Hiram the king of Tyre having furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and cypress-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire, -- that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
Hiram of Tyre had kept Solomon's building works going for twenty years, and Solomon settled the account with twenty towns in Galilee. The transfer raises a sharp question: could a king of Israel hand any part of the land over to a foreign ruler at all?
The payment covered more than timber.
Besides supplying Solomon with timber, he also gave him gold; this amounted to 120 talents of gold. Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in Galilee. When he came to look at them, he was not pleased with them. He called them Cabul, which probably means "as nothing." Solomon may have given these cities to King Hiram for the gold he had received from him. Hiram later gave the cities back to Solomon, most likely after Solomon had paid back the gold Hiram had supplied.
These twenty towns were the seed of a region that would later carry a very different name.
Hiram had helped freely with the temple and with the king's house. At the end of the twenty years of building, Solomon gave him a territory of twenty cities in the land of Galilee. This was the seed of what was later called "Galilee of the nations" (Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 4:15). At first the territory was part of the borders of Naphtali. Later it spread to include the area of Zebulun, all of "Upper Galilee," reaching to the Sea of Tiberias by way of Capernaum.
Solomon made a transfer he had no right to make. Israel held the land from God on terms that ruled out permanent sale.
Solomon did not have God's approval in giving away these cities. The Lord had said before, "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me" (Leviticus 25:23). Solomon had no right to give away the least part of the land, for it did not belong to him: it belongs to God.
The same writer asks what this means for believers today:
Can we today give away any part of the inheritance God has given to believers "in heavenly places"? The inheritance belongs first of all to the Lord Jesus, and in grace He shares it with us (Ephesians 1:9-11). We are not free to give away any part of it.
Hiram looked over his payment and gave the district a name meaning "amounting to nothing." One writer takes his reaction as typical of how the world treats what Christians value.
Hiram was unable to appreciate what had great value in the eyes of Solomon and of any Israelite. He said, "What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?" And he called them the land of Cabul (amounting to nothing) to this day (v. 13). He gave them this name because "they did not please him." So it always is. The world may act with the best intentions, like Hiram. But when it merely has the use of those good things of Christianity that are our joy — that is, without faith — it finds no delight in them. These things weary the world; they count for nothing in its life. No doubt the world will keep them so that it can boast at times of having them. But it cannot keep them as they first were.
Compare this passage with 2 Chronicles 8 and you meet a puzzle. There, Hiram gives cities to Solomon.
The territory of the promised land never had any value for the world. Solomon, for his part, committed real unfaithfulness in taking away Jehovah's land. Chronicles, as always, passes his sin over in silence. Instead of Solomon giving cities to Huram, in verse 2 we see Huram giving cities to Solomon. A day is coming when the world — Tyre stands for the world in the Word — will come with its riches. It will admit that it owes tribute to Christ, and it will offer its finest cities as homes for the children of Israel.
Hiram's verdict was not the last word on this district.
Hiram called these cities the land of Cabul, which means "as of nothing" or worthless. That is what he thought about Galilee. He did not mind sharing in the splendour of Solomon's house and outward glory. But he counted the reproach of Galilee as worthless. Into these conditions came the Lord Jesus. He grew up in Nazareth in poverty.
- Debt — Twenty Galilean towns paid Hiram for the timber and gold he supplied over twenty years of building. He later gave them back.
- Deed — The land belonged to the Lord and was never for permanent sale. Solomon had no right to sign any of it away.
- Disdain — Hiram looked at his payment and called it Cabul, "amounting to nothing." That is still the world's verdict on what faith values most.
- Difference — Chronicles turns the picture round: there Hiram gives cities to Solomon. It points to the day when the nations bring their riches to Christ.
- Dignity — The district called worthless became Galilee of the nations. There the Lord Jesus grew up in poverty.
And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him; and they did not please him.
Solomon had just finished twenty years of building, and he paid Hiram, the king of Tyre, with land — twenty towns in Galilee. Hiram came to inspect them and was not pleased, which raises two questions: was the land Solomon's to give, and why did he see nothing in it?
Hiram's help had been substantial, and Solomon settled the account with land.
Solomon finished building his houses in 20 years, and to thank Hiram for his great help in supplying timber and gold for the temple, Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee (vs.10-11). But these cities did not please Hiram (v.12). He let Solomon know they were less than pleasing. He does not seem to have refused them; he only asked, "What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?" (vs.11-12). He named them "Cabul" which means "good for nothing."
