1 Reis 5

ARC · Chapter 5/22

1E enviou Hirão, rei de Tyro, os seus servos a Salomão (porque ouvira que ungiram a Salomão rei em logar de seu pae), porquanto Hirão sempre tinha amado a David.

2Então Salomão enviou a Hirão, dizendo:

3Bem sabes tu que David, meu pae, não poude edificar uma casa ao nome do Senhor seu Deus, por causa da guerra com que o cercaram, até que o Senhor os poz debaixo das plantas dos pés.

4Porém agora o Senhor meu Deus me tem dado descanço de todos os lados: adversario não ha, nem algum mau encontro.

5E eis que eu, meu Deus, intento edificar uma casa ao nome do Senhor, como fallou o Senhor a David, meu pae, dizendo: Teu filho, que porei em teu logar no teu throno, elle edificará uma casa ao meu nome.

6Dá ordem pois agora que do Libano me cortem cedros, e os meus servos estarão com os teus servos, e eu te darei a soldada dos teus servos, conforme a tudo o que disseres; porque bem sabes tu que entre nós ninguem ha que saiba cortar a madeira como os sidonios.

7E aconteceu que, ouvindo Hirão as palavras de Salomão, muito se alegrou, e disse: Bemdito seja hoje o Senhor, que deu a David um filho sabio sobre este tão grande povo.

8E enviou Hirão a Salomão, dizendo: Ouvi o que me mandaste dizer. Eu farei toda a tua vontade ácerca dos cedros e ácerca das faias.

9Os meus servos os levarão desde o Libano até ao mar, e eu os farei conduzir em jangadas pelo mar até ao logar que me designares, e ali os desamarrarei; e tu os tomarás: tu tambem farás a minha vontade, dando sustento á minha casa.

10Assim deu Hirão a Salomão madeira de cedros e madeira de faias, conforme a toda a sua vontade.

11E Salomão deu a Hirão vinte mil coros de trigo, para sustento da sua casa, e vinte coros de azeite batido: isto dava Salomão a Hirão de anno em anno.

12Deu pois o Senhor a Salomão sabedoria, como lhe tinha dito: e houve paz entre Hirão e Salomão, e ambos fizeram alliança.

13E o rei Salomão fez subir leva de gente d'entre todo o Israel: e foi a leva de gente trinta mil homens.

14E os enviou ao Libano, cada mez dez mil por suas vezes: um mez estavam no Libano, e dois mezes cada um em sua casa: e Adoniram estava sobre a leva de gente.

15Tinha tambem Salomão setenta mil que levavam as cargas, e oitenta mil que cortavam nas montanhas,

16Afóra os chefes dos officiaes de Salomão, os quaes estavam sobre aquella obra, tres mil e trezentos que davam as ordens ao povo que fazia aquella obra.

17E mandou o rei que trouxessem pedras grandes, e pedras preciosas, pedras lavradas, para fundarem a casa.

18E as lavravam os edificadores de Hirão e os giblitas: e preparavam a madeira e as pedras para edificar a casa.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Solomon forms an alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, to obtain cedar wood and skilled craftsmen for building the temple. In exchange, he sends wheat and olive oil. Thousands of Israelite and foreign workers are recruited for the great project.

Explanation

This chapter shows the international diplomacy required for a project of such magnitude — the temple in Jerusalem was not built in isolation, but with the cooperation of neighboring nations and their resources and technical knowledge. The alliance with Tyre (a Phoenician city famous for seafaring and craftsmanship) demonstrates that major projects of faith often depend on practical partnerships and good diplomatic relations. It is also worth noting the high human cost: the forced labor conscription (mentioned as a 'levy') would become one of the grievances that later led to the kingdom's division.

Fun facts

  • Cedars of Lebanon were extremely prized in the ancient world for their durability and fragrance, used in temples and palaces by various civilizations of the ancient Near East, including Egypt.
  • The trade agreement between Solomon and Hiram — timber for food — is one of the first international trade treaties recorded in detail in the Bible.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Reis 5:1Hiram, king of Tyre, sends envoys to Solomon as soon as he hears he has become king — because Hiram always had a good relationship with David, and the alliance naturally passes to the son.
  2. 1 Reis 5:2Solomon replies to Hiram’s message with a proposal — the start of the negotiation to build the Temple.
  3. 1 Reis 5:3Solomon explains that David could not build the house of God because he was always at war, until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.
  4. 1 Reis 5:4Now, Solomon says, God has given rest on every side: no adversary, no threat — the right moment to finally build the Temple.
  5. 1 Reis 5:5Solomon announces his intention to Hiram: to build the house of the Lord, fulfilling the promise God made to David that his son would raise up that Temple.
  6. 1 Reis 5:6Israel had no good building timber or tradition of working with it; that is why Solomon negotiates with Hiram, the Phoenician king of Tyre, trading skilled labor and raw material for food. It is a typical commercial deal of the time between neighbors with different resources.
  7. 1 Reis 5:7On hearing Solomon’s request, Hiram is glad and blesses God for having given David such a wise son to rule over that great people.
  8. 1 Reis 5:8Hiram replies that he will provide everything Solomon asked for regarding cedar and cypress timber.
  9. 1 Reis 5:9The practical deal: Hiram’s men will float the timber by sea in rafts to wherever Solomon indicates, and in exchange Solomon will supply food for Hiram’s household.
  10. 1 Reis 5:10Hiram delivers to Solomon all the cedar and cypress timber he had requested — the commercial deal takes shape.
  11. 1 Reis 5:11Payment to Hiram is made in wheat and oil, not money. It is a sign of an economy still based on trading goods, since minted currency would only appear in the region centuries later.
  12. 1 Reis 5:12God gives Solomon the promised wisdom, and there is peace between him and Hiram: the two seal an alliance.
  13. 1 Reis 5:13This levy of workers was forced labor in shifts: Israelites drafted to cut and haul timber in Lebanon, one month away from home and two at home. It is the same kind of demand that, expanded by Solomon’s son, will trigger the revolt that splits the kingdom in chapter 12.
  14. 1 Reis 5:14Solomon sends the workers to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand at a time: one month working there, two months at home, all under Adoniram’s supervision.
  15. 1 Reis 5:15Besides that, Solomon had seventy thousand men carrying loads and eighty thousand cutting stone in the mountains — the scale of the Temple project was enormous.
  16. 1 Reis 5:16Over all these workers, three thousand three hundred foremen gave the orders and coordinated the work.
  17. 1 Reis 5:17The king ordered large, high-quality stones to be brought, already cut, to serve as the foundation of the house.
  18. 1 Reis 5:18Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the men of Gebal worked together preparing the timber and the stone to raise the Temple.

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