1 Kings 9:15-23

Solomon's Forced Labor

15 This is the account of the forced labor^[a] 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.^[b]

17 Then Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,

18 Baalath, Tamar^[c] 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.^[d]

1 Kings 9:15-23 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.

Footnotes

• [a] 1 Kg 5:13-14
• [b] 1 Kg 3:1
• [c] 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.
• [d] 2 Ch 8:3-10