1 Kings 5 · Verse 18

1 Kings 5:18

And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
1 Kings 5:18, King James Version

1 Kings 5:18 in other translations

BSBSo Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders, along with the Gebalites, quarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the construction of the temple.
WEBSolomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
ASVAnd Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
YLTand the builders of Solomon, and the builders of Hiram, and the Giblites hew, and prepare the wood and the stones to build the house.
DARBYAnd Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Giblites hewed them, and prepared timber and stones to build the house.
BBESolomon's builders and Hiram's builders did the work of cutting them, and put edges on them, and got the wood and the stone ready for the building of the house.
WebsterAnd Solomon's builders, and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the stone-squarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.

What does 1 Kings 5:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18. and the stone squarers--The Margin, which renders it "the Giblites" (Jos 13:5), has long been considered a preferable translation. This marginal translation also must yield to another which has lately been proposed, by a slight change in the Hebrew text, and which would be rendered thus: "Solomon's builders, and Hiram's builders, did hew them and bevel them" [Thenius]. These great bevelled or grooved stones, measuring some twenty, others thirty feet in length, and from five to six feet in breadth, are still seen in the substructures about the ancient site of the temple; and, in the judgment of the most competent observers, were those originally employed "to lay the foundation of the house."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 And the stone-squarers - Instead of stone-squarers the margin very properly reads Giblites, הגבלים haggiblim; and refers to Eze 27:9, where we find the inhabitants of Gebal celebrated for their knowledge in ship-building. Some suppose that these Giblites were the inhabitants of Biblos, at the foot of Mount Libanus, northward of Sidon, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea; famous for its wines; and now called Gaeta. Both Ptolemy and Stephanus Byzantinus speak of a town called Gebala, to the east of Tyre: but this was different from Gebal, or Biblos. It seems more natural to understand this of a people than of stone-squarers, though most of the versions have adopted this idea which we follow in the text.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Kings 5:10-18

The temple was chiefly built by the riches and labour of Gentiles, which typified their being called into the church. Solomon commanded, and they brought costly stones for the foundation. Christ, who is laid for a Foundation, is a chosen and precious Stone. We should lay our foundation firm, and bestow most pains on that part of our religion which lies out of the sight of men. And happy those who, as lively stones…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 5:10-18 →

1 Kings 5:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַֽיִּפְסְל֞וּvai.yif.se.Luand they cut [them] to shapeH6458
בֹּנֵ֧יbo.Nei[the] builders ofH1129
שְׁלֹמֹ֛הshe.lo.MohSolomonH8010
וּבֹנֵ֥יu.vo.Neiand [the] builders ofH1129
חִיר֖וֹםchi.RomHiramH2438
וְהַגִּבְלִ֑יםve.ha.giv.Limand the GebalitesH1382
וַיָּכִ֛ינוּvai.ya.Khi.nuand they preparedH3559
הָעֵצִ֥יםha.'e.Tzimthe wood<s>H6086
וְהָאֲבָנִ֖יםve.ha.'a.va.Nimand the stonesH68
לִבְנ֥וֹתliv.Notto buildH1129
הַבָּֽיִת\׃\ \פha.Ba.yitthe houseH1004

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Kings 5:18

  • Joshua 13:5

    And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baal–gad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath.

  • Ezekiel 27:9

    The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.

  • Psalms 83:7

    Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the stone-squarers. or, Giblites.
Jos 13:5; Ps 83:7; Eze 27:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Kings 5:17

    And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

  • 1 Kings 5:18

    And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stonesquarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.

Read all of 1 Kings 5

1 Kings 5:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los albañiles de Salomón y los de Hiram, y los aparejadores, cortaron y aparejaron la madera y la cantería para labrar la casa.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Mais maintenant l’ Éternel, mon Dieu, m’a donné de la tranquillité de tous les côtés; il n’y a ni adversaire ni événement fâcheux.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und die Bauleute Salomos und die Bauleute Hirams und die Gibliter behieben sie, und sie richteten das Holz und die Steine zum Bau des Hauses zu.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		quos dolaverunt cæmentarii Salomonis et cæmentarii Hiram: porro Giblii præparaverunt ligna et lapides ad ædificandam domum.