A Bible dictionary gives the name a second sense and records how the deal ended.
King of Tyre, who loved David and was a friend of Solomon. Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee, but Hiram was not pleased with them. He called them, in Aramaic, CABUL — 'displeasing or dirty' — and in the end the cities went back to Solomon.
One writer ties the return to money: the cities "were later restored to Solomon by Hiram, most likely after Solomon had paid back the gold Hiram had furnished" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
This was not a neutral business deal. Solomon was handing over property that was not his.
Solomon certainly did not have God's approval in giving away these cities. The Lord had already said, "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me" (Lev. 25:23). Solomon had no right to give away the least part of the land, for it did not belong to him: it belongs to God. Can we today give away any part of the inheritance God has given to believers "in heavenly places"? First of all, that inheritance belongs to the Lord Jesus, who in His grace shares it with us (Eph. 1:9-11). We are not free to give away any part of it.
The record in Chronicles does not match this one.
It is a remarkable fact that the book of Chronicles says nothing about this gift. For reasons given earlier, Chronicles never shows a king doing wrong unless the wrong has to be mentioned to make the history clear. Instead, it puts another account in its place: the "cities which Huram had given to Solomon." Solomon built and fortified them, and then gave them to the children of Israel to live in (2 Chr. 8:1-7). So in 1 Kings Solomon makes God's inheritance smaller; in 2 Chronicles he makes it larger.
Hiram was not hostile. He simply could not value what an Israelite valued. The same thing happens still.
Hiram could not value what meant so much to Solomon and to every Israelite… It is always so. The world may act with the best of intentions, as Hiram did. But when it merely has the use of those good things of Christianity that are our joy — that is, without faith — it finds no delight in them. These things weary the world; they count for nothing in its life. No doubt the world will keep them, so that it can boast at times of having them. But it cannot keep them in their original purity… The Christian who gives up the least part of his inheritance to the world in order to seem broad-minded gains nothing. He will only see his own character cheapened, his religion despised, and in the end shame brought upon God Himself.
The region Hiram dismissed had a future he could not see.
He gave him twenty cities in the region of Galilee. In 1 Kings 9:10-14 Hiram came to look at them. He called them the land of Cabul, which means "as of nothing" or worthless. That is what he thought about Galilee. He had no problem being linked with Solomon in the splendour of his house and outward glory. But he counted Galilee, with its shame, as worth nothing. Into these conditions came the Lord Jesus. He was brought up in Nazareth in poverty.
The loss was not the last word.
What is even more significant is that this territory was given up to a nation sinking deeper and deeper into idol worship, until the whole land came to be called "Galilee of the nations." Still, it was there that God's grace began to be revealed through the ministry of the Lord. So, a thousand years after Solomon, grace repaired his fault.
- Given — Solomon paid Hiram twenty Galilean towns for timber and gold. Hiram looked at them and was not pleased.
- Named — He called them Cabul, "good for nothing," and the name stuck to the whole district.
- Not his to give — The land was God's, not Solomon's. No part of it could be sold, and Chronicles leaves the episode out.
- Valued by faith alone — What is precious to God's people looks worthless to a world without faith.
- Redeemed — Christ came to the region written off as worthless, and there grace repaired Solomon's fault.
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.
Solomon had just finished twenty years of building, and he repaid Hiram of Tyre with twenty cities in Galilee. Hiram came to look, disliked what he saw, and gave the district a name that stuck — so why did the gift disappoint him, and did Solomon have any right to give it?
Hiram's name for the cities was a verdict, and it stuck. A reference work explains where it came from and what it meant:
This is the name Hiram king of Tyre gave to the twenty cities in Galilee that Solomon gave him, because they did not please him. 1 Kings 9:13. Josephus says that in the Phoenician language the word meant "what does not please." It seems Hiram returned them to Solomon.
He did not hand the cities back on the spot. One writer reads his question as a complaint, not a refusal:
These cities did not please Hiram. He let Solomon know that they were less than pleasing. Yet he did not seem to refuse them. He only asked, "What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?" He named them "Cabul," which means "good for nothing."
The deeper fault lies with Solomon, not with Hiram. One law about who owns the land explains why, and it reaches believers today:
Solomon did not have God's approval in giving away these cities. The Lord had already said, "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me" (Lev. 25:23). Solomon had no right to give away the least part of the land. It did not belong to him: it belongs to God. Can we today give away any part of the inheritance God has given to believers "in heavenly places"? The inheritance belongs first of all to the Lord Jesus, and He shares it with us in grace. We are not free to give away any part of it.
Hiram meant well. That is what makes his reaction so telling:
Hiram could not value what meant so much to Solomon and to every Israelite… It is always like this. The world may act with the best intentions, as Hiram did. But when it simply — that is, without faith — has the use of the good things of Christianity that are our joy, it finds no taste for them. These things tire the world out. They count for nothing in its life. No doubt the world will keep them, so that it can boast at times of having them. But it cannot keep them in their original character. It does not value them at all, so it uses them to show off. And Satan uses these religious-looking things to spread his rule over more souls… The Christian who gives away the least part of his inheritance to the world, hoping to seem broad-minded, gains nothing. He only sees his own character dragged down, his religion despised, and in the end shame brought on God Himself.
The district Hiram wrote off is where the Lord Jesus later grew up:
Solomon gave him twenty cities in the region of Galilee. 1 Kings 9:10-14 tells us that Hiram came to look at them. He called them the land of Cabul, which means "as of nothing" or worthless. That is what he thought about Galilee. He was glad to be linked with Solomon in the splendour of his house and outward glory. But he counted the disgrace of Galilee as worth nothing. Into these conditions came the Lord Jesus. He grew up in Nazareth in poverty.
In the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 8, Huram gives cities to Solomon instead. One writer sees a purpose in that:
Hiram despised this gift and called these cities the "land of Cabul" (good for nothing). We have noted two things. The land of promise never had any value for the world. And Solomon was plainly unfaithful in signing away the Lord's land. As always in this book, Solomon's sin goes unmentioned… Instead of Solomon giving cities to Huram, in verse 2 we see Huram giving cities to Solomon. A day is coming when the world, which Tyre stands for in the Word, will come with its riches. It will admit that it owes tribute to Christ, and it will offer its finest cities as homes for the children of Israel.
- Worth misjudged. Cabul means "what does not please" — worthless. Hiram looked at God's land and priced it at nothing.
- Worth surrendered. The land was God's, not Solomon's: "the land is mine." Giving away even the least part of it was unfaithfulness.
- Worth despised. Hand God's good things to a world without faith, and it will keep them for show. It cannot keep them as they were.
- Worth guarded. Give away part of your inheritance to please the world, and you gain nothing. You lose your own good name, and shame falls on God.
- Worth vindicated. The Lord Jesus grew up in the region Hiram despised. And in Chronicles, Tyre gives cities to the king instead of scorning them.
And Hiram had sent to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.
Chapter 9 closes Solomon's twenty years of building by settling accounts with Hiram, king of Tyre. Solomon hands over twenty cities in Galilee, and this verse records the gold that came the other way — but was Solomon richer for it?
The verse reads like an aside, but it belongs to a larger exchange between the two kings.
Besides supplying Solomon with timber, Hiram also gave him gold; this came to 120 talents of gold. Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in Galilee. When Hiram came to look at them, they did not please him. He called them Cabul, which probably means "as nothing." Solomon may have given these cities to King Hiram for the gold Hiram had sent him. Hiram later gave the cities back to Solomon, most likely after Solomon had paid it back.
Solomon paid for that gold with land, and God had already claimed that land as His own.
Solomon certainly did not have God's approval in giving away these cities. The Lord had said before, "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me" (Lev. 25:23). Solomon had no right to give away the least part of the land, for it did not belong to him: it belongs to God. Can we today give away any part of the inheritance God has given to believers "in the heavenly places"? That inheritance belongs first to the Lord Jesus, who graciously shares it with us. We have no liberty to give away any part of it.
The loss was not only Solomon's. Giving the land to a man who could not value it brought shame on the land itself.
Hiram was unable to appreciate what had great value in the eyes of Solomon and of any Israelite… So it always is. The world may have the best intentions, as Hiram did. But when it takes up the good things of Christianity that are our joy without faith, it finds no delight in them. They weary the world; they count for nothing in its life. The world will no doubt keep them so that it can boast, on occasion, of having them. But it cannot keep them as they were… The Christian who gives away the least part of his inheritance to the world, hoping to seem broad-minded, gains nothing. He only sees his own character debased, his religion despised, and in the end shame cast upon God Himself.
Earlier, Hiram supplied Solomon for the temple. Now the gold comes with a new form of address.
When it is a matter of giving to Solomon (v. 14), Hiram shows he is very generous. This suits the pride of the ruler of the greatest seagoing and trading power of that day. … Hiram gives 120 talents of gold. Is this a benefit, a profit to Solomon? As long as Hiram was paying tribute to him for the building of the temple, everything had God's approval. Now Hiram is calling Solomon "my brother" and giving him presents!
The practical warning drawn from this is about who owes whom.
Hiram was the head of a prosperous seagoing nation, so he could afford to be generous. … He gave Solomon 120 talents of gold (v. 14). Of course Solomon had paid well for all the help Israel had received from Hiram in their building programme. But unbelievers do not want to look as if they owe anything to believers. In the same way, believers should not put themselves under obligation to unbelievers.
These writers see more in Hiram's city than a helpful neighbour.
In the Word Tyre is a picture of the world with all its riches and desirable things. Ezekiel 27 shows her trade spread over all the earth, with the resources of the whole world flowing to her from every direction… There you could find all that the human heart could desire on earth.
Chronicles tells the same episode with the cities moving the other way. Commentators read the change as a preview, not a contradiction. Chronicles also spells the king's name Huram.
Solomon was plainly unfaithful in giving away the Lord's land. As always in this book, Solomon's sin goes unmentioned. Instead of Solomon giving cities to Huram, here we see Huram giving cities to Solomon. A day is coming when the world, which Tyre represents in the Word, will come with its riches and admit that it owes tribute to Christ. It will offer its finest cities as homes for the children of Israel.
- Payment. The 120 talents were not a courtesy. They paid for twenty cities, and Hiram handed the cities back once Solomon repaid the gold.
- Ownership. The land Solomon traded was not his to trade; God had called it His own, so the price he paid was stolen from the giver.
- Valuation. Hiram named the cities "as nothing." What faith prizes, the world takes no delight in and keeps only for show.
- Obligation. While Tyre paid tribute, all had God's approval. Once Tyre sent gifts and said "my brother," the roles had reversed.
- Reversal. Chronicles shows Tyre handing cities to Israel. That pictures the day the world's wealth comes to Christ as tribute, not as a favour to His people.
And this is the account 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.
Solomon has finished the temple and his own palace. Now the record names the cost of the rest: a labour force drafted from the nation, and a list of cities — one of them a wedding gift from Egypt.
The verse lists the projects without explaining them. Here is what each one was, and why these places needed work.
In verse 15 we are told of a labour force that Solomon raised. It built the temple, his own house, the Millo (a citadel, perhaps a tower in the fortifications of Jerusalem), the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. These were areas that plainly needed repair. Gezer gets a special mention: Pharaoh king of Egypt had captured it from the Canaanites, and he gave the city as a dowry to his daughter, whom Solomon married.
The building was not only for defence. It organised the kingdom for trade and for war, and it settled an old account with the Canaanites without a fight.
Solomon's activity and wisdom show in the store-cities he set up, and in the cities for chariots and for horsemen. This is the outward organisation of the kingdom, whether for commerce and trade or for war. He receives Gezer from Pharaoh, who had wiped out the Canaanites living in that city and had given it to his daughter, the king's wife. So the order to destroy the Canaanites is carried out without any trouble to this reign of peace. Their city rightfully belonged to Israel.
That same Egyptian marriage is the shadow over the whole project. Solomon walls his capital against attack while the real threat is already living in it.
The account then tells of the Millo being built. This was clearly a citadel, a tower in the fortifications of Jerusalem. Solomon fortified his kingdom against possible attacks by enemies. But he had already welcomed the enemy into his kingdom by marrying an Egyptian woman!
Not everyone in this work force stood in the same place, and the difference says something about service today.
Israelites, on the other hand, were free men, not forced labourers. In the same way, believers today serve the Lord in willing-hearted obedience, whether in conflict or in whatever service.
Still, someone paid for all this splendour, and the people did not forget the cost.
