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1 Kings 9

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God's Second Appearance to Solomon 1–9

1
And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of Jehovah, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, ​
2
that Jehovah appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. ​
3
And Jehovah said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. ​
4
And as for thee, if 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 mine ordinances; ​
5
then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, according as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
6
But if ye shall turn away from following me, ye or your children, and not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; ​
7
then will 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 byword among all peoples. ​
8
And though this house is so high, yet shall every one that passeth by it be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath Jehovah done thus unto this land, and to this house? ​
9
and they shall answer, Because they forsook Jehovah their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath Jehovah brought all this evil upon them.

Solomon's Dealings with Hiram 10–14

10
And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the two houses, the house of Jehovah and the king’s house ​
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 twenty cities in the land of Galilee. ​
12
And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.
13
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. ​
14
And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

Solomon's Levy and Building Programs 15–25

15
And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of Jehovah, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. ​
16
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 portion unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ​
17
And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether,
18
and Baalath, and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land, ​
19
and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. ​
20
As for all the people that were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel;
21
their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants unto this day. ​
22
But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondservants; but they were the men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen.
23
These were the chief officers that were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
24
But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo. ​
25
And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he built unto Jehovah, burning incense therewith, upon the altar that was before Jehovah. So he finished the house. ​

The Trade Expedition to Ophir 26–28

26
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. ​
27
And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. ​
28
And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Kings 9

Verse 1

finished the building — The house took seven years (6:38) and Solomon's own house thirteen (7:1), 'twenty years' in all (v.10). The LORD's answer to the dedication prayer of chapter 8 comes after 'all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do'; the word for 'desire' (chesheq) returns in v.19 for 'that which Solomon desired to build'.

Verse 2

the second time — The first appearing was 'In Gibeon… in a dream by night' (3:5). Later the LORD is angry with Solomon, 'which had appeared unto him twice', and 'had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods' (11:9–10), the warning given in vv.6–9 of this chapter.

Verse 3

I have hallowed this house — Qadash, to set apart. The words answer Solomon's request 'that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there' (8:29), the 'name there' of Deut 12:5, 'to put his name there'. 'Perpetually' is literally 'all the days'.

Verse 4

in integrity of heart, and in uprightness — Tom (completeness) and yosher (straightness), as David walked. Scripture's measure of David is that he did 'right in the eyes of the LORD… save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite' (15:5); of Solomon, 'his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father' (11:4). The promise follows in v.5.

Verse 6

But if ye shall at all turn — The address widens from Solomon ('thou', v.4) to 'ye or your children'. 'Serve other gods, and worship them' ('abad, shachah) is the warning of Deut 8:19: 'if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them… ye shall surely perish.' Solomon himself did so (11:4–10).

Verse 7

cut off Israel out of the land — Karath, to cut off. 'A proverb and a byword' echoes Deut 28:37, 'an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword'. The house itself, 'hallowed for my name', is to be cast out of his sight; 2 Kings 25:9 records that Nebuzaradan 'burnt the house of the LORD'.

Verse 8

this house, which is high — The passer-by asks, 'Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?', and v.9 gives the answer: 'Because they forsook the LORD their God'. Deut 29:24–25 asks and answers the same question of the land. 'Astonished' is shamem and 'hiss' is sharaq; 2 Chron 7:21 repeats the verse.

Verse 10

at the end of twenty years — The Temple was 'seven years in building it' (6:38) and Solomon's own house took 'thirteen years' (7:1). The foundation had been laid 'in the fourth year' (6:37). What follows in vv.11–28 are the king's dealings with Hiram and his other works once the two houses stood.

Verse 11

twenty cities in the land of Galilee — Hiram had given 'cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire' (5:10). Galil means a circle or district; 'Galilee of the nations' (Isa 9:1) is the same region, where Matthew sees the light of Christ spring up (Matt 4:15–16). 2 Chron 8:2 says 'the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them'.

Verse 13

the land of Cabul — The cities 'pleased him not' (v.12), and Hiram gave the district a name that stood 'unto this day'. The text gives the name, not its meaning. A town named Cabul is also on the border of Asher (Josh 19:24, 27), a lot in the north of the land.

Verse 15

the reason of the levy — Mas, forced labour: 'Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men', sent to Lebanon 'ten thousand a month by courses' (5:13–14). Millo was already part of the city David built, 'round about from Millo and inward' (2 Sam 5:9); Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer were built here.

Verse 16

given it for a present unto his daughter — Shilluchim, from shalach, to send: a daughter's dower. Gezer was a city where Ephraim 'drave not out the Canaanites' (Josh 16:10); it came to Israel through Solomon, who 'made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt' (3:1).

Verse 18

Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness — Baalath lay in the lot of Dan (Josh 19:40, 44). Tadmor is named in Scripture only here and in 2 Chron 8:4: 'he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath'. Both lie within 'the land of his dominion' (v.19).

Verse 19

cities of store — Miskenoth, the word for the 'treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses' that Israel built under taskmasters (Ex 1:11). 'Cities for his chariots' are the 'thousand and four hundred chariots' of 10:26, though a king 'shall not multiply horses to himself' (Deut 17:16).

Verse 21

a tribute of bondservice — Mas 'obed, labour-tribute, laid on the peoples Israel 'were not able utterly to destroy' (charam), as at Josh 17:13, 'they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out'. The next verse adds, 'of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen'.

Verse 24

Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David — Solomon had 'brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD' (3:1); her house is now ready (7:8). 2 Chron 8:11 gives his reason: 'because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.'

Verse 25

three times in a year — The three feasts: 'the feast of unleavened bread, and… the feast of weeks, and… the feast of tabernacles' (Deut 16:16; Ex 23:14–17). 'Olah is the burnt offering, the offering that goes up in smoke, and shelem the peace offering. 'So he finished the house' closes the work begun in 6:1.

Verse 26

Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth — The place Israel passed in the wilderness: 'from Elath, and from Eziongaber' (Deut 2:8; Num 33:35). 'Red sea' is yam suph, and the shore lay 'in the land of Edom'. Jehoshaphat's ships of Tharshish later 'were broken at Eziongeber' (22:48).

Verse 27

shipmen that had knowledge of the sea — Hiram's servants 'that had knowledge of the sea' (the same phrase stands in 2 Chron 8:18) sailed with Solomon's. His servants had earlier brought the timber down 'by sea in floats' (5:9), and 10:11 calls this 'the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir'.

Verse 28

Ophir — The gold carries the name: 'the gold of Ophir' (1 Chron 29:4), and 'the queen in gold of Ophir' (Ps 45:9). The same voyage brought 'great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones' (10:11). The kikkar (talent) is the large weight in which the gold is counted.