1 Kings 9

God's Promise and Warning

1 1Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD, and 2the king's house, and 3all that Solomon desired to do,
2 that 4the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3 The LORD said to him, "5I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built 6by putting My name there forever *, and 7My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually *.
4 "As for you, 8if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances,
5 then 9I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, 'You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
6 "10But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,
7 11then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and 12the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So 13Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
8 "And this house will become 14a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, '15Why * has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?'
9 "And they will say, '16Because * they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore * the LORD has brought all this adversity on them.' "

Cities Given to Hiram

10 17It came about 18at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king's house
11 (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold according to all his desire ), then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
12 So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please * him.
13 He said, "What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?" So they were called the land of 19Cabul to this day.
14 20And Hiram sent to the king 120 * talents of gold.
15 Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon 21levied to build the house of the LORD, his own house, the 22Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, 23Hazor, 24Megiddo, and 25Gezer.
16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the 26Canaanites who lived in the city, and had 27given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower 28Beth-horon
18 and 29Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,
19 and all the storage cities which Solomon had, even 30the cities for his chariots and the cities for 31his horsemen, and 32all that it pleased * Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.
20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel,
21 33their descendants who were left after them in the land 34whom the sons of Israel were unable * to destroy utterly, 35from them Solomon levied 36forced laborers *, even to this day.
22 But Solomon 37did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his princes, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
23 These were the 38chief officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, 39who ruled over the people doing the work.
24 As soon as 40Pharaoh's daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, 41then he built the Millo.
25 Now 42three times in a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to the LORD, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the LORD. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon also built a 43fleet of ships in 44Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red * Sea, in the land of Edom.
27 45And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors * who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.
28 They went to 46Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and 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 46

  • 1. 2 Chronicles 7:11
  • 2. 1 Kings 7:1, 2
  • 3. 2 Chronicles 8:6
  • 4. 1 Kings 3:5; 1 Kings 11:9; 2 Chronicles 1:7
  • 5. 2 Kings 20:5; Psalms 10:17; Psalms 34:17
  • 6. 1 Kings 8:29
  • 7. Deuteronomy 11:12; 2 Chronicles 6:40
  • 8. 1 Kings 3:6, 14; 1 Kings 11:4, 6, 8; 2 Kings 20:3; Psalms 128:1
  • 9. 2 Samuel 7:12, 16; 1 Kings 2:4; 1 Kings 6:12; 1 Chronicles 22:10
  • 10. 2 Samuel 7:14-16; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalms 89:30f
  • 11. Leviticus 18:24-29; Deuteronomy 4:26; 2 Kings 17:23
  • 12. Jeremiah 7:4-14
  • 13. Deuteronomy 28:37; Psalms 44:14; Jeremiah 24:9
  • 14. 2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chronicles 36:19
  • 15. Deuteronomy 29:24-26; 2 Chronicles 7:21; Jer 22:8, 9, 28
  • 16. Deuteronomy 29:25-28; Jeremiah 2:10-13
  • 17. 2 Chronicles 8:1
  • 18. 1 Kings 6:37, 38; 1 Kings 7:1; 1 Kings 9:1
  • 19. Joshua 19:27
  • 20. 1 Kings 9:11
  • 21. 1 Kings 5:13
  • 22. 2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Kings 9:24
  • 23. Joshua 11:1; Joshua 19:36
  • 24. Joshua 17:11
  • 25. Judges 1:29
  • 26. Joshua 16:10
  • 27. 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 7:8
  • 28. Joshua 10:10; Joshua 16:3; Joshua 21:22; 2 Chronicles 8:5
  • 29. Joshua 19:44
  • 30. 1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14
  • 31. 1 Kings 4:26
  • 32. 1 Kings 9:1
  • 33. Judges 1:21-29; Judges 3:1
  • 34. Joshua 15:63; Joshua 17:12, 13
  • 35. Judges 1:28, 35
  • 36. Genesis 9:25, 26; Ezra 2:55, 58
  • 37. Leviticus 25:39
  • 38. 2 Chronicles 8:10
  • 39. 1 Kings 5:16
  • 40. 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 7:8
  • 41. 2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Kings 9:15; 1 Kings 11:27; 2 Chronicles 32:5
  • 42. Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16
  • 43. 1 Kings 22:48
  • 44. Numbers 33:35; Deuteronomy 2:8; 1 Kings 22:48
  • 45. 1 Kings 5:6, 9; 1 Kings 10:11
  • 46. 1 Chronicles 29:4; 2 Chronicles 8:18

Footnotes 15

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

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