1 Kings 5:9

9 My servants will bring [them] down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them [into] rafts in the sea [to float to] the place which you indicated to me. Then I shall break them up there, and you may carry [them further], and {you shall meet my needs} by giving food for my house."

1 Kings 5:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 5:9

My servants shall bring [them] down from Lebanon unto the sea,
&c.] The Mediterranean sea, on which Tyre stood:

and I will convey them by sea in floats;
which were either a sort of carriage for the timber the Tyrians and Sidonians had, being furnished with various navigable vessels; or these were the timber itself, and the planks of it, which being fastened together, were set afloat under the direction of some boats with oars, of which they had plenty:

unto the place that thou shalt appoint me;
which was Joppa, as appears from ( 2 Chronicles 2:16 ) ; belonging to the land of Israel, in the same sea:

and will cause them to be discharged there;
either to be unloaded from the vessels, or to be unloosed and taken up separately:

and thou shalt receive [them];
by his servants appointed there to bring them to Jerusalem, which was forty miles from Joppa:

and thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household;
signifying, that all that he desired in return was, that he would supply him with corn or wheat, which he stood in need of, and his letter in Josephus ^F4 expresses; and we find in later times this place was supplied with bread corn from Judea, see ( Ezra 3:7 ) ( Ezekiel 27:17 ) ( Acts 12:20 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 2. sect. 8.)

1 Kings 5:9 In-Context

7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and he said, "Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people."

8 Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, "I have heard what you have sent to me; I will do all of your desire concerning the timber of cedars and concerning the timber of cypresses.

9 My servants will bring [them] down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them [into] rafts in the sea [to float to] the place which you indicated to me. Then I shall break them up there, and you may carry [them further], and {you shall meet my needs} by giving food for my house."

10 So Hiram was giving to Solomon the cedar timbers and the cypress timbers, {everything he needed}.

11 Then Solomon gave to Hiram twenty thousand dry measures of wheat [as] food for his household, and twenty dry measures of {specially prepared olive oil}; thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "you shall do my desire"