Solomon built new cities and rebuilt others. But all this meant heavy taxation. In time the people groaned under the burden, while Solomon groaned with disappointment of heart. The weight of taxation is probably what made the people ask Rehoboam for a change. They wanted their service less harsh and their yoke lighter. Men will not complain like that when the Lord reigns in Zion. His glory will far exceed Solomon's, but it will be as true then as now: "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
The Millo works needed a manager. Solomon gave the job to one of his own servants, a man of the tribe of Ephraim, and it proved a dangerous choice.
The last and most dangerous of Solomon's enemies is the enemy from within, Jeroboam. He was "Solomon's servant," an Ephraimite. Solomon had set him over Ephraim for the work of fortifying the Millo. The Millo was the defence of Jerusalem against enemies from the north. It was a very dangerous move, but what could Solomon foresee? God alone knew. His duties taught Jeroboam all the secrets of the stronghold, and he won the sympathies of his own tribe as well.
These walled cities also point forward. Commentators see in them a small picture of the safety of a kingdom still to come.
Solomon built cities and fenced them with walls and bars, so that "Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon." In the same way the King says through His prophet, "My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places."
- Built — The forced labour raised the temple, the palace, the Millo citadel, Jerusalem's wall, and three cities: Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.
- Finished — Gezer came as a dowry from Pharaoh, so this reign of peace cleared the Canaanites from a city that rightfully belonged to Israel, without a fight.
- Flawed — Solomon fortified against outside attack while the enemy he had married was already inside the kingdom.
- Costly — Foreigners did forced labour; Israelites served as free men. But the taxation behind the building made the people ask Rehoboam for a lighter yoke.
- Foreshadowed — The walled, secure cities picture a coming reign where the people dwell safely and the King's burden is light.
-- Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, and burned it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
The verse pauses the list of Solomon's building projects to explain how one of those cities came into his hands. It raises two questions: why was Gezer still a Canaanite city, and what do we make of the marriage that brought it in?
Gezer has a long history before this verse, and it is a history of unfinished work. Its king was struck down in Joshua's campaigns, but the city itself stayed in enemy hands for centuries.
Horam king of Gezer comes up to help Lachish, and is struck down — he and his people. But his city is not taken at this time. In fact, no one drove the Canaanites out of it until Solomon's reign. By then the city seems to have drifted into separation from Israel. For it is Pharaoh king of Egypt who takes it then, and gives it to his daughter, Solomon's wife.
Ephraim held this ground, and the Canaanites there stayed on as servants. Why they were spared is the warning.
But Ephraim does not escape the common failure. Gezer is noted as a place where the Canaanites were allowed to remain, though they became servants. Sins are too often spared because they are useful; and among Ephraimites as much as anyone. And because a gracious God still blesses, we think He cares very little. Yet a day of reckoning comes at last.
Notice who finally clears Gezer. Egypt carries out the order to destroy the Canaanites, and Solomon gains the city without a battle.
He receives Gezer from Pharaoh. Pharaoh had wiped out the Canaanites living in that city, and had given it to his daughter, the king's wife. So the order to destroy the Canaanites is carried out without trouble for this reign of peace. Their city rightfully belonged to Israel. Long ago the people were weak and spared the Canaanites. Now all of them are brought into subjection.
Gezer arrives as a burnt-out ruin. Solomon puts it straight onto the same building list as the temple and the wall of Jerusalem.
In verse 15 we are told of a labour force that Solomon raised. He used it to build the temple, his own house, the Millo (a citadel, possibly a tower in the fortifications of Jerusalem), the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. These were areas that clearly needed repair. Gezer gets special mention: Pharaoh king of Egypt had captured it from the Canaanites, and he gave the city as a dowry to his daughter, whom Solomon married (v.16).
Commentators differ here. Some see the Egyptian bride as a picture of Gentiles brought into blessing under the King that Solomon pictures.
This union pointed ahead to the blessing Gentiles were to receive in union with Him whom Solomon pictures. It was grace which took up Pharaoh's daughter and made her share the riches and honours of Solomon.
Others judge the marriage a mistake, whatever it gained.
1 Kings 3:1 suggests that the affair was political in character. Marriage is sacred, and no one should use it for such ends. True, Solomon gained the important frontier city of Gezer as dowry with his wife. A remnant of Canaanites still held the place, and Egyptian forces wiped them out for Solomon's benefit. But should not the Ephraimites have taken the place long before, trusting in God? (Joshua 16:10)
The treaty came first, the marriage followed, and the slide did not stop there.
