Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 5:18 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 18. 18And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Levy labor prepares timber and stone.”
Solomon raises a levy out of all Israel
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 5:13–18. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 5:13–18
Read 1 Kings 5:18 with 5:13–18. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; 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 5:18 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones….” 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
What This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Kings 5:18 does not permit the wording “And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones…” 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 5:18, the concrete line “And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 1 Kings 5:18's role in 5:13–18. Paraphrase “And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones…,” 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
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 5:13–18 — Levy labor prepares timber and stoneSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
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 ↗