Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 5:6

"Now therefore command thou that they cut me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that knoweth how to cut timber like unto the Sidonians." — 1 Kings 5:6 (ASV)

Solomon’s message to Hiram and Hiram’s answer (1 Kings 5:8–9) are given much more fully in 2 Chronicles 2:3–16.

Cedar-trees - The Hebrew word translated as “cedar” here and elsewhere appears to be used not only for the cedar proper but also for other timber trees, such as the fir and perhaps the juniper. Still, there is no doubt that the true Lebanon cedar is most commonly intended. This tree, which still grows on parts of the mountain but is in danger of dying out, was probably much more widespread in ancient times. The Tyrians made the masts of their ships from this wood (Ezekiel 27:5) and would naturally have been as careful to cultivate it as we ourselves have been to grow oak. When the Assyrian kings made their expeditions into Palestine, they appear to have frequently cut it in Lebanon and Hermon and transported it to their own capitals.

Skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians - The mechanical genius and nautical skill of the Phoenicians generally, and of the Sidonians in particular, are noted by Homer and Herodotus. In the reign of Hiram, Sidon, though it may have had its own king, acknowledged the supremacy of Tyre.