However, early in Solomon's reign he slipped into the snare of making a treaty with the king of Egypt. Israel had before escaped from the bondage of Egypt, a type of the world in its independence of God. Believers are warned not to be friends with the world (James 4:4). Such friendship is actually enmity against God. This friendship of Solomon then went further still in his being married to a daughter of Pharaoh. Such laxity of conscience did not end there, however, as we shall see in chapter 11:1-8. Once we start on a wrong course, we shall keep sliding downward. The slide stops only when the grace of God steps in, leads us to judge ourselves seriously, and brings us back to the Lord.
- Left undone. Gezer's king fell in Joshua's day, but the city stayed Canaanite for centuries. Unfinished work does not go away.
- Left useful. Israel kept the Canaanites there as servants. Sin is too often spared because it is useful — and when God still blesses, we think He cares very little.
- Taken anyway. Egypt's Pharaoh burned Gezer and cleared out the Canaanites. The city belonged to Israel by right, and it came back without a battle.
- Given, then rebuilt. It arrived as a dowry and went straight onto Solomon's building list beside the temple and the wall of Jerusalem.
- Paid for later. Commentators differ on the marriage: a picture of Gentile blessing, or a political bargain. Either way, the alliance with Egypt ran on into chapter 11.
-- And Solomon built Gezer, and lower Beth-horon,
Solomon's building list names two old towns: Gezer, a wedding gift from Pharaoh, and Lower Beth-horon on Ephraim's border. Why did a king famous for peace need walled towns at all?
These were not new foundations. Solomon raised a work force, and Gezer was one site on a longer repair list.
Verse 15 tells us of a labour force that Solomon raised to build the temple, his own house, the Millo (a citadel, perhaps a tower in Jerusalem's fortifications), the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. These were areas that clearly needed repair. Scripture notes that Pharaoh king of Egypt had captured Gezer from the Canaanites and had given the city as a dowry to his daughter, whom Solomon married (v.16). Added to Gezer were Lower Beth Horon, Baalath and Tadmore, described as storage cities for Solomon's chariots, his cavalry and other branches of his wealthy administration (vs.17-18).
Gezer had long been a gap in Israel's hold on the land. Joshua struck down its king, but the town stayed outside Israel's grip until a foreign king cleared it.
Gezer means "isolated" or "cut off," and Horam, its king, "swollen." Horam therefore speaks of the swollen pride that glories in its independence (isolation). Scripture does not speak of Joshua taking the city itself, for God is not seeking a place of isolation for any of His saints, but Joshua did destroy Horam and his people. However, 1 Kings 9:16 tells us that Pharaoh king of Egypt took Gezer, burned it, killed the Canaanites who lived there, and gave the city to his daughter, Solomon's wife. So Gezer appears to be one of the cities Israel never took over. It shows that there were still cases of independent isolationism in Israel after they had subdued their enemies. The same has sadly been true of the Church of God in her history.
The other town named was already famous — a place of victory, and a place earlier builders had worked on.
Two towns called the "upper" and the "lower," though also spoken of as one, on the boundary between Benjamin and Ephraim. The district is memorable as the place where Joshua conquered the Amorites, and near which God struck them with hailstones (Joshua 10:10-11). In 1 Chronicles 7:24 we read that Sherah, apparently the granddaughter of Ephraim, built these towns. Solomon also built or rebuilt them (1 Kings 9:17; 2 Chronicles 8:5).
Someone else destroyed Gezer's Canaanites, and the site changed hands as a gift. What earlier generations left undone happened without a battle.
We see Solomon's activity and wisdom (vv. 15-23) in his store-cities, his cities for chariots, and his cities for horsemen. This is the outward organisation of the kingdom, whether for commerce and trade or for war. He receives Gezer from Pharaoh, who had wiped out the Canaanites living in that city and had given it to his daughter, the king's wife. So this reign of peace fulfils the order to destroy the Canaanites without any trouble. Their city belonged to Israel by right.
Commentators differ on how to read the fortifying. One calls it prudence and strength, yet says it is not the picture of Messiah's peaceful reign.
He built store cities. He secured his links with outlying districts by fortifying the upper and the lower Beth-horon. He fenced cities with walls, gates and bars. This is a display of prudence and strength in the face of possible enemies. It is the evidence of the wisdom given to him. Had he not misused that wisdom, he would not have spent it on accumulating horses and fortifying cities. This is not what Messiah's peaceful reign looks like, when peace and safety is the portion of each Israelite.
