1 Kings 9:12

12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.

1 Kings 9:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 9:12

And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon
had given him
For these cities, being in or near Galilee, were not far from Tyre:

and they pleased him not;
being either out of repair, as some think; see ( 2 Chronicles 8:2 ) or the ground barren, and unfruitful; which is not likely, being in a very fruitful country, as the tribes on which they bordered were: but they were not agreeable to him, they did not suit with the disposition of him and his people, who were given not to husbandry, but to merchandise; and the land about these would require a good deal of pains and labour to till, which they were not used to.

1 Kings 9:12 In-Context

10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king’s house

11 (for which Hiram, the king of Tyre, had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees and with gold, according to all his desire), that then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him.

13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And they called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

14 And Hiram had sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.