1 Kings 9

1 It happened, when Shlomo had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Shlomo's desire which he was pleased to do,

2 that the LORD appeared to Shlomo the second time, as he had appeared to him at Giv`on.

3 The LORD said to him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication, that you have made before me: I have made this house holy, which you have built, to put my name there forever; and my eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.

4 As for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep my statutes and my ordinances;

5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Yisra'el forever, according as I promised to David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man on the throne of Yisra'el.

6 But if you shall turn away from following me, you or your children, and not keep my mitzvot and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;

7 then will I cut off Yisra'el out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Yisra'el shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

8 Though this house is so high, yet shall everyone who passes by it be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land, and to this house?

9 and they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Mitzrayim, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them, and served them: therefore has the LORD brought all this evil on them.

10 It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Shlomo had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king's house

11 (now Hiram the king of Tzor had furnished Shlomo with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that then king Shlomo gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of the Galil.

12 Hiram came out from Tzor to see the cities which Shlomo had given him; and they didn't please him.

13 He said, What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? He called them the land of Kavul to this day.

14 Hiram sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold.

15 This is the reason of the levy which king Shlomo raised, to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Yerushalayim, and Hatzor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 Par`oh king of Mitzrayim had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Kana`anim who lived in the city, and given it for a portion to his daughter, Shlomo's wife.

17 Shlomo built Gezer, and Beit-Horon the lower,

18 and Ba`alat, and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land,

19 and all the store-cities that Shlomo had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Shlomo desired to build for his pleasure in Yerushalayim, and in Levanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

20 As for all the people who were left of the Amori, the Hitti, the Perizzi, the Hivvi, and the Yevusi, who were not of the children of Yisra'el;

21 their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Yisra'el were not able utterly to destroy, of them did Shlomo raise a levy of bondservants to this day.

22 But of the children of Yisra'el did Shlomo make no bondservants; but they were the men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.

23 These were the chief officers who were over Shlomo's work, five hundred fifty, who bore rule over the people who labored in the work.

24 But Par`oh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which [Shlomo] had built for her: then did he build Millo.

25 Three times a year did Shlomo offer burnt offerings and peace-offerings on the altar which he built to the LORD, burning incense therewith, [on the altar] that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.

26 King Shlomo made a navy of ships in `Etzyon-Gever, which is beside Elot, on the shore of the Sea of Suf, in the land of Edom.

27 Hiram sent in the navy his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Shlomo.

28 They came to Ofir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Shlomo.

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 ) .

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.