Another notes that Chronicles does not rebuke Solomon for his horses, while 1 Kings does.
Verses 5 and 6 speak of his building various cities, storage cities and fortified cities, some for his cavalry. So he was ready for war, which is an important way of preserving peace. It is true that God had said a king should not multiply horses (Deuteronomy 17:16). But Solomon is not rebuked for this here. Again his actions picture the future glory of Christ instead of exposing his own unfaithfulness, as 1 Kings does.
The building programme missed where the real danger lay.
Solomon fortified his kingdom against possible attacks by enemies. But he had already welcomed the enemy into his kingdom by marrying an Egyptian woman!
- Repair — the towns were old sites that needed work. Solomon rebuilt what earlier hands had built.
- Gift — Gezer came as a dowry after Pharaoh burned it. A foreign sword closed the gap Israel never closed.
- Reach — Beth-horon and the rest gave him storage, chariots and cavalry. It was a kingdom organised for trade and for war.
- Contrast — the walls show real prudence. Yet walls and horses are not the mark of Messiah's peace: Kings exposes the failure, Chronicles shows the glory.
- Warning — a king can wall his borders and still have welcomed the enemy through his own marriage. Gezer means "cut off" — and that isolation is never what God wants for His people.
and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,
This verse comes in a list of towns Solomon built after he finished the temple. It raises two questions: where were these places, and why does a royal building list matter?
One dictionary gives Baalath a single line, and places it among Solomon's supply towns:
A store-city of Solomon, apparently in the north. 1 Kings 9:18; 2 Chronicles 8:6.
The second name is disputed. Older English Bibles print "Tadmor," while the ESV follows the Hebrew and reads "Tamar." Some writers identify the place with Palmyra, a famous desert city. They treat the two forms as one name used in two periods:
Tadmor is Palmyra, called so by the Greeks and Romans, while it is still called Tadmor today. In this chapter (verse 18) the name is given in Hebrew as "Tamar"; in 2 Chronicles 8:4 it is "Tadmor." Tamar means "palm tree," the same as Palmyra. Chronicles uses Tadmor because it was known by that name after the exile.
Others treat them as two separate places. Their case rests on the words "in the land." The ESV reads "in the land of Judah." The other towns in the list point the same way:
In 1 Kings 9:18 a city is called Tadmor in the Authorised Version; but the Hebrew text is TAMAR, as in the Revised Version. Though this was also built by Solomon in the wilderness, it is added "in the land," whereas Tadmor was outside. The other towns mentioned in this passage belong to the south of the land. So Tamar is surely a different place. It may be the same as the Tamar of Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28.
The same dictionary places Baalath in the north, yet groups the towns of this list with the south. The exact sites are not settled.
These were working towns, tied to the machinery of a wealthy government:
Added to Gezer were Lower Beth Horon, Baalath and Tadmor. They are spoken of as storage cities for Solomon's chariots, his cavalry and other branches of his wealthy administration (vv. 17-18).
One writer reads the whole list as the outward framework of the kingdom:
We see Solomon's activity and wisdom (vv. 15-23) in the store-cities he set up, and in the cities for chariots and for horsemen. It is the external organisation of the kingdom, whether for commerce and trade or for war.
A city built "in the wilderness" marks how far the king's rule reached. The desert now takes its place alongside Tyre, Lebanon, Egypt and Arabia as one more region orbiting the throne:
The chapter before this showed us how Solomon dealt with the representatives of the nations that had submitted to his rule. Tyre; Lebanon; the Pharaoh of Egypt; his daughter, Solomon's wife. Then there is the land of Edom, where he organised his fleet; the desert, where he built Tadmor; the kings of Arabia (1 Kings 10:15); and the rest of the Canaanites, whom he brings into bondage. All these different elements gravitate around him as their centre, and all add to the fame of his kingdom.
One writer sees the whole building programme as the real point of Solomon's reign:
So the next chapter shows us Solomon after he had built all. Here we have the grand object of Solomon's coming to the throne. It was this great type of the kingdom.
