1 Kings 9

1 After King Solomon had finished building the Temple and the palace and everything else he wanted to build,

2 the Lord appeared to him again, as he had in Gibeon. ¹

3 The Lord said to him, "I have heard your prayer. I consecrate this Temple which you have built as the place where I shall be worshiped forever. I will watch over it and protect it for all time.

4 If you will serve me in honesty and integrity, as your father David did, and if you obey my laws and do everything I have commanded you,

5 I will keep the promise I made to your father David when I told him that Israel would always be ruled by his descendants. ²

6 But if you or your descendants stop following me, disobey the laws and commands I have given you, and worship other gods,

7 then I will remove my people Israel from the land that I have given them. I will also abandon this Temple which I have consecrated as the place where I am to be worshiped. People everywhere will ridicule Israel and treat her with contempt.

8 This Temple will become a pile of ruins, and everyone who passes by will be shocked and amazed. "Why did the Lord do this to this land and this Temple?' they will ask. ³

9 People will answer, "It is because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt. They gave their allegiance to other gods and worshiped them. That is why the Lord has brought this disaster on them.' "

10 It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple and his palace.

11 King Hiram of Tyre had provided him with all the cedar and pine and with all the gold he wanted for this work. After it was finished, King Solomon gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee.

12 Hiram went to see them, and he did not like them.

13 So he said to Solomon, "So these, my brother, are the towns you have given me!" For this reason the area is still called Cabul.

14 Hiram had sent Solomon almost five tons of gold.

15 King Solomon used forced labor to build the Temple and the palace, to fill in land on the east side of the city, and to build the city wall. He also used it to rebuild the cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer

16 (The king of Egypt had attacked Gezer and captured it, killing its inhabitants and setting fire to the city. Then he gave it as a wedding present to his daughter when she married Solomon,

17 and Solomon rebuilt it.) Using his forced labor, Solomon also rebuilt Lower Beth Horon,

18 Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness of Judah,

19 the cities where his supplies were kept, the cities for his horses and chariots, and everything else he wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and elsewhere in his kingdom.

20 For his forced labor Solomon used the descendants of the people of Canaan whom the Israelites had not killed when they took possession of their land. These included Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, whose descendants continue to be slaves down to the present time.

22 Solomon did not make slaves of Israelites; they served as his soldiers, officers, commanders, chariot captains, and cavalry.

23 There were 550 officials in charge of the forced labor working on Solomon's various building projects.

24 Solomon filled in the land on the east side of the city, after his wife, the daughter of the king of Egypt, had moved from David's City to the palace Solomon built for her.

25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built to the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished building the Temple. ⁴

26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Eziongeber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, in the land of Edom.

27 King Hiram sent some experienced sailors from his fleet to serve with Solomon's men.

28 They sailed to the land of Ophir and brought back to Solomon about sixteen tons of gold.

1 Kings 9 Commentary

Chapter 9

God's answer to Solomon. (1-9) The presents of Solomon and Hiram. (10-14) Solomon's buildings, His trade. (15-28)

Verses 1-9 God warned Solomon, now he had newly built and dedicated the temple, that he and his people might not be high-minded, but fear. After all the services we can perform, we stand upon the same terms with the Lord as before. Nothing can purchase for us liberty to sin, nor would the true believer desire such a licence. He would rather be chastened of the Lord, than be allowed to go on with ease and prosperity in sin.

Verses 10-14 Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities. Hiram did not like them. If Solomon would gratify him, let it be in his own element, by becoming his partner in trade, as he did. See how the providence of God suits this earth to the various tempers of men, and the dispositions of men to the earth, and all for the good of mankind in general.

Verses 15-28 Here is a further account of Solomon's greatness. He began at the right end, for he built God's house first, and finished that before he began his own; then God blessed him, and he prospered in all his other buildings. Let piety begin, and profit follow; leave pleasure to the last. Whatever pains we take for the glory of God, and to profit others, we are likely to have the advantage. Canaan, the holy land, the glory of all lands, had no gold in it; which shows that the best produce is that which is for the present support of life, our own and others; such things did Canaan produce. Solomon got much by his merchandise, and yet has directed us to a better trade, within reach of the poorest. Wisdom is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold, ( Proverbs 3:14 ) .

Cross References

• 1. 9.2 1 K 3.5;2 Chronicles 1.7.
• 2. 9.5 1 Kings 2.4.
• 3. 9.8 2 K 25.9;2 Chronicles 36.19.
• 4. 9.25Exodus 23.17; 34.23;Deuteronomy 16.16.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Some ancient translations] a pile of ruins; [Hebrew] high.
• [b]. cabul: [This name sounds like "ke-bal," the Hebrew for "worthless."]
• [c]. [Hebrew has two additional words, the meaning of which is unclear.]

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 9

This chapter relates a second vision Solomon had at Gibeon, in which he received an answer to his prayer in the preceding chapter, 1Ki 9:1-9 that passed between him and Hiram king of Tyre, 1Ki 9:10-14, the places that Solomon built or repaired, 1Ki 9:15-19, the Canaanitish people that became bondmen to him, and the officers he had among the children of Israel, 1Ki 9:20-23 the removal of Pharaoh's daughter to the house built for her, 1Ki 9:24. Solomon's attention to religious services, 1Ki 9:25 and the navy of ships he employed, which brought him in great riches, 1Ki 9:26-28.