I will give your servants, the woodcutters who fell the timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat and twenty thousand cors of barley and twenty thousand bath of wine and twenty thousand bath of oil — Solomon offers payment in agricultural products: 20,000 כּוֹרִים (cors, large measure, approximately 45 gallons each) of wheat and barley, plus 20,000 בַּתִּים (baths, liquid measure) of wine and oil. These staples were valuable commodities for a maritime city like Tyre, which required grain imports and value-added oils and wines. The payment structure suggests a fixed contract: X amount of timber for Y amount of provisions. The enumeration of payment (wheat, barley, wine, oil) reflects the material basis of ancient commerce—precious metals were traded, but staple foods were the standard of value. Solomon's willingness to pay substantially demonstrates the project's urgency and importance: he will not coerce labor but purchase it. This commercial arrangement, while substantial, likely benefited both parties: Tyre gained reliable food supply, and Solomon gained access to essential timber.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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