1 Kings 5:3

3 "You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of the Lord his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.

1 Kings 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:3

Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house
unto the name of the Lord his God
As he designed, and was desirous of; and which Hiram might know not only by common fame, but from David himself, between whom there was an intercourse, and that in relation to cedars for building, which David had of Hiram, ( 2 Chronicles 2:3 ) ;

for the wars which were about him on every side;
or warriors, as the Targum, the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, and Syrians:

until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet;
made them subject and tributary to him, as he did at length, see ( 2 Samuel 7:1 ) ( 8:1 ) so the "Cetib", or textual reading, is; but the "Keri", or marginal reading, is, "under the soles of my feet"; that is, Solomon's, which agrees with what follows; it was true of both.

1 Kings 5:3 In-Context

1 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father's place, for Hiram had always been friends with David.

2 Solomon sent [this message] to Hiram:

3 "You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of the Lord his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.

4 The Lord my God has now given me rest all around; there is no enemy or crisis.

5 So I plan to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God, according to what the Lord promised my father David: 'I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the temple for My name.'