At the king’s command is literally “And the king commanded.” Since Hiram was also a king, it may be wise to identify the king here as “King Solomon” to avoid confusion.

The subject of the Hebrew verb for quarried is rendered by the pronoun they in Revised Standard Version. This pronoun would logically refer back to the “chief officers” mentioned in the previous verse, but this is not the meaning. They quarried is an indefinite form referring to the stonecutters who worked under the overseers. This indefinite form could be translated with a passive verb in those languages that use passives ordinarily. But if the passive form is not available, it will be possible to specify “the stonecutters” as the subject of this verb.

Great, costly stones: The Hebrew noun here, which usually refers to stones, is translated “blocks” according to the context in some modern versions (Revised English Bible, New American Bible). Most interpreters understand the Hebrew word rendered costly to come from a Hebrew root meaning “precious” or “rare.” But these stones were not some special kind of rare stone. The Hebrew word for costly in this context most likely means that the stones were solid and suitable for shaping, so Anchor Bible says that they were “quality stone.” Gray, however, claims that the Hebrew root for costly must be understood in light of a cognate word in Arabic meaning “to split.” Gray, therefore, translates “great stones, split stones.”

The foundation of the house: Since the concept of a foundation is unfamiliar in certain cultures, it may be necessary to express the meaning here by saying “the stones on which the whole house rests.” The house is the Temple, as in verses 3 and 5.

Dressed stones, which are also called “hewn stone” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible), refer to rocks that have been cut so that they are squared off in the shape of building blocks. Some may have to translate “stones that workers have prepared for building” or “stones that have been cut and shaped for building.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .