1 Kings 5

Solomon prepares to build the temple. He makes a friendly agreement with Hiram of Tyre for cedar and cypress timber, paying with wheat and olive oil. He also organizes a huge workforce from Israel to cut timber and quarry stone. The chapter shows God keeping His promise to David through peace, wisdom and willing partners.

1 Kings 5:1

Hiram, king of the Phoenician city of Tyre, hears that Solomon is now king and sends ambassadors. His old friendship with David carries over to the son. Good relationships built over a lifetime can open doors for the next generation.

BSA: friend (“a close companion, a lover”): The word points to real affection and loyalty, not just a business arrangement.

1 Kings 5:2-3

Solomon answers with a message. He explains why David never built the temple: constant wars on every side. David’s task was to subdue enemies; the building would come later. The temple is for the Name of the LORD, meaning His presence and character, not merely a building for a god.

BSA: Name (“reputation, character”): God’s Name stands for who He is, so the temple would be a place where His character is made known.

See also: 2 Samuel 7:1-13; 1 Chronicles 22:7-9.

1 Kings 5:4

Solomon says the situation has changed. God has given him rest on every side, with no enemy and no disaster threatening. The peace of his reign is a gift from God, and it makes the work of building possible.

BSA: rest (“peace, shalom”): This is more than the absence of war; it is wholeness and security given by God.

1 Kings 5:5

Solomon bases his plan on God’s word to David, not on his own ambition. God had said David’s son would sit on his throne and build the house for His Name. Solomon is stepping into a promise already made.

See also: 2 Samuel 7:12-13.

1 Kings 5:6

Solomon asks Hiram for cedars of Lebanon, prized for their strength and durability. Israelite workers will join Hiram’s, and Solomon will pay whatever wages Hiram names. He frankly admits that the Sidonians, the Phoenicians, are the best timber workers.

BSA: cedars (“trees renowned for their strength and durability”): Only the finest, longest-lasting wood was fit for the house of God.

1 Kings 5:7

Hiram is delighted and praises the LORD for giving David a wise son to rule so great a people. A foreign king recognizes God’s hand on Israel. Solomon’s wisdom is already noticed beyond his borders.

BSA: wise (“intelligent, discerning”): Hiram sees real discernment in Solomon’s careful and courteous request.

1 Kings 5:8-9

Hiram agrees to provide cedar and cypress. His men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the coast and float them in rafts to the place Solomon names. There he will untie them for Solomon’s men to collect. In return he asks for food for his household.

BSA: rafts (“in floats, as a flotilla”): The logs were tied together and floated down the Mediterranean coast, a cheaper way to move heavy timber than hauling.

1 Kings 5:10-11

Hiram supplies all the timber Solomon wants. Solomon pays year after year with huge amounts of wheat and pure olive oil. It is a fair exchange: Tyre had a narrow coastal strip and needed Israel’s farmland to feed it.

BSA: pure (“clear, beaten”): This was oil of the highest grade, pressed from carefully crushed olives.

1 Kings 5:12

The writer steps back to say the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as He had promised. That wisdom shows in the peace and the treaty between the two kings. God’s gifts become visible in how we deal with other people.

BSA: treaty (“covenant, agreement, or pact”): The two kings bound themselves by a formal agreement that made their friendship lasting.

See also: 1 Kings 3:12; James 1:5.

1 Kings 5:13-14

Solomon raises 30,000 Israelite workers and sends them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000. Each man works one month and rests two at home, so no family is left without its men for long. Adoniram oversees the labor.

BSA: monthly shifts (“by courses, in rotation”): The rotation spread the burden fairly across the nation.

Hebrew: מַס (mas, H4522) — “forced labor, a labor levy.” The Hebrew word describes labor owed to the king, a kind of tax paid in work. It hints at the heavy burden that would later stir complaints against Solomon’s house.

1 Kings 5:15-16

The numbers are large: 70,000 carriers, 80,000 stonecutters, and 3,300 foremen over them. The writer wants us to see the sheer scale of the work. A house for God’s Name was worth great effort and organization.

BSA: foremen (“chief officers, overseers”): Such a large workforce needed trained supervisors to keep the work orderly.

1 Kings 5:17-18

The king orders large, costly stones cut for the temple’s foundation and shaped carefully. Israelite builders, Hiram’s builders and men of Gebal (Byblos) work together. The foundation is unseen once built, yet it is made of the best.

BSA: costly (“expensive, precious”): Even the hidden foundation stones were chosen for quality and worth.

See also: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11.