The record of new and rebuilt cities has a darker side, and Solomon himself wrote about it later:
Solomon tells us in his own words about the many public works he took an interest in. Houses, vineyards, gardens, orchards, and more — never had the nation seen the like! "Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them." But there was no satisfaction for his heart… He built new cities and rebuilt others (1 Kings 9:17-19). But all this meant heavy taxation. In time the people groaned under the burden, while Solomon groaned with a disappointed heart. The weight of taxation was probably what made the people ask Rehoboam to make their service less hard and their yoke lighter (1 Kings 12:4). Men will not complain like that when the Lord reigns in Zion. His glory will far exceed that of Solomon, but it will be as true then as now, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).
- Store-cities. Baalath and Tamar — Tadmor in older Bibles — were supply towns. They held the chariots, cavalry and stores of a wealthy government.
- Disputed site. Commentators differ. Some read the second name as Palmyra, far out in the desert. Others keep to "in the land" and the southern towns nearby, and place it in the south.
- Reach. A town in the wilderness shows how far the king's rule reached. Desert, Lebanon, Egypt and foreign kings all turned around one throne.
- Picture. All this building after the temple points to the real purpose of Solomon's reign. It pictured the kingdom that is still to come.
- Cost. The same building meant heavy taxes, a groaning people and an unsatisfied king. Under Christ's reign the yoke is light.
and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and cities for chariots, and cities for the horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.
Solomon has finished the temple and his own palace. The record now turns to the rest of his reign: supply depots, chariot bases and cavalry towns, from Jerusalem to the edge of his territory. Is this a picture of a king's God-given splendour, or an early sign of the unfaithfulness this book goes on to expose?
The list of cities is not decoration; it is administration. One writer reads these verses as Solomon's wisdom at work, organising his kingdom on two fronts at once.
We see Solomon's activity and wisdom (vv. 15-23) in his founding of store-cities, cities for chariots, and cities for horsemen. It is the outward organization of the kingdom, whether for commerce and trade or for war.
The named sites in the surrounding verses were not random. Each guarded something, and one of them still carries its ancient name.
Under him, Hazor became a stronghold defending against Syria. Megiddo protected the plain of Jezreel. Gezer and Baalath were other strongholds. Tadmor is Palmyra, the name the Greeks and Romans used, and people still call it Tadmor today. In this chapter (verse 18) the Hebrew has the name "Tamar"; in 2 Chron. 8:4 it is "Tadmor." Tamor means "palm tree," the same as Palmyra.
The closing phrase measures how far his rule reached. It covered more ground than Israel lived on.
His dominion covered the whole extent of the land of promise. Israel did not occupy all of it, but at least it all came under the king's authority.
Commentators differ here. Reading the same events in 2 Chronicles, one writer notes that no rebuke follows there:
Solomon is not rebuked for this here, because once again his actions picture the future glory of Christ, rather than exposing his own unfaithfulness, as 1 Kings does.
Others read the same building as a wrong use of a real gift.
This is a display of prudence and strength in the face of possible enemies. It shows the wisdom he had received — wisdom that, if he had not misused it, he would never have spent on piling up horses and fortifying cities. This is not the picture of Messiah's peaceful reign, when peace and safety belong to every Israelite. A kingdom can be strong and secure and still lie under the crushing power of a tyrant, and the king's showy splendour may be only a veil hiding the oppression and tears of his people.
The chariot cities trouble some readers because of a law given long before Solomon was born.
The king of Israel was not to multiply horses, nor send his people to Egypt to bring horses back… Could faith not depend on God for such protection rather than on horses?
The verse ends not with need but with wish: whatever he desired to build. Solomon later described those projects in his own words, and someone had to pay for them.
Solomon tells us in his own words about the many public works he took up. Houses, vineyards, gardens, orchards — the nation had never seen anything like it! "And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them." But his heart found no satisfaction… He built new cities and rebuilt others (1 Kings 9:17-19). All this meant heavy taxation. In time the people groaned under the burden, while Solomon groaned with disappointment of heart… Men will not complain like this when the Lord reigns in Zion. His glory will far exceed Solomon's, but it will be as true then as now: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:30).
- Desire builds. One word drives the verse: whatever Solomon desired. Every store city, chariot base and cavalry town on the list grew out of it.
- Desire organizes. Used well, that drive brought the kingdom order: supply for trade, strength for war, and strongholds like Hazor, Megiddo and Tadmor holding real ground.
- Desire overreaches. The same gift, