. As the separate numbers given in this verse equal the total (150,000) given in ver. 17, evidently the Chronicler thought that all the aliens in the land were forced to take part in the work!
three thousand and six hundred overseers] In 1 Kin. v. 16, three thousand and three hundred. Three in Hebrew (which may be represented in English by the letters SLS) is easily corrupted into six (= SS in English letters). Cp. also viii. 10 (= 1 Kin. ix. 23).
awork] i.e. on work, to work.
Ch. III. 1, 2. The Temple Begun.
Ver. 1 has no parallel in Kin.; for ver. 2 cp. 1 Kin. vi. 1.
1. in mount Moriah] Gen. xxii. 2.
which he made ready in the place that David had appointed] Read rather, as mg., in the place which David had prepared (so LXX.).
