2 Chronicles 2:17-18 Meaning: God Uses Outsiders for His Work
17Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the census with which David his father had counted them; and they found one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred.
18He set seventy thousand of them to bear burdens, eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to assign the people their work.
17And 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.
18And 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.
17And Solomon numbered all the sojourners that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father had numbered them; and they were found a hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred.
18And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people at work.
17And Solomon numbereth all the men, the sojourners who are in the land of Israel, after the numbering with which David his father numbered them, and they are found a hundred and fifty thousand, and three thousand, and six hundred;
18and he maketh of them seventy thousand burden-bearers, and eighty thousand hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers, to cause the people to work.
17And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the account that David his father had taken of them, and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred.
18And he set seventy thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand to be stone-masons in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the people to work.
Meaning in one sentence
Solomon counted 153,600 foreigners to build the temple. See why God included outsiders in His holy work.
Context
Solomon is making preparations to build the temple, the house of God. He has already secured a skilled artisan and a supply of timber from King Hiram of Tyre. Now he turns to the workforce itself. Following the pattern his father David had started, Solomon takes a census of the foreigners living in Israel, the descendants of the Canaanite nations who remained in the land. These were not Israelites who owned land and had their own tribal inheritances. They were a separate population, and Solomon conscripts them into the heavy labor of the temple project. The numbers given are precise and substantial: over 150,000 men, plus their overseers. This passage shows the massive scale of the work and how it was organized, but it also quietly raises a question about who does the heavy lifting for God's house.
Key Words
The English word “foreigners” translates a term that means “sojourners” or “resident aliens.” These were people living in Israel who were not part of the covenant community by birth. They had no land of their own and often worked as craftsmen, laborers, or servants. The commentators note they were likely descended from the Canaanites who were never driven out of the land. They were not idolaters, but many became proselytes, outsiders who joined themselves to Israel.
The verbs “bear burdens” and “hew [stone]” describe the hardest physical work on the project. These were not volunteers. The word for “overseers” is a form of the same word used in Egypt for taskmasters. These men were set “to cause the people to work.” It is honest about the cost of building. God’s house required immense human effort, and much of it fell on those who had the least power and status in Israel.
How Christians Read This Verse
Christians have read this passage with different emphasis. Wesley notes that Solomon would not employ free-born Israelites in this “drudgery,” so the foreigners, who had no lands and lived by their labor, took up the work. Barnes points out that David himself had first imposed this bond-service on the Canaanites, and Solomon merely continued it. Gill and the Douay text call the foreigners “proselytes of the gate,” meaning they were converts who followed the God of Israel, not forced slaves. The numbers themselves vary between the accounts in Kings and Chronicles, with some commentators seeing a discrepancy in the count of overseers while others harmonize the figures by distinguishing higher and lower officers. What is clear across traditions is that these workers, though outsiders by birth, were central to the building of God’s dwelling place.
A common misunderstanding
A common misreading is that these 153,600 men were slaves, forced into hard labor against their will. In fact, the commentaries show they were resident aliens, not chattel slaves. They lived in the land voluntarily, and many had become worshipers of Yahweh. David and Solomon hired them as paid laborers, not as an enslaved workforce. The text’s honesty about the hard work and oversight does not make it a story of oppression; it shows that God’s house was built by the hands of people who were not part of the chosen family by birth, yet were given a place and a purpose in God’s project.
Living This Out
This week you might find yourself doing work that feels beneath you, or you might be the one who organizes the work that others carry out. The temple was built by a mix of people: skilled artists from Tyre, free Israelites, and foreign laborers who carried stone and timber. Your role in God’s house may not be the one you would choose, but it is the one He has assigned. The foreigner’s work was honest and necessary. So is yours. You do not need to be a featured player to be part of what God is building. Carry your burden today with that in mind.
Main takeaway: God’s house was built by outsiders and insiders together, and He still uses every willing hand to do His work.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
Solomon needed many workers to build God’s temple. Some of them were from other countries who lived in Israel. God used everyone to make His house beautiful, even people who were not Israelites.
For ages 9, 12
Solomon counted over a hundred and fifty thousand foreign men who lived in Israel. These men did the heavy work of carrying stones and cutting timber for the temple. They were not Israelites by birth, but they were still part of God’s plan. This shows that God includes people who seem like outsiders. He gives everyone a job to do in His family, no matter where they come from.
Questions People Ask
Who were the 'foreigners' or 'strangers' in Israel?
They were the descendants of the Canaanite nations that Israel did not drive out of the land. They lived among the Israelites but did not own their own tribal land. Many of them eventually became proselytes, meaning they worshiped the God of Israel. They were free residents, not slaves, but they did not have the same inheritance as the tribes of Israel.
Why does the number of workers differ between 2 Chronicles and 1 Kings?
In 1 Kings 5:16 the number of overseers is 3,300, while in 2 Chronicles 2:18 the number is 3,600. The Cambridge Bible notes that the Hebrew letters for 'three' and 'six' are easily confused in copying. But Keil and Delitzsch explain that the books of Kings and Chronicles may be counting different levels of overseers, the higher ranking officers in one account and the lower ranking in the other.
Was Solomon wrong to make these people work?
The text does not condemn the practice. The foreigners were not slaves but resident aliens who were paid for their labor. David had started the practice of using them for the temple work. Many Christian commentators see this as a fulfillment of prophecy that 'strangers' would build up the walls of Jerusalem. The temple was a massive project that required many hands, and the foreign population provided them.
What does the number 153,600 mean?
The number is an exact count of the men available for heavy labor. It represents 70,000 porters, 80,000 stonecutters, and 3,600 supervisors. The precision shows that Solomon managed the project carefully and that the temple was built on a massive scale. No symbolic meaning for the number itself is given in the text or the major commentaries.
For pastors & researchers
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