Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,
Here is, I. The performance of the agreement between Solomon and Hiram. Each of the parties made good his engagement. 1. Hiram delivered Solomon the timber, according to his bargain, Kg1 5:10. The trees were Solomon's, but perhaps - Materiam superabat opus - The workmanship was of more value than the article. Hiram is therefore said to deliver the trees. 2.
Commenting on 1 Kings 5:10-18
And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens,.... Seventy thousand to carry the stones from the mountains out of which they were dug, and which were near Jerusalem, to the city; these were strangers in Israel, as were those that follow: and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains: eighty thousand that dug the stones out of the quarries, and squared them; these, with...
Threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens - These were all strangers, or proselytes, dwelling among the Israelites; as we learn from the parallel place, Ch2 2:17, Ch2 2:18.