1 Kings 5:6

Now therefore, order that cedars of Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants whatever wages you set, for you know that there are none among us as skilled in logging as the Sidonians.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Solomon addresses King Hiram of Tyre, requesting timber to support the temple project he just outlined in 1 Kings 5:5. He proposes a joint labor arrangement and guarantees payment at rates Hiram will determine.

The words — The imperative צַוֵּה (tza.Veh) commands the cutting of אֲרָזִים ('a.ra.Zim) cedars from Lebanon. The phrase וְ/עַתָּה (ve./'a.Tah) translates as "therefore," directly connecting the material request to Solomon’s preceding declaration of divine building plans.

The thread — The timber request parallels Solomon’s appeal in 2 Chronicles 2:8 for cedars, cypresses, and algum logs, and anticipates the cedar roofing described in 1 Kings 6:9. Genesis 10:15 appears only as a genealogical record of Sidon’s origin and does not document occupational skill.

Why it lands — The text states that Solomon secures specialized foreign labor through fair wages and coordinated work crews. It requires the reader to see how practical resource management and skilled cooperation enable the fulfillment of a divinely mandated 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

וְעַתָּ֡הve./'a.Tahand/ therefore צַוֵּה֩tza.Vehcommand וְיִכְרְתוּ־ve./yikh.re.tu-so/ they may cutלִ֨יl/ifor <the>/ meאֲרָזִ֜ים'a.ra.Zimcedars מִן־min-from הַלְּבָנ֗וֹןha./le.va.Non<the>/ Lebanon וַֽעֲבָדַי֙va./'a.va.Da/iand/ servants/ my יִהְי֣וּyih.Yuthey will be עִם־'im-with עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ'a.va.Dei./khaservants/ your וּשְׂכַ֤רu./se.Kharand/ [the] wage[s] of עֲבָדֶ֙יךָ֙'a.va.Dei./khaservants/ your אֶתֵּ֣ן'e.TenI will giveלְךָ֔le./Khato <the>/ youכְּכֹ֖לke./Kholaccording to/ all אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherthat תֹּאמֵ֑רto.Meryou will say כִּ֣י׀kifor אַתָּ֣ה'a.Tahyou יָדַ֗עְתָּya.Da'.tayou know כִּ֣יkithat אֵ֥ין'einthere notבָּ֛נוּBa./nuamong <the>/ usאִ֛ישׁ'ish[is] anyone יֹדֵ֥עַyo.De.a'[who] knows לִכְרָת־li/kh.rot-to/ cut עֵצִ֖ים'e.Tzimwood<s>כַּצִּדֹנִֽים׃ka./tzi.do.Nimlike the/ Sidonians

King James Version

Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 2:8 Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber there. And indeed, my servants will work with yours
Genesis 10:15 And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,
1 Kings 6:9 So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.
1 Kings 6:16 He partitioned off the twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.
1 Kings 6:20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar.
2 Chronicles 2:10 I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”
Ezra 3:7 They gave money to the masons and carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre to bring cedar logs from Lebanon to Joppa by sea, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia.
Psalms 29:5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
Romans 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
1 Corinthians 12:14 For the body does not consist of one part, but of many.