1 Kings 5:9

9 My men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. There my men will untie them, and your men will take charge of them. On your part, I would like you to supply the food for my men."

1 Kings 5:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:9

My servants shall bring [them] down from Lebanon unto the sea,
&c.] The Mediterranean sea, on which Tyre stood:

and I will convey them by sea in floats;
which were either a sort of carriage for the timber the Tyrians and Sidonians had, being furnished with various navigable vessels; or these were the timber itself, and the planks of it, which being fastened together, were set afloat under the direction of some boats with oars, of which they had plenty:

unto the place that thou shalt appoint me;
which was Joppa, as appears from ( 2 Chronicles 2:16 ) ; belonging to the land of Israel, in the same sea:

and will cause them to be discharged there;
either to be unloaded from the vessels, or to be unloosed and taken up separately:

and thou shalt receive [them];
by his servants appointed there to bring them to Jerusalem, which was forty miles from Joppa:

and thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household;
signifying, that all that he desired in return was, that he would supply him with corn or wheat, which he stood in need of, and his letter in Josephus F4 expresses; and we find in later times this place was supplied with bread corn from Judea, see ( Ezra 3:7 ) ( Ezekiel 27:17 ) ( Acts 12:20 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 2. sect. 8.)

1 Kings 5:9 In-Context

7 Hiram was extremely pleased when he received Solomon's message, and he said, "Praise the Lord today for giving David such a wise son to succeed him as king of that great nation!"
8 Then Hiram sent Solomon the following message: "I have received your message, and I am ready to do what you ask. I will provide the cedars and the pine trees.
9 My men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. There my men will untie them, and your men will take charge of them. On your part, I would like you to supply the food for my men."
10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the cedar and pine logs that he wanted,
11 and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels of wheat and 110,000 gallons of pure olive oil every year to feed his men.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.