English Standard Version
1 Kings 5:17
17At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.
1 Kings 5:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
- New International Version (NIV)At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the temple.
- New Living Translation (NLT)At the king’s command, they quarried large blocks of high-quality stone and shaped them to make the foundation of the Temple.
Context of 1 Kings 5:17
15Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. 18So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.
Read all of 1 Kings 51 Kings 5:17 word by word
וַיְצַ֣ו הַמֶּ֡לֶךְ וַיַּסִּעוּ֩ אֲבָנִ֨ים גְּדֹל֜וֹת אֲבָנִ֧ים יְקָר֛וֹת לְיַסֵּ֥ד הַבָּ֖יִת אַבְנֵ֥י גָזִֽית׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- commandedצָוָהtsâvâh · to commandH6680
- and they broughtנָסַעnâsa‛ · to set outH5265
- greatגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
- stonesאֶ֫בֶן'eben · stoneH68
- costlyיָקָרyâqâr · preciousH3368
- hewedגָּזִיתgâzîyth · cuttingH1496
- to lay the foundationיָסַדyâsad · to foundH3245
- of the houseבֵּיתbayith · betweenH1004
Cross-references for 1 Kings 5:17
- 1 Kings 6:7When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.
- 1 Kings 7:9All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court.
- 1 Chronicles 22:2David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.
- Isaiah 28:16therefore thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.'
- 1 Corinthians 3:11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
- 1 Peter 2:6For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
- Revelation 21:14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 5:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Great stones - Stones of very large dimensions. Costly stones - Stones that cost much labor and time to cut them out of the rock. Hewed stones - Everywhere squared and polished.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17Some of these “great, hewed (no and) stones,” are probably still to be seen in the place where they were set by Solomon‘s builders, at the southwestern angle of the wall of the Haram area in the modern Jerusalem. The largest found so far is 38 ft. 9 in. long, and weighs about 100 tons.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-18Verses 10-18 The temple was chiefly built by the riches and labour of Gentiles, which typified their being called into the church. Solomon commanded, and they brought costly stones for the foundation. Christ, who is laid for a Foundation, is a chosen and precious Stone. We should lay our foundation firm, and bestow most pains on that part of our religion which lies out of the sight of men. And happy those who, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-18Workers likely cut large, high-quality stone blocks to size (see 1 Kings 7:10) in a quarry near Jerusalem (6:7). Handling these massive stones probably led Solomon to start using forced labor. The craftsmen included men from Gebal (Byblos), a port known for exporting timber, according to ancient Egyptian inscriptions.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. brought great stones--The stone of Lebanon is "hard, calcareous, whitish and sonorous, like free stone" [Shaw]. The same white and beautiful stone can be obtained in every part of Syria and Palestine. hewed stones--or neatly polished, as the Hebrew word signifies (Ex 20:25). Both Jewish and Tyrian builders were employed in hewing these great stones.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 5:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries