1 Kings 9:14-28

14 Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents^[a] of gold.

15 And this is the account of ¹the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the LORD and his own house and ²the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem and ³Hazor and ⁴Megiddo and Gezer

16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and had killed ⁵the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to ⁶his daughter, Solomon's wife;

17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer) and ⁷Lower Beth-horon

18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,^[b]

19 and all the store cities that Solomon had, and ⁸the cities for his chariots, and the cities for ⁹his horsemen, and whatever Solomon ¹⁰desired 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 ¹¹their descendants who were left after them in the land, ¹²whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction^[c]--¹³these Solomon drafted to be ¹⁴slaves, and so they are to this day.

22 But ¹⁵of 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: ¹⁶who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

24 But ¹⁷Pharaoh's daughter went up from the city of David to ¹⁸her own house that Solomon had built for her. ¹⁹Then he built ²⁰the 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^[d] before the LORD. So he finished the house.

26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at ²¹Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

27 And Hiram sent ²²with the fleet his servants, seamen who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon.

28 And they went to ²³Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.

1 Kings 9:14-28 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.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Kings 5:13
• 2. ver. 24; See 2 Samuel 5:9
• 3. Joshua 11:1
• 4. Joshua 17:11
• 5. Joshua 16:10
• 6. 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 7:8
• 7. See Joshua 10:10
• 8. 1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14; 2 Chronicles 9:25
• 9. 1 Kings 4:26
• 10. ver. 1
• 11. [Judg. 1:21, 27, 29; Judges 3:1]
• 12. [Joshua 15:63; Joshua 17:12]
• 13. Judges 1:28
• 14. Ezra 2:55-58; Nehemiah 7:57-60; Nehemiah 11:3
• 15. Leviticus 25:39
• 16. [2 Chronicles 8:10]
• 17. 1 Kings 5:16
• 18. [See ver. 16 above]
• 19. 1 Kings 7:8
• 20. 1 Kings 11:27; [2 Samuel 5:9; 2 Chronicles 32:5]
• 21. See ver. 15
• 22. 1 Kings 22:48; Numbers 33:35; Deuteronomy 2:8
• 23. 1 Kings 10:11
• 24. 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

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