1 Kings 9:15-28

Solomon’s Accomplishments

15 This [is] the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of Yahweh and his house, the Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
16 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer and burnt it with fire. He had also killed the Canaanites who were living in the city and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, the wife of Solomon.
17 Solomon rebuilt Gezer and Lower Beth-Horon,
18 [as well as] Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness in the land;
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.
24 As soon as the daughter of Pharaoh went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the Millo.
25 Solomon sacrificed three times a year: burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar that he had built to Yahweh, and he offered incense with it before Yahweh; and so he completed the house.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-Geber which [is] near Elath on the shore of the {Red Sea} in the land of Edom.
27 Hiram sent his servants with the fleet of ships, {sailors} who knew the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
28 They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and they brought it to King Solomon.

1 Kings 9:15-28 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.

Footnotes 7

  • [a]. Or "desired"
  • [b]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [c]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [d]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [e]. That is, Solomon
  • [f]. Literally "sea of reed"
  • [g]. Literally "men of ships"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.