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1 Kings 5

God’s promised temple takes shape through the peace and wisdom he gives Solomon, alongside trade agreements and a vast labor force.

Hiram king of Tyre sends servants to Solomon after hearing that he has succeeded David. Solomon asks for timber from Lebanon to build a house for YHWH’s name, explaining that God has given him the peace David lacked during his wars. Hiram agrees to supply timber in exchange for food. The kings make a treaty, and Solomon organizes forced labor, transport workers, and stonecutters to prepare the temple’s materials and foundation stones.

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1Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father, and Hiram had always loved David.
3“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the wars which were around him on every side, until the LORD put his enemies under the soles of his feet.
4But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is no enemy and no evil occurrence.
5Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place shall build the house for my name.’
6Now therefore command that cedar trees be cut for me out of Lebanon. My servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say. For you know that there is nobody among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and said, “Blessed is the LORD today, who has given to David a wise son to rule over this great people.”
8Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning cypress timber.
9My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you specify to me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you will receive them. You will accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.”
11Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat for food to his household, and twenty cors of pure oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.
12The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
13King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
14He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: for a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to forced labor.
15Solomon had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains,
16besides Solomon’s chief officers who were over the work: three thousand three hundred who ruled over the people who labored in the work.
17The king commanded, and they cut out large stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.
18Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
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Key verses
1 Kings 5:5Solomon grounds his plan to build the temple in YHWH’s promise that David’s son would build it.
1 Kings 5:4The rest God has given Solomon makes temple preparation possible after the wars that surrounded David.
1 Kings 5:1Hiram’s love for David opens the diplomatic exchange that will supply timber and skilled workers for Solomon’s temple.
Where this chapter reaches

The promise concerning David’s son is shared with 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, while 2 Chronicles recounts Solomon’s arrangements with Hiram for temple construction. Ezra describes another temple-building effort supplied with cedar from Lebanon, brought by sea in exchange for provisions.

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After reading the whole chapter

What do Solomon’s words to Hiram reveal about how he understands the peace God has given him?

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What questions arise as you read about forced labor alongside wisdom and preparation for YHWH’s house?

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Questions people ask about 1 Kings 5

Why couldn’t David build the temple in 1 Kings 5?

Solomon tells Hiram that wars surrounding David prevented him from building a house for YHWH’s name. Solomon now has rest from enemies and cites God’s promise that David’s son would build the house. His explanation ties the change of builder to both peace and God’s stated purpose.

Who was Hiram in 1 Kings 5?

Hiram was king of Tyre and had loved David. After Solomon became king, Hiram sent servants to him and agreed to supply cedar and cypress timber for the temple. Solomon provided wheat and oil for Hiram’s household, and the two kings made a treaty of peace.

Did Solomon use forced labor to build the temple?

Yes. Solomon raised a levy of thirty thousand men from Israel under Adoniram, whom the text places over forced labor. They worked in Lebanon in rotating groups: one month away and two months at home. The chapter also lists burden bearers and stonecutters, without identifying their origins here.

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1 Kings · 22 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).