In calculating the number of workmen employed in the construction of the Temple, including those employed in the forest of Lebanon and in the quarries in the vicinity of the Temple itself, one can not be absolutely positive. The figures given in the Scriptures and by Josephus are not in agreement in some particulars, and Masonic traditions are given slightly varying conclusions by authoritative writers. One authority places the total number including the 70,000 laborers who were not classified as Masons, at 183,600; another at 186,600. Biblical records of the workmen employed in the construction of Solomon's Temple… — ( 1 Kings 5:13,14 - 2 Chronicles 2:2 - 2 Chronicles 2:17,18 )
Biblical References
1 Kings 5:13,14
13 And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses: a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home: and Adoniram was over the levy.
2 Chronicles 2:2
And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them.
2 Chronicles 2:17,18
17 And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred. 18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.
~~ooOoo~~
This page is adapted from the Glossary at Phoenixmasonry — Used with permission.
