Solomon counted seventy thousand porters. All these—the porters, the hewers, and the supervisors—were alien-converts, as it says just below, “Solomon counted all the alien-converts …” (v. 16).

Three thousand six hundred. But in Kings [it says] “three thousand three hundred” (1 Kgs 5:30)! Rashi, of blessed memory, explains (ibid.) that the three hundred [not included] were prefects over all of them. For the three thousand three hundred were appointed over the porters and hewers, who numbered one-hundred-and-fifty thousand combined—one thousand one hundred for each fifty thousand, as it says “and their supervisors: three thousand six hundred”—and three hundred of the six hundred were over all of them.

This is Israel’s duty forever. This means: This commandment—that of the offerings—is Israel’s duty forever, not just for a limited period; so I must build a good and strong Temple. In a midrashic vein, our Sages, of blessed memory (b. Menaḥot 110a), explain that this refers to scholars immersed in the laws of service: the text considers it to be as though the Sanctuary were built in their days.

And in argevan. This is the equivalent of argaman: the Targum renders argaman: “argevana” (Exod 25:4). It is a reddish color.

Karmil is also a reddish color; but whereas argaman is the reddish color called laque (=lacquer), karmil is the worm-color shani; that is, crimson.

And algummim. This is the equivalent of almuggim (1 Kgs 10:11). It refers to the red-colored wood called ‘al baqam in Arabic and Brasil (=Brazilwood) in the vernacular. But some explain it to mean coral.

Will be great and wondrous. This means: [The Temple] will be great, and it will be wondrous in its greatness.

Makkot for your servants. This is akin to “as food (makkolet) for his household” in Kings (1 5:25). R. Jonah [ibn Janaִh] (Shorashim כתת) writes that this is of the root ktt (=to grind), so that it means ground wheat. But my master, my father, of blessed memory (Zikkaron p. 15), writes that it is from nkt, as in ve-nakkitu, the Targum of vaynashekhu (=and they bit; Num 21:6). [So it means]: “a bite for your servants,” as if to say “food.” This was food for the woodcutters; but what is mentioned in Kings was food for Hiram’s household, compensation for the use of his servants (1 Kgs 5:20, 25).

The son of a Danite woman. But in Kings [it says], “[The craftsman] was the son of a widow, from the tribe of Naphtali” (1 Kgs 7:14)! It was his father who was from the tribe of Naphtali: the reason [his father] is called a Tyrian is that he lived in Tyre. Compare “Obed-edom the Gittite” (2 Sam 6:10): he was in fact a Levite (1 15:18), but he was called a Gittite because he lived in Gath. So this man, likewise, was called a Tyrian because he lived in Tyre. But his mother was from the tribe of Dan, as it says, “a Danite woman.”

He is skilled at working in gold. [This means] either that he was, or that his father was as well. The same is true in Kings for: “And his father had been a Tyrian, a coppersmith” (1 Kgs 7:14): “a coppersmith” may refer to him or to his father. Our Sages, of blessed memory (b. Arakhin 16b), explain this to refer to his father, and they cite it to support [the principle] that a person is obligated to engage himself in his father’s craft. For the reason the text mentions his father is that he was a craftsman also, and his son learned his craft.

Rafsodot (=rafts). This is the same as doverot in Kings (1 5:23): these consist of logs tied to one another at the front that are guided along rivers and the sea. That is why they are called doverot, which has the sense of guiding (hanhagah): the Targum of vayyinhag (Gen 31:18) is u-devar. They were also called rafsodot, however. In the Mishnah’s terminology [this is called] an asda: [concerning the phrase], “If he was sitting in a boat or an asda” (Ber. 4:6), the Talmud Yerushalmi [explains] (Berakhot 35b): Asda, akhsera, and rafsodot are one and the same.

The sefar (=census). This is a noun, in the pattern of eyal (=strength; Ps 88:5), serad (=service; Exod 39:1), and she’ar (=remnant; Isa 10:21).

By which [Solomon’s] father David had counted [the alien-converts]—as it says above: “David gave orders to assemble the alien-converts living in the land of Israel, and assigned them to be hewers” (1 Chr 22:2). But later on Solomon counted them again, because their numbers had grown since the time he became king. It is possible that these alien-converts were the remnant of the Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, and Jebusite nations, consistent with what the text says just below (8:7); for Solomon subjected them to forced labor “to this very day” (ibid. 8:8) to perform his tasks and [to work on] the cities he arranged to have built. They are called alien-converts (gerim) because they were not idol-worshipers; for in the days of David and Solomon, when the Israelites had the upper hand, they did not permit them to worship idols. It was on this condition that they permitted them to reside in the land; and David and Solomon made them into hewers, porters, and general laborers (v. 17).