The First Book of the Kings, commonly called the Third Book of the Kings
1 Kings 9
Chapter IX · Vol. II, pp. 734–736
1 God's covenant in a second vision with Solomon. 10 The mutual presents of Solomon and Hiram. 15 In Solomon's works the Gentiles were his bondmen, the Israelites honourable servants. 24 Pharaoh's daughter removeth to her house. 25 Solomon's yearly solemn sacrifices. 26 His navy fetcheth gold from Ophir.
1 And ita came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,
2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, bas he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
A.M. 3001. B.C. 1003.
b ch.3.5; 11.9. 2 Ch.7.11,12.
3 And the LORD said unto him, cI have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before me: I dhave hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
4 And eif thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments;
5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, fas I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
f 2 Sa.7.12. 1 Ch.22.10; 17.12-14. Je.33.20-26. ch.6.12. 8.15. Ps.132.12. 2 Ch.7.18.
6 But gif ye shall at all turn1 from following me, you or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes, which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them;
g 2 Sa.7.14. Ps.89.30-34. 1 Sa.2.30; 12.21,25. 2 Ch.15.2; 7.19.
1 This certainly means, 'if ye shall wholly turn,' for it is not every sin that is alluded to, but only national idolatry or apostasy, sanctioned or tolerated by their rulers. As that violated the national covenant, it necessarily caused the forfeiture of covenant blessings.—I.
7 Then hwill I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them: and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people:
h 2 Ki.17.20; 25.9. Je.7.14,15; 24.9; 26.6. Eze.7.20-22. De.28.37.
8 And iat this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, kWhy hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
9 And they lshall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them; therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.2
l De.29.25-27. La.4.13,14; 2.17. Je.2.10,11,19; 5.19; 16.10,11; 22.9; 50.7.
2 Were idolatry merely the forming and worshipping of wood or stone, or metal, in human or other forms, it were still a horrible insult to the glory of God. But it is more even than this—it is the source of all moral abominations, on account of which the wrath of God cometh upon all the children of disobedience.—C.
10 And mit came to pass at the end of twenty years,3 when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house,4
m 2 Ch.8.1. ch.6.37,38. 7.1.
3 B.C. 991.
4 This verse confirms the view set forth in the note on ch.7.1, that 'the house of the forest of Lebanon' was a part of the royal palace. It appears that the temple on Moriah and the palace on Zion, with, as shall be seen afterwards, the bridge connecting them, were Solomon's great architectural works.—P.
11 (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and fir-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram ntwenty cities in the land of Galilee.5
n Cities conquered, but inhabited by Canaanites, 2 Ch.8.2.
5 The northern region or circle of the Holy Land. It was sometimes called 'Galilee of the Gentiles,' or nations, Mat.4.15, because chiefly possessed by heathen tribes. As such Solomon presented it to Hiram, for he could not have given him cities inhabited by Israel.—C.
12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they opleased him not.6
o Heb. were not right in his eyes, 2 Ch.8.2.
6 The reason of his dissatisfaction is not assigned, probably because he rather wished for maritime cities, as better suited to the genius and pursuits of his people. But is not his dissatisfaction also an emblem of the prejudging, despising, or rejecting of Jesus Christ as coming out of Galilee, Jn.7.41,52.—C.
13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, pmy brother?6 And he called them the land of Cabul7 unto this day.
A.M. 3013. B.C. 991.
p ch.20.32; 5.1,2. Am.1.9.
6 Perhaps being accustomed to nothing but trade, he had no turn for agriculture, and finding the appearances uninviting, he was not aware of the advantages he might reap from his possession of these places, and would have preferred part of the coast. They were afterwards rebuilt by Solomon, 2 Ch.8.2, but Hiram no doubt received some equivalent.—I.
7 That is, displeasing, or dirty, or the border, [Jos.19.27, where mention is made of a town of Cabul in the land of Zebulun, and as that lay towards Tyre it is possible that Hiram gave the obnoxious name of the town to the whole district. Yet the precise meaning of 'Cabul' is doubtful. It is Josephus who says that in the Phœnician language it sigfied 'displeasing.' The Septuagint has 'border-land.' Michaelis gives us an Arabic etymology, 'land given for a debt.'—I.]
14 And Hiram sent8 to the king sixscore talents of gold.9
8 Not that he sent after this dissatisfaction, but had sent before it, comp. ver. 11.—C.
9 £654,084.
15 And this is the reason of the qlevy which king Solomon raised; for rto build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and sMillo,1 and the wall of Jerusalem, and tHazor, and uMegiddo, and xGezer.
16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, ySolomon's wife.
y ch.3.1; ver.24.
17 And zSolomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether,
z Jos.21.21,22. 2 Ch.8.5. ver.15,16.
18 And aBaalath, and Tadmor2 in the wilderness, in the land,
2 Afterwards, by Alexander of Macedon, called Palmyra, or city of palm-trees. The stupendous ruins of this city still remain to attract and astonish travellers. A permanent emblem of the mutability of all human glory.—C.
19 And all bthe cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
20 And all the people that were cleft of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,
c Ju.1.27-35; 2.23. Ps.106.34.
21 Their children that were dleft after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon elevy a tribute of bond-service unto this day.
22 But fof the children of Israel did Solomon make no bond-men:3 but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
23 These gwere the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
24 But hPharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did ihe build Millo.
25 And kthree times in a year did Solomon offer burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and lhe burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.4
26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships min Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.5
A.M. 3014. B.C. 990.
m 2 Ch.8.17. Nu.33.35. De.2.8. 2 Ki.14.22; 16.6. ch.22.48.
5 Ezion-geber was situated at the head of the Gulf of Elath, now called Akabah, and on the southern border of Edom. Though far distant from Jerusalem, yet it was the nearest port from which access could be had to India and the eastern shore of Africa, as well as the whole of Southern Arabia. The city remained for a considerable time in the hands of the Israelites.—P.
27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, nwith the servants of Solomon.
n 1 Ch.20.36. ch.22.48,49.
28 And they came to oOphir,6 and fetched from thence gold, pfour hundred and twenty talents[≈ 14 tonnes · 14 tons], and brought it to king Solomon.
o Ge.10.29. Job 22.24; 28.16. Ps.45.9. Is.13.12. ch.10.11,22.
6 The precise situation of this country is mere matter of conjecture. Some suppose it to be India, others Africa opposite Madagascar, others the island of Ceylon, and some Southern Arabia; some the coast of Guinea, some Carthage, others Armenia, and some have suggested America. That it lay at a great distance is the only point that seems certain, as the fleet took three years for the voyage, ch.10.22. 2 Ch.9.21.—C.
Notes
[Ver. 1. When Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house. It is recorded that 'the king's house' was not finished till thirteen years after the finishing of the temple, ch. 7. 1; are we therefore to conclude that the temple was not dedicated till after the secular works had been completed? We think not. We hold with Usher that the dedication took place eleven months after the building had been finished, ch. 8. 2.—Note, There is something peculiarly appropriate in God's appearing immediately after Solomon had finished his own house; for if ever there be a time when any man specially needs an admonition it is when he has completed for himself a dwelling-place, and, like the monarch of Babylon, is ready to say, 'Is not this great Babylon which I have built?' Da. 4. 30. And that wise men need this admonition as well as others the history of Solomon must testify. C.]
Ver. 13. [The word Galil signifies 'circuit' or 'ring,' and may at first have been given to one of the little circular upland plains amid the mountains of Naphtali. There is such a plain just beside Kedesh. From a comparison of ancient notices it appears that the circuit of Galilee lay on the level summit of a broad mountain ridge. Here were the towns offered by Solomon to Hiram. The latter, however, whose great want was grain for his city, and who doubtless expected a section of some of the rich plains of central Palestine, could not conceal his disappointment when he saw the mountain towns and their rugged environs, and he refused them as worthless. P.]
Reflections.—The Lord bears the greatest regard to his people's hearty and solemn worship of himself. Everywhere his eyes are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. If we would secure to our children the entail of God's blessings, we must leave them the examples of our fidelity. But if our growth in grace does not correspond with our privileges, the best forms of religion will but delude and destroy us. How gracious are God's rewards of his people's obedience; and how severe his corrections of their transgressions! While we tremble at the ruin of Israel and their temple, let our care be to take fast hold of the better covenant, which is established upon better promises, and in which men are kept, by the power of God, through faith unto salvation. Generous minds are forward to discharge their obligations if it be in their power. But very diversified are the sentiments of men concerning worldly things. Nothing but Jesus Christ and God in him is answerable to every need, every state, every mind. And it is glorious when great activity in secular business is attended with a proportionate ardour in religion. They who make God's glory their first concern may expect his blessing upon the work of their hands; for at his command both earth and sea shall concur to enrich them.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.