Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 5:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Solomon proposes a timber agreement to Hiram.”
Read It With
- 1 Kings 5:1–6
Read 1 Kings 5:3 with 5:1–6. The selected wording supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Opens the temple negotiations with Hiram's delegation after Solomon's anointing; requests skilled Sidonian timber labor and promises wages set through negotiation.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Solomon proposes a timber agreement to Hiram,” 1 Kings 5:3 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 1 Kings 4:29–34 establishes this prior movement: Credits God with Solomon's extraordinary wisdom, understanding, and breadth of mind; ends the portrait with people and royal delegations coming from many lands to hear Solomon's wisdom. 1 Kings 5:1–6 continues the same royal, temple, household, prophetic, or military movement; that demonstrated relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 1 Kings 5:1–6 together
Why these verses belong together: Solomon proposes a timber agreement to Hiram is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 5:1–5:6.
Verse 1. 1 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
Verse 2. 2 And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,
Verse 3. 3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.
Verse 4. 4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
Verse 5. 5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.
Verse 6. 6 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.
Follow the Context
- Opens the temple negotiations with Hiram's delegation after Solomon's anointing
- Requests skilled Sidonian timber labor and promises wages set through negotiation
What This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Kings 5:3 does not permit the wording “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD…” 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 opens the temple negotiations with Hiram's delegation after Solomon's anointing; requests skilled Sidonian timber labor and promises wages set through negotiation. In 1 Kings 5:3, the concrete line “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD….” 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: Opens the temple negotiations with Hiram's delegation after Solomon's anointing; requests skilled Sidonian timber labor and promises wages set through negotiation.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 1 Kings 5:3's role in 5:1–6. Paraphrase “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD…,” 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 5:1–6 — Solomon proposes a timber agreement to HiramSources 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 5:1–6, 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 5:1–6
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 5:1–6
Open source ↗