1 Kings 9:21

21 their children who remained after them in the land, whom the {Israelites} were not able to completely destroy, Solomon conscripted them for forced labor, until this very day.

1 Kings 9:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 9:21

Their children that were left after them in the land
The posterity of those left unsubdued in the times of Joshua:

whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy;
in later times, though now it is thought by some it was not for want of power, but because they had made a covenant with them, as the Gibeonites did, and therefore they could not, because it would have been a breach of covenant to have destroyed them; see ( 2 Chronicles 8:8 ) ,

upon these did Solomon levy a tribute of bond service unto this day;
not a tribute of money, which being poor they were not able to pay, but of service, and which being once laid on was continued, and even to the time of the writing of this book.

1 Kings 9:21 In-Context

19 and [he also built] all of the storage cities which were Solomon's, the cities [for] the chariots, the cities [for] the cavalry, and all of Solomon's desire that he wanted to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion.

20 All of the people who were remaining from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites who [were] not of the {Israelites},

21 their children who remained after them in the land, whom the {Israelites} were not able to completely destroy, Solomon conscripted them for forced labor, until this very day.

22 But from the {Israelites} Solomon did not make a slave, but they [were] the men of war, his officers, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and his cavalry.

23 These [were] the commanders of the overseers who [were] over the work for Solomon, five hundred and fifty, ruling over the people doing the work.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"