SEV Biblia, Chapter 5:6
Manda pues ahora que me corten cedros del Líbano; y mis siervos estarán con los tuyos, y yo te daré por tus siervos el salario que tú dijeres; porque tú sabes bien, que ninguno hay entre nosotros que sepa labrar la madera como los sidonios.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 5:6
Verse 6. Any that can skill to hew timber] An obsolete and barbarous expression for any that know how to cut timber. They had neither sawyers, carpenters, joiners, nor builders among them, equal to the Sidonians. Sidon was a part of the territories of Hiram, and its inhabitants appear to have been the most expert workmen. It requires more skill to fell and prepare timber than is generally supposed. Vitruvius gives some rules relative to this, lib. ii., cap. 9, the sum of which is this: 1. Trees should be felled in autumn, or in the winter, and in the wane of the moon; for in this season the trees recover their vigour and solidity, which was dispersed among their leaves, and exhausted by their fruit, in spring and summer; they will then be free from a certain moisture, very apt to engender worms and rot them, which in autumn and winter is consumed and dried up. 2. Trees should not be cut down at once; they should be cut carefully round towards the pith, that the sap may drop down and distil away, and thus left till thoroughly dry, and then cut down entirely. 3. When fully dried, a tree should not be exposed to the south sun, high winds, and rain; and should be smeared over with cow-dung to prevent its splitting. 4. It should never be drawn through the dew, but be removed in the afternoon. 5. It is not fit for floors, doors, or windows, till it has been felled three years.
Perhaps these directions attended to, would prevent the dry rot. And we see from them that there is considerable skill required to hew timber, and in this the Sidonians excelled. We do every thing in a hurry, and our building is good for nothing.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 6. Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedars out of Lebanon , etc.] That is, order his servants to cut them down there for him.
Some think that Lebanon belonged to the land of Israel, and therefore Solomon did not ask for the cedars upon it, but for his servants to hew them for him; but as it lay upon the borders of Israel, part of it might belong to them, and another part to Hiram, and on which the best cedars might grow, and so he furnished Solomon both with trees, and men to cut them, as it seems from ( 1 Kings 5:10); see also ( 2 Chronicles 2:3,8); and my servants shall be with thy servants : to assist them, and to carry the timber from place to place, and to learn how to hew timber: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants, according to all that thou shalt appoint ; pay them for their work and service, as Hiram himself should judge fit and reasonable for them; no mention being made of paying for the timber, seems to countenance the notion that the trees were Solomon’s; but when the quantity of provisions sent yearly to Hiram for his household, besides what the servants had, is observed, it seems to have been sent as an equivalent to the timber received by Solomon, (see Kings 5:10,11); for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians ; it is not said Tyrians, the Sidonians, perhaps, being more skilful in this than they were; and the Sidonians are said by Homer to be poludaidaloi , very ingenious: and they were both under the jurisdiction and at the command of Hiram; so Eupolemus f75 makes the inscription of Solomon’s letter to him to run thus, to Suron (that is, Hiram) king of Tyre, Sidon, and Phoenicia. The Jews being chiefly employed in husbandry, and in feeding cattle, were very unskilful in mechanic arts, and in this of cutting down trees, and hewing timber; for there is skill to be exercised therein; the proper time of cutting down trees should be observed, the part in which they are to be cut, and the position in which they are to be put when cut down, as Vitruvius directs, with other things, and Pliny observes the same.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-9 - Here is Solomon's design to build a temple. There is no adversary, n Satan, so the word is; no instrument of Satan to oppose it, or to divert from it. Satan does all he can, to hinder temple work. When there is no evil abroad, then let us be ready and active in that whic is good, and get forward. Let God's promises quicken our endeavours And all outward skill and advantages should be made serviceable to the interests of Christ's kingdom. It Tyre supplies Israel with craftsmen Israel will supply Tyre with corn, Eze 27:17. Thus, by the wis disposal of Providence, one country has need of another, and is benefitted by another, that there may be dependence on one another, to the glory of God.
Original Hebrew
ועתה 6258 צוה 6680 ויכרתו 3772 לי ארזים 730 מן 4480 הלבנון 3844 ועבדי 5650 יהיו 1961 עם 5973 עבדיך 5650 ושׂכר 7939 עבדיך 5650 אתן 5414 לך ככל 3605 אשׁר 834 תאמר 559 כי 3588 אתה 859 ידעת 3045 כי 3588 אין 369 בנו אישׁ 376 ידע 3045 לכרת 3772 עצים 6086 כצדנים׃ 6722
