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, 1 Kings 9:1 that passed between him and Hiram king of Tyre, 1 Kings 9:10, the places that Solomon built or repaired, 1 Kings 9:15, the Canaani... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN SOLOMON HAD FINISHED THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD,.... Which was done in seven years, 1 Kings 6:38. AND THE KING'S HOUSE; his own palace, which was finished in thirteen years, 1 Kings 7:1, AND ALL SOLOMON'S DESIRE WHICH HE WAS PLEASED TO DO; all his other buildin... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE LORD APPEARED TO SOLOMON THE SECOND TIME,.... Junius and Tremellius read this verse with the following, to the end of the ninth, in a parenthesis, and render this clause, "for the Lord had appeared", c. and Piscator translates it, "moreover the Lord appeared", c. as beginning a distinct nar... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, I HAVE HEARD THY PRAYER AND THY SUPPLICATION THAT THOU HAST MADE BEFORE ME,.... With delight and pleasure, and had accepted it; meaning the prayer recorded in the preceding chapter: I HAVE HALLOWED THIS HOUSE WHICH THOU HAST BUILT; by the cloud of glory filling it, and b... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IF THOU WILT WALK BEFORE ME, AS DAVID THY FATHER WALKED, IN INTEGRITY OF HEART, AND IN UPRIGHTNESS..... Who, though guilty of many sins and failings in life, yet was sincere and upright in the worship of God, never apostatized from it, or fell into idolatry, which is what is chiefly respected:... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN I WILL ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF THY KINGDOM UPON ISRAEL FOR EVER,.... In a succession in his posterity, until the coming of the Messiah: AS I PROMISED UNTO DAVID THY FATHER, SAYING, THERE SHALL NOT FAIL THEE A MAN UPON THE THRONE OF ISRAEL; not fail one of his posterity to sit upon it; see 2 Sa... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF YOU SHALL AT ALL TURN FROM FOLLOWING ME, YOU OR YOUR CHILDREN,.... From my worship, as the Targum; either Solomon or his successors, or the people of Israel and their posterity; should they turn their backs on God and his worship, meaning not in a single instance, or in some small degree; but... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WILL I CUT OFF ISRAEL OUT OF THE LAND I HAVE GIVEN THEM,.... Suffer them to be carried captive into other lands, as the ten tribes were into Assyria, and the two tribes to Babylon; which is called a plucking them up by the roots in 2 Chronicles 7:20 AND THIS HOUSE, WHICH I HAVE HALLOWED FOR MY... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AT THIS HOUSE WHICH IS HIGH,.... The house of the most High, as some render it, and in high esteem, fame, and glory, as well as it was built on an high hill, and was itself one hundred and twenty cubits high, 2 Chronicles 3:4, the Targum is, "and this house which was high shall be destroyed:''... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL ANSWER,.... Who were left in the land when others were carried captive, as were some by Nebuchadnezzar, and who were capable of making the following answer: BECAUSE THEY FORSOOK THE LORD; the worship of the Lord their God, as the Targum: WHO BROUGHT FORTH THEIR FATHERS OUT OF THE LA... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS AT THE END OF TWENTY YEARS,.... From the time Solomon first began to build: when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord, and the king's house; the first was seven years in building, and the other thirteen; in all twenty.... [ Continue Reading ]
(NOW HIRAM THE KING OF TYRE HAD FURNISHED SOLOMON WITH CEDAR TREES AND FIR TREES,.... For the building of both his houses; see 1 Kings 5:8, AND WITH GOLD, ACCORDING TO ALL HIS DESIRE): which is not before mentioned, and accounts for it from whence Solomon had his gold; if he made no use, as some th... [ Continue Reading ]
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, be... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID,.... By letter to him: WHAT CITIES ARE THESE WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN ME, MY BROTHER? so he called him, being not only his neighbour, but his ally, in friendship and covenant with him; and this he said of them not by way of complaint, or contempt, as unworthy of his acceptance; for so muni... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIRAM SENT TO THE KING ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY TALENTS OF GOLD. Not after the cities had been given him, but before; and it may be rendered "had sent" m, and is the sum of the gold he furnished him with for the temple, 1 Kings 9:11 which, according to Brerewood n, was 540,000 pounds of our money;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS IS THE REASON OF THE LEVY WHICH KING SOLOMON RAISED,.... Both of men to work, 1 Kings 5:13, and of money to defray the expense: IT WAS FOR TO BUILD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD; the temple: AND HIS OWN HOUSE; or palace: AND MILLO; which he repaired: 1 Samuel 5:9. AND THE WALL OF JERUSALEM; whi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT HAD GONE UP, AND TAKEN GEZER, AND BURNT IT WITH FIRE,.... Egypt lay lower than Canaan, and therefore Pharaoh is said to go up to it; what moved him to it is not certain; whether he went of himself provoked, or was moved to it by Solomon, who had married his daughter; howeve... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SOLOMON BUILT GEZER,.... Rebuilt it, it having been burnt, at least great part of it, by Pharaoh when he took it: AND BETHHORON THE NETHER; and the upper also, 2 Chronicles 8:5, which belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, and were on the borders of it, between that and Benjamin, Joshua 16:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BAALATH,.... A city in the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:44 AND TADMOR IN THE WILDERNESS, IN THE LAND; or "Tamar", as in the Cetib, or Scriptural reading; for we go according to the marginal reading, and so Thamato in Ptolemy p; and is thought by some to be the same with Tamar in Ezekiel 47:19, which... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE CITIES OF STORE THAT SOLOMON HAD,.... In which were his magazines of corn, arms, and ammunition; and these were built in Hamath, 2 Chronicles 8:4 AND CITIES FOR HIS CHARIOTS; chariots of war, iron chariots, which were kept in times of peace, in case of necessity, of which Solomon had 14... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WERE LEFT OF THE AMORITES, HITTITES, PERIZZITES, HIVITES, AND JEBUSITES,.... Who were not destroyed in the times of Joshua, or since, but dwelt in several cities of the land of Israel from those times; see Judges 1:1, which were not of the children of Israel; not natives of t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR CHILDREN THAT WERE LEFT AFTER THEM IN THE LAND,.... The posterity of those left unsubdued in the times of Joshua: WHOM THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ALSO WERE NOT ABLE UTTERLY TO DESTROY; in later times, though now it is thought by some it was not for want of power, but because they had made a coven... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID SOLOMON MAKE NO BONDMEN,.... For that was contrary to the law; they might be hired servants, but not bond servants, Leviticus 25:39 BUT THEY WERE MEN OF WAR; which he kept in pay, a standing army, maintained even in time of peace, in case of necessity, should an en... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE WERE THE CHIEF OF THE OFFICERS OVER SOLOMON'S WORK,.... In building the above houses and cities: FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY WHICH BORE RULE OVER THE PEOPLE THAT WROUGHT IN THE WORK; in 2 Chronicles 8:10 they are said to be but two hundred and fifty; now it may be observed, as is by the Jewish wri... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER CAME UP OUT OF THE CITY OF DAVID,.... Where he placed her when he first married her, until he had finished his buildings, 1 Kings 3:1, which being done he brought her from thence unto her house, which Solomon had built for her; the reason of which is given, not only because it... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THREE TIMES IN A YEAR DID SOLOMON OFFER BURNT OFFERINGS AND PEACE OFFERINGS UPON THE ALTAR WHICH HE BUILT UNTO THE LORD,.... The brasen altar, the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the priests, and by whom he offered. The three times were the feasts of passover, pentecost, and... [ Continue Reading ]
AND KING SOLOMON MADE A NAVY OF SHIPS IN EZIONGEBER,.... Which was one of the stations of the Israelites, near the wilderness of Sin, or Paran, Numbers 33:35, it signifies the backbone of a man; and it is said w the ridge of rocks before this port were in that form, covered by the sea at high water,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIRAM SENT IN HIS NAVY HIS SERVANTS,.... And, according to 2 Chronicles 8:18, ships also but how he could send them from Tyre, which lay in the Mediterranean sea, to the above ports in the Red sea, without going a great way round, is not easy to conceive. Perhaps, as Gussetins conjectures c, Hir... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY CAME TO OPHIR,.... About which place there are various opinions; some take it to be the little island of Zocatora, on the eastern coast of Africa, at a small distance from the straits of Babelmandel; others the island of Ceylon; others Sofala in Africa; some k Peru in America; Vatablus the... [ Continue Reading ]