Bible Strands
1 Kings 9:23
They were also the chief officers over Solomon’s projects: 550 supervisors over the people who did the work.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator outlines the administrative hierarchy of Solomon’s building operations immediately after noting the exemption of Israelites from forced labor and recording the completion of the palace for Pharaoh’s daughter.
The words — The text identifies שָׂרֵי הַנִּצָּבִים (sa.rei ha.ni.tza.vim) as the "chief officers over the work" and specifies a headcount, though the supplied Hebrew lists חֲמִשִּׁים (cha.mi.shim) meaning "fifty" while the provided translation reads 550.
The thread — Parallel accounts record varying numbers for Solomon’s overseers: 1 Kings 5:16 lists 3,300 foremen, 2 Chronicles 2:18 records 3,600 supervisors, and 2 Chronicles 8:10 names 250 chief officers.
Why it lands — The verse establishes a formal chain of command for royal construction, demonstrating that the projects relied on appointed administrators rather than the enslaved Israelite labor described in neighboring passages.
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
These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 5:16 not including his 3,300 foremen who supervised the workers.
- 2 Chronicles 8:10 They were also the chief officers for King Solomon: 250 supervisors.
- 2 Chronicles 2:18 Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors.