World English Bible
- Hiram 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.
- Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
- “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.
- But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is no enemy and no evil occurrence.
- Behold, 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.’
- Now 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.”
- When 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.”
- Hiram 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.
- My 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.”
- So Hiram gave Solomon cedar timber and cypress timber according to all his desire.
- Solomon 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.
- The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.
- King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
- He 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.
- Solomon had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains,
- besides Solomon’s chief officers who were over the work: three thousand three hundred who ruled over the people who labored in the work.
- The king commanded, and they cut out large stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone.
- Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
1 Kings 5 – Building in Days of Peace
Daily Devotional • Series: The Rise of Solomon
(see previous entries 1-Kings 1-4, dates above)
Section 1 – “Rest on Every Side”
“But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is
no adversary or disaster.”
—1 Kings 5 : 4, New International Version
The hinge on which the whole chapter turns is a single Hebrew word: nuach—“rest, settled calm.” David had fought; Solomon (“man of peace”) inherits shalom. Scripture first used nuach of God Himself “resting” on the seventh day (Genesis 2 : 2). Here the Sabbath-idea stretches out over a nation. All true building for God grows out of divine rest, never frantic striving.
Cross-references
• Deuteronomy 12 : 10–11 – rest preceding the chosen place of
worship
• Hebrews 4 : 9–11 – the Sabbath-rest that still remains for God’s
people
Reflection
What projects—church, family, vocation—are we attempting out of anxiety
rather than the settled confidence God provides? Before sharpening
chisels, Solomon cultivates peace; before lifting hammers, we cultivate
prayer.
Section 2 – Covenant Friendship across Borders
Verse 1 tells us, “Hiram king of Tyre had always been on friendly terms
with David.” Literally, “Hiram was a lover (’ōhēb) of
David.” The text borrows a covenant word normally used of God’s
steadfast love (ḥesed). Politics here becomes an echo of divine
loyalty. For Western ears it is easy to miss how extraordinary this is:
an Israelite king and a Phoenician Gentile binding themselves not by
conquest but by mutual blessing.
Archaeology & History
• Phoenician trade records and cedar-logging routes from Byblos to the
Mediterranean coast match 1 Kings 5 in both geography and
economics.
• The massive foundation stones (sometimes 10–15 tons) unearthed near
the Temple Mount fit the description of “costly stones” (v. 17).
Patristic & Reformation Voices
• Origen (Hom. on Kings) saw Hiram as a figure of the Gentile nations
bringing their best resources to the worship of the true
God—anticipating Matthew 2’s Magi.
• Calvin read the chapter as proof that “the gifts of God shine also in
foreigners,” calling believers to honor wisdom wherever it appears.
Suggested hymn
“Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation” (7th-cent. Latin, tr. John M.
Neale). Sung slowly, it helps us feel the stones rising toward
praise.
Section 3 – Timber, Stone, and Living Souls
The building materials come in triads: cedar, cypress, stone (vv. 6–17).
The literary rhythm has a purpose: to pull our imagination toward
another triad—Father, Son, Spirit—working in concert to build a temple
of “living stones” (1 Peter 2 : 5). Solomon’s conscripts quarry “great
stones, costly stones, hewed stones” (v. 17, literal order). The Hebrew
piles adjectives the way masons pile blocks, creating a tactile
cadence.
Hebrew Note
In v. 18 certain manuscripts read giblim—probably “Gebalites,”
specialist stone-dressers from the Phoenician city of Gebal (Byblos).
Even the word choice reminds us that God’s house is a cooperative
venture, never a tribal monument.
Theological Thread
From Eden, to Tabernacle, to Temple, to Jesus’ own body (“destroy this
temple…,” John 2 : 19), to the Church, God keeps moving the “dwelling
place” closer to broken humanity. 1 Kings 5 stands at the pivot of that
trajectory.
Section 4 – The Shadow of Compulsion
Verse 13 introduces mas—“forced labor.” Thirty-thousand
Israelites work in monthly shifts; seventy-thousand carry burdens;
eighty-thousand hew in the hills. The text is brutally honest: peace for
the king does not erase sweat for the worker. Centuries later,
Rehoboam’s arrogance over this very labor will fracture the kingdom (1
Kings 12 : 4–16). Solomon’s golden age carries within it the seed of
division.
Augustine warned that any earthly city, even one building a house for God, “is still mingled with self-love.” The passage invites contemporary leaders to ask: Are we funding our “ministries” by exhausting people made in God’s image?
Prayerful Application
• Volunteer leaders—guard your teams from burnout.
• Business owners—let rest, not endless output, shape corporate
culture.
• Citizens—pray for public policy that balances progress with human
dignity.
Section 5 – Foreshadowing the Greater Temple
Hiram supplies cedar; Solomon supplies wheat and oil—grain and olive.
Prophets will later pair cedar (erez) with righteousness
(Jeremiah 22 : 15) and wheat with covenant blessing (Hosea 2 : 22). Oil
evokes anointing. Thus, hidden within commercial invoices lies a
Messianic whisper: the Anointed One will feed the nations and shelter
them under upright beams.
New-Testament Echoes
• Luke 4 : 18 – “He has anointed Me…”
• Ephesians 2 : 14 – “He Himself is our peace.”
• Revelation 21 : 22 – “I did not see a temple in the city, because the
Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
Questions for Meditation
1. Where in your life is God inviting you to trade frenzy for
nuach?
2. How might you imitate Solomon and Hiram’s covenant friendship across
cultural lines this week?
3. Are there “forced laborers” in your orbit—people carrying the weight
while others enjoy the glory? How can you lighten the load?
4. If the Church is now God’s temple, what cedar and stone (talent,
time, treasure) are you contributing?
Suggested Reading Plan for Tomorrow
1 Kings 6 – The actual building begins; study the blueprint of
holiness.
Closing Prayer
Lord of Sabbath,
who gives rest on every side,
grant us quiet hearts before we raise our hands to work.
Teach us covenant love beyond borders;
make us living stones, hewn by grace,
set into the house where Your glory dwells forever,
through Jesus Christ, the true Temple and Prince of Peace. Amen.