Bible Strands
1 Kings 5:18
So Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the execution of Solomon’s temple project, detailing how the labor force mobilized by Solomon and Hiram fulfills the preceding command to quarry foundation stones.
The words — וַֽ/יִּפְסְל֞וּ (va-i-yif-sel-u) translates as "and they cut to shape," while וַ/יָּכִ֛ינוּ (va-i-ya-khi-nu) means "and they prepared." These verbs describe the Gebalites and the builders of Solomon and Hiram working the timber and stone.
The thread — The Gebalites appear in Joshua 13:5 as a territorial designation, in Ezekiel 27:9 as shipwrights from Gebal, and in Psalms 83:7 as Gebel listed among neighboring regions.
Why it lands — The text assigns the physical preparation of materials to a coalition of Israelite, Tyrian, and regional workers, requiring the reader to note the specific, coordinated labor behind the temple's construction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
Cross-references
- Joshua 13:5 the land of the Gebalites; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath.
- Ezekiel 27:9 The elders of Gebal were aboard as shipwrights, repairing your leaks. All the ships of the sea and their sailors came alongside to barter for your merchandise.
- Psalms 83:7 of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, of Philistia with the people of Tyre.