1 Kings 9

The LORD’s Response to Solomon

1 Now when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all that he had desired to do, ¹

2 the LORD appeared to him a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.

3 And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and petition before Me. I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting My Name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there for all time.

4 And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and uprightness, doing all I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances,

5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, ‘You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

6 But if indeed you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep the commandments and statutes I have set before you, and if you go off to serve and worship other gods,

7 then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and I will banish from My presence this temple I have sanctified for My Name. Then Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all peoples.

8 And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, ^[a] all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’

9 And others will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—because of this, the LORD has brought all this disaster upon them.’”

Solomon’s Additional Achievements

10 Now at the end of the twenty years during which Solomon built these two houses, the house of the LORD and the royal palace, ²

11 King Solomon gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, who had supplied him with cedar and cypress ^[b] logs and gold for his every desire.

12 So Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the towns that Solomon had given him, but he was not pleased with them.

13 “What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” asked Hiram, and he called them the Land of Cabul, ^[c] as they are called to this day.

14 And Hiram had sent the king 120 talents of gold. ^[d]

15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon imposed to build the house of the LORD, his own palace, the supporting terraces, ^[e] and the wall of Jerusalem, as well as Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,

18 Baalath, and Tamar ^[f] in the Wilderness of Judah, ^[g]

19 as well as all the store cities that Solomon had for his chariots and horses ^[h]—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout the land of his dominion.

20 As for all the people who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites (the people who were not Israelites)—

21 their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction ^[i]—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.

22 But Solomon did not consign any of the Israelites to slavery, because they were his men of war, his servants, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and cavalry.

23 They were also the chief officers over Solomon’s projects: 550 supervisors over the people who did the work.

24 As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.

25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense with them before the LORD. So he completed the temple.

26 King Solomon also assembled a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth ^[j] in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. ^[k]

27 And Hiram sent his servants, sailors who knew the sea, to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s servants.

28 They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents ^[l]—and delivered it to Solomon.

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. (2 Chronicles 7:11–22)
• 2. (2 Chronicles 8:1–18)

Footnotes

• [a]. Some LXX manuscripts, Syriac, and Arabic; Hebrew And though this temple is now exalted; see also 2 Chronicles 7:21.
• [b]. Or pine or juniper or fir
• [c]. Cabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing.
• [d]. 120 talents is approximately 4.52 tons or 4.1 metric tons of gold.
• [e]. Hebrew the Millo; also in verse 24
• [f]. Alternate MT reading; the other alternate reads Tadmor
• [g]. Hebrew in the wilderness in the land
• [h]. Or horsemen or charioteers
• [i]. Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
• [j]. Eloth is a variant of Elath; see LXX, 2 Kings 14:22, and 2 Kings 16:6.
• [k]. Or the Sea of Reeds
• [l]. 420 talents is approximately 15.8 tons or 14.4 metric tons of gold.

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.