Bible Commentaries
1 Kings 9

Verse 1

the Lord. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .

Verse 2

as He had appeared. See 1 Kings 3:5 .

Verse 3

Mine eyes. Mine heart. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia .

Verse 4

and. Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulg, read this "and" in the text.

Verse 5

as = according as.

Verse 6

children = sons.

Verse 7

people = peoples.

Verse 8

And at this house, &c. Render thus: "And this house will become conspicuous; every passer by will be astonished, and hiss; and they will say", &c.

Verse 9

God. Hebrew. Elohim.

evil. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 .

Verse 10

twenty years. Compare 1 Kings 7:1 .

Verse 11

Now Hiram. Figure of speech Parenthesis.

fir , or cypress.

Verse 13

What cities. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .

Cabul. The point of the sarcasm is not apparent to us on account of our not knowing the meaning of the word. It has been variously suggested as meaning "worthless", "not to my taste" (Josephus). Galilee always despised. Septuagint says "frontier"; others, "received as a pledge"; others, "good for nothing".

Verse 14

sent : referring to 1 Kings 9:11 . Perhaps this was an advance for which the cities of 1 Kings 9:11 were the security.

Verse 15

reason = account, or schedule.

Levy: i.e. tribute of men. Same word as 1 Kings 5:13-18 ; not the same word as 1 Kings 9:21 .

Millo = the Millo. Part of Jebusite city, or the filling up between Jebus and Moriah. Hezekiah strengthened it. Shechem had a "Millo" (Judges 9:6 ). Compare 1 Kings 9:24 ; 1Ki 11:27 . 2 Samuel 5:9 . 1 Chronicles 11:8 . 2Ch 32:54 .

the wall. Begun by David (2 Samuel 5:9 . 1 Chronicles 11:8 ). Solomon closed the breaches (1 Kings 11:27 ).

Hazor , an old Canaanitish town (Joshua 11:1 ).

Megiddo , the same (Joshua 12:21 .Judges 1:27 ; Judges 5:19 , and 1 Kings 4:12 ).

Gezer. Gezer was formerly under the suzerainty of Egypt. Correspondence of the time of Amen-hotep III and IV, about 1450 B.C, has been found at Tel-el-Amarnah explorations, which mentions Yapakhi as "king" of Gezer. Letters from Abdkhiba, king of Jerusalem, complain of the Gezerites. First mentioned in Joshua 10:33 . Conquest only partial (Joshua 16:10 . Judges 1:29 ). Allotted to Levites (Joshua 21:21 ). In excavation by Palestine Exploration Fund a contract was found, dated 649 B.C. (in Assyrian). Gezer then still under an Egyptian Governor. Another contract, dated 647 B. C, was found, showing an Assyrian occupation in the time of Manasseh. This may explain the "captains" of 2Ch 38:11 .

Verse 16

present = dowry.

Verse 17

built = rebuilt and fortified.

Verse 18

Tadmor. Called, later, Palmyra (from its palms).

Verse 21

bondservice. See note on 1 Kings 9:22 .

Verse 22

make no bondmen. According to Leviticus 25:39 . The levy, of 1 Kings 5:13 ; 1 Kings 11:28 , was a levy for free service. This was for bondservice (1 Kings 9:21 ).

and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6 ) in this verse.

Verse 26

Ezion-geber. Compare Numbers 33:35 .Deuteronomy 2:8 . Position lost when Edom revolted (2 Kings 8:20 ). Restored by Uzziah (2 Kings 14:22 ). Finally lost by Ahaz (2 Kings 16:6 ).

Verse 35

three times in a year. Compare Exodus 23:14-17 . Deuteronomy 16:16 . 2 Chronicles 8:13 .

offer = offer up. See App-43 .