Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 5:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Solomon imposed conscripted labor. Temple preparation depends on a royal labor system.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 5:13–18
Read 1 Kings 5:13 with 5:13–18. The selected wording supplies one opening in the thought unit and establishes its first action or speech; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Introduces the compulsory levy of thirty thousand Israelites; joins Solomon's and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites in preparing timber and stone.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Levy labor prepares timber and stone,” 1 Kings 5:13 opens the thought unit and establishes its first action or speech through the wording “And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The timber covenant becomes a labor and extraction system when Solomon raises a levy and organizes workers, carriers, quarriers, and overseers. Jeroboam's later oversight of forced labor and Israel's complaint about Solomon's heavy yoke show that this levy remains a controlling cost of the kingdom's achievements.
Read 1 Kings 5:13–18 together
Why these verses belong together: Levy labor prepares timber and stone is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 5:13–5:18.
Verse 13. 13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
Verse 14. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.
Verse 15. 15 And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains;
Verse 16. 16 Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
Verse 17. 17 And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.
Verse 18. 18 And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
Follow the Context
- Introduces the compulsory levy of thirty thousand Israelites
- Joins Solomon's and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites in preparing timber and stone
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“raised a levy”
In plain language: Solomon imposed conscripted labor.
Temple preparation depends on a royal labor system.
Why it matters: Sacred construction must not hide coerced workers.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Kings 5:13 does not permit the wording “And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. The unit does not make coerced labor, extraction, tribute, unequal burdens, or royal abundance morally harmless because a temple, palace, army, or prosperous court benefits.
What Remains True
Public achievement remains answerable to the workers, resources, consent, and unequal burdens that make it possible. This unit tests that truth through introduces the compulsory levy of thirty thousand Israelites; joins Solomon's and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites in preparing timber and stone. In 1 Kings 5:13, the concrete line “And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.” Before celebrating a public or religious project, disclose who supplies labor and resources, test consent and distribution, and repair burdens shifted onto people with less power. This response follows from the unit's own sequence: Introduces the compulsory levy of thirty thousand Israelites; joins Solomon's and Hiram's builders and the Gebalites in preparing timber and stone.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 1 Kings 5:13's role in 5:13–18. Paraphrase “And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men,” identify one agent or affected person, state one material source or historical limit, and name one conclusion the context does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Kings 5:13–18 — Levy labor prepares timber and stoneSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The received Hebrew narrative and its KJV presentation are clear enough to follow this movement, while precise source history, chronology, motives, textual development, and external correlation require graded confidence rather than invented certainty.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 5:13–18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 5:13–18
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 593–594, translation and translator notes for 5:13–18
Open source ↗