1 Kings 9:23

Thesewere the chief of the officers Better, with R.V. the chief officers. This is a select class out of the whole number of such officers. A greater number, 3300, is spoken of in chap. 1 Kings 5:16, and it may be that while the works in Lebanon, and at the Temple and the king's house, were in progress, the larger number of chief officers was engaged in the supervision; but afterwards, for the ordinary fortification and pleasaunce-building, the smaller number was found sufficient. In 2 Chronicles 8:11, two hundred and fifty is given as the number of these officials. Kennicott explains this variation by the reading of one letter for another in the Hebrew system of indicating numbers by the letters of the alphabet.