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Verse 1

FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE AND THE PALACE

"Now Solomon purposed to build a house for the name of Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom. And Solomon counted out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand men were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them."

"And a house for his kingdom" (2 Chronicles 2:1). This refers to the house Solomon would build for himself.[1] The Chronicler omitted many details that are found in Kings, simply because those details were already widely known. "Knowledge of the temple (and many other things) from Kings and other sources is taken for granted."[2] Therefore, we reject as worthless the speculations of scholars regarding alleged "reasons" why this or that was abbreviated or left out altogether.

The 153,600 men mentioned here were slaves, composed of, "Descendants of those Canaanites whom the children of Israel did not drive out."[3] From Kings it is clear that Israelites were also conscripted by Solomon for such slave labor and required to devote one month of every three to his service.

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