The Meaning of 1 Kings 5:15 Explained

1 Kings 5:15

KJV: And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;

YLT: And king Solomon hath seventy thousand bearing burdens, and eighty thousand hewing in the mountain,

Darby: And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountains;

ASV: And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Solomon  had threescore and ten  thousand  that bare  burdens,  and fourscore  thousand  hewers  in the mountains; 

What does 1 Kings 5:15 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Kings 5:7-18 - Preparations For The Great Task
It was good for Hiram and his Tyrians to be associated with the servants of Solomon. Together they hewed immense blocks of stone, some of which were thirty feet in length and six feet in breadth, and which still form foundations on the ancient Temple site. Together they hewed down and fashioned the cedar and fir trees on the slopes of Lebanon. May we not learn from this partnership that Gentiles are to be associated with Jews in that one holy Temple, which through the ages is growing into a habitation of God by His Spirit? Ephesians 2:21-22. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision.
The treaty between the two kingdoms was eminently wise, because they differed so widely-the one being pastoral, the other commercial. It was wise for Peter and John to enter into close friendship, and together ascend the steps to the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, Acts 3:1-3. Be content to be a hewer on the mountains, shaping rough blocks of granite, but, do something toward building the Temple of God, which arises slowly amid the wreck of all human structures.
1 Kings 5:1-18 - Breaking Three Commandments
From a worldly point of view Naboth might have done a good stroke of business by selling his estate to. Ahab. A royal price and assured favor might have been his-but he had a conscience! Above the persuasive tones of the monarch's offer sounded the voice of God: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18.
Ahab knew perfectly well that Jezebel could not give him the property of another except by foul means, but he took pains not to inquire. Though the direct orders for Naboth's death did not come from him, yet, by his silence, he was an accomplice and an accessory; and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us responsible for wrongs which we do not arrest, though we have the power. The crime was blacker because of the pretext of religion, as suggested by a fast. See also 2 Kings 9:26. The blood of murdered innocence cries to God, and his requital, though delayed, is inevitable. See Revelation 6:9-10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Kings 5

1  Hiram, sending to congratulate Solomon, is desired to furnish him with timber
7  Hiram, blessing God for Solomon, furnishes him with trees
13  The number of Solomon's workmen and laborers

What do the individual words in 1 Kings 5:15 mean?

And had Solomon seventy thousand who carried burdens and eighty who quarried [stone] in the mountains
וַיְהִ֧י לִשְׁלֹמֹ֛ה שִׁבְעִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף נֹשֵׂ֣א סַבָּ֑ל וּשְׁמֹנִ֥ים חֹצֵ֥ב בָּהָֽר

וַיְהִ֧י  And  had 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לִשְׁלֹמֹ֛ה  Solomon 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁלֹמֹה  
Sense: son of David by Bathsheba and 3rd king of Israel; author of Proverbs and Song of Songs.
שִׁבְעִ֥ים  seventy 
Parse: Number, common plural
Root: שִׁבְעִים  
Sense: seventy.
אֶ֖לֶף  thousand 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: אֶלֶף 
Sense: a thousand.
נֹשֵׂ֣א  who  carried 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
סַבָּ֑ל  burdens 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: סַבָּל  
Sense: burden-bearer.
וּשְׁמֹנִ֥ים  and  eighty 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, common plural
Root: שְׁמֹנִים  
Sense: eighty, fourscore.
חֹצֵ֥ב  who  quarried  [stone] 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: חָצֵב 
Sense: to dig, cleave, divide, hew, make, cut out, dig out, cut down, quarry, hewer, mason.
בָּהָֽר  in  the  mountains 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.