Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 5:18

"And Solomon`s builders and Hiram`s builders and the Gebalites did fashion them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house." — 1 Kings 5:18 (ASV)

The stone-squarers.—This rendering is a curious gloss on the proper name, “Giblites” (see margin). The Giblites were the inhabitants of Gebal, a city on the coast of Phoenicia (mentioned in Ezekiel 27:9 in connection with Tyre, and probably in Psalms 83:7). This interpretation as “stone-squarers” arises simply because the context shows that they were skilled in stone-squaring. As they are distinguished from Hiram’s builders, it is possible that they were serfs under them, like the Canaanites under Solomon’s builders.