1 Kings 9:17-27

17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower ¹Beth-horon

18 and ²Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah,

19 and all the storage cities which Solomon had, even ³the cities for his chariots and the cities for ⁴his horsemen, and ⁵all 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 ⁶their descendants who were left after them in the land ⁷whom the sons of Israel were unable * to destroy utterly, ⁸from them Solomon levied ⁹forced laborers *, even to this day.

22 But Solomon ¹⁰did 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 ¹¹chief officers who were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, ¹²who ruled over the people doing the work.

24 As soon as ¹³Pharaoh's daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, ¹⁴then he built the Millo.

25 Now ¹⁵three 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 ¹⁶fleet of ships in ¹⁷Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red * Sea, in the land of Edom.

27 ¹⁸And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors * who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.

1 Kings 9:17-27 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. Joshua 10:10; Joshua 16:3; Joshua 21:22; 2 Chronicles 8:5
• 2. Joshua 19:44
• 3. 1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14
• 4. 1 Kings 4:26
• 5. 1 Kings 9:1
• 6. Judges 1:21-29; Judges 3:1
• 7. Joshua 15:63; Joshua 17:12, 13
• 8. Judges 1:28, 35
• 9. Genesis 9:25, 26; Ezra 2:55, 58
• 10. Leviticus 25:39
• 11. 2 Chronicles 8:10
• 12. 1 Kings 5:16
• 13. 1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 7:8
• 14. 2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Kings 9:15; 1 Kings 11:27; 2 Chronicles 32:5
• 15. Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:16
• 16. 1 Kings 22:48
• 17. Numbers 33:35; Deuteronomy 2:8; 1 Kings 22:48
• 18. 1 Kings 5:6, 9; 1 Kings 10:11

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "the"
• [b] Lit "the"
• [c] Lit "the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem"
• [d] Lit "of"
• [e] Or "officers of the deputies"
• [f] Lit "Sea of Reeds"