דברי הימים ב, פרק ב׳, פסוק ט״ז

Preparing to build the Temple was a massive undertaking that required an enormous workforce and careful organization. To gather the necessary labor, King Solomon conducted a census of the foreign population living in the land. There are different views regarding the exact identity of these foreigners. They are specifically identified as the Gibeonites [מצודת דוד]. Alternatively, they were the surviving remnants of the Canaanite nations, such as the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites. During the powerful reigns of David and Solomon, these groups were strictly forbidden from practicing idol worship. Because they abandoned their pagan practices, they were permitted to remain in the land and were drafted into forced labor, tasked with quarrying stone and carrying heavy loads for the royal construction projects [רד״ק].

Solomon's census was a continuation of an earlier count initiated by his father, King David. A subtle shift in the historical records between the two kings symbolizes a broader transition in the Temple project itself. While David's efforts represented the initial planning and preparation phase, Solomon's work marked the realization and actual construction [רש״י].

The necessity of a second census raises a natural question about why David's original count was insufficient. The primary approach among commentators is that David initially numbered these workers when he first gathered them for the Temple project [רש״י, רלב״ג]. However, as time passed, their population likely changed and increased, prompting Solomon to conduct a fresh count to determine the updated numbers [רד״ק, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. A contrasting view suggests that Solomon's census was not merely an update to old records, but rather an expansion of the workforce. According to this understanding, Solomon numbered a new group of laborers to work in addition to those his father had already designated for the Temple construction [מלבי״ם].