1 Kings 9

The Lord's Response

1 When Solomon finished building the temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all that Solomon desired to do,

2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time just as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.^[a]

3 The Lord said to him: I have heard your prayer and petition you have made before Me. I have consecrated this temple you have built, to put My name there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.

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

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

6 If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands-My statutes that I have set before you-and if you go and serve other gods and worship them,

7 I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject^[b] the temple I have sanctified for My name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

8 Though this temple is [now] exalted,^[c] every passerby will be appalled and will hiss. They will say: Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?

9 Then they will say: Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and worshiped and served them. Because of this, the Lord brought all this ruin on them.^[d]

King Hiram's 20 Towns

10 At the end of 20 years during which Solomon had built the two houses, the Lord's temple and the royal palace^[e]-

11 Hiram king of Tyre having supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold for his every wish-King Solomon gave Hiram 20 towns in the land of Galilee.

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

13 So he said, "What are these towns you've given me, my brother?" So he called them the Land of Cabul,^[f] as they are [still called] today.

14 Now Hiram had sent the king 9,000 pounds^[g] of gold.

Solomon's Forced Labor

15 This is the account of the forced labor^[h] that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord's temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He then burned it down, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.^[i]

17 Then Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,

18 Baalath, Tamar^[j] in the Wilderness of Judah,

19 all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

20 As for all the peoples who remained of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not Israelites-

21 their descendants who remained in the land after them, those whom the Israelites were unable to annihilate-Solomon imposed forced labor on them; [it is this way] until today.

22 But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to slavery; they were soldiers, his servants, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.

23 These were the deputies who were over Solomon's work: 550 who ruled over the people doing the work.^[k]

Solomon's Other Activities

24 Pharaoh's daughter moved from the city of David to the house that Solomon had built for her;^[l] he then built the terraces.

25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them in the Lord's presence. So he completed the temple.^[m]

26 King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.

27 With the fleet, Hiram sent his servants, experienced seamen, along with Solomon's servants.

28 They went to Ophir and acquired gold there-16 tons^[n]-and delivered it to Solomon.^[o]

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 ) .

Footnotes

• [a]. 1 Kg 3:5
• [b]. Lit send from My presence
• [c]. Some ancient versions read temple will become a ruin
• [d]. 2 Ch 7:11-22
• [e]. 2 Ch 8:1
• [f]. Like Nothing
• [g]. Lit 120 talents
• [h]. 1 Kg 5:13-14
• [i]. 1 Kg 3:1
• [j]. Alt Hb traditions, LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg, 2 Ch 8:4 read Tadmor. Tamar was a city in southern Judah; Ezk 47:19; 48:28.
• [k]. 2 Ch 8:3-10
• [l]. 1 Kg 7:8; 2 Ch 8:11
• [m]. 2 Ch 8:12-13,16
• [n]. Lit 420 talents; about 31,500 pounds
• [o]. 2 Ch 8:17-18

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.