Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 5:15

"And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens, and fourscore thousand that were hewers in the mountains;" — 1 Kings 5:15 (ASV)

Those who bore burdens... - Compare the marginal references. These laborers, whose services were continuous, consisted of strangers—the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—whom Solomon, following the example of his father (1 Chronicles 22:2), condemned to slavery and employed in this way.