1 Kings 9

Listen to 1 Kings 9

The Lord Appears to Solomon

1 1As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD 2and the king's house and 3all that Solomon desired to build,
2 4the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3 And the LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, 5by putting my name there forever. 6My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
4 And as for you, if you will 7walk before me, 8as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules,
5 9then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, 'You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
6 10But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
7 11then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, 12and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, 13and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
8 And this house will become a heap of ruins.[a] Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, 14'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?'
9 Then they will say, 'Because 15they abandoned the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore the LORD has brought all this disaster on them.'"

Solomon's Other Acts

10 16At the end of 17twenty years, in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king's house,
11 and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
12 But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him.
13 Therefore he said, "What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?" So they are called the land of 18Cabul to this day.
14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents[b] of gold.
15 And this is the account of 19the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the LORD and his own house and 20the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and 21Hazor and 22Megiddo and Gezer
16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed 23the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to 24his daughter, Solomon's wife;
17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and 25Lower Beth-horon
18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,[c]
19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and 26the cities for his chariots, and the cities for 27his horsemen, and whatever Solomon 28desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel--
21 29their descendants who were left after them in the land, 30whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction[d]--31these Solomon drafted to be 32slaves, and so they are to this day.
22 But 33of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders and his horsemen.
23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon's work: 34who had charge of the people who carried on the work.
24 But 35Pharaoh's daughter went up from the city of David to 36her own house that Solomon had built for her. 37Then he built 38the Millo.
25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the LORD, making offerings with it[e] before the LORD. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at 39Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
27 And Hiram sent 40with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they went to 41Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King 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 42

  • 1. For ver. 1-9, see 2 Chronicles 7:11-22
  • 2. 1 Kings 7:1; 2 Chronicles 8:1
  • 3. ver. 19; 2 Chronicles 8:6
  • 4. 1 Kings 3:5; 1 Kings 11:9
  • 5. 1 Kings 8:16, 29
  • 6. Deuteronomy 11:12
  • 7. [Genesis 17:1]
  • 8. 1 Kings 11:4, 6, 38; 1 Kings 14:8; 1 Kings 15:5
  • 9. 1 Kings 6:12; 1 Chronicles 22:10; See 1 Kings 2:4
  • 10. [2 Samuel 7:14; Psalms 89:30, 32]
  • 11. Deuteronomy 4:26; 2 Kings 17:23; 2 Kings 25:21
  • 12. Jeremiah 7:14
  • 13. Deuteronomy 28:37; [Psalms 44:14]
  • 14. Deuteronomy 29:24-26; Jeremiah 22:8, 9
  • 15. 1 Kings 18:18
  • 16. For ver. 10-28, see 2 Chronicles 8:1-18
  • 17. [1 Kings 6:37, 38; 1 Kings 7:1]
  • 18. [Joshua 19:27]
  • 19. 1 Kings 5:13
  • 20. ver. 24; See 2 Samuel 5:9
  • 21. Joshua 11:1
  • 22. Joshua 17:11
  • 23. Joshua 16:10
  • 24. 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 7:8
  • 25. See Joshua 10:10
  • 26. 1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14; 2 Chronicles 9:25
  • 27. 1 Kings 4:26
  • 28. ver. 1
  • 29. [Judg. 1:21, 27, 29; Judges 3:1]
  • 30. [Joshua 15:63; Joshua 17:12]
  • 31. Judges 1:28
  • 32. Ezra 2:55-58; Nehemiah 7:57-60; Nehemiah 11:3
  • 33. Leviticus 25:39
  • 34. [2 Chronicles 8:10]
  • 35. 1 Kings 5:16
  • 36. [See ver. 16 above]
  • 37. 1 Kings 7:8
  • 38. 1 Kings 11:27; [2 Samuel 5:9; 2 Chronicles 32:5]
  • 39. See ver. 15
  • 40. 1 Kings 22:48; Numbers 33:35; Deuteronomy 2:8
  • 41. 1 Kings 10:11
  • 42. 1 Kings 10:11; 1 Kings 22:48; 1 Chronicles 29:4; Job 22:24; Job 28:16; Psalms 45:9; Isaiah 13:12

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Syriac, Old Latin; Hebrew will become high
  • [b]. A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  • [c]. Hebrew lacks of Judah
  • [d]. That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
  • [e]. Septuagint lacks with it

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.

1 Kings 9 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.