1 Kings 9:12

12 Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but 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 Now it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's house

11 (Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he desired), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12 Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they did not please him.

13 So he said, "What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?" And he called them the land of Cabul, as they are to this day.

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