1 Kings 9:20-23

20 There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites).

21 Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate^[a] —to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day.

22 But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers.

23 They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

1 Kings 9:20-23 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. S Numbers 13:29
• 2. S Joshua 11:3
• 3. S Genesis 9:25-26
• 4. S Joshua 15:63; Joshua 17:12; Jdg 1:21,27,29
• 5. S Genesis 49:15; S Exodus 1:11; S Deuteronomy 20:11; Ezra 2:55,58
• 6. S Leviticus 25:39
• 7. 1 Kings 5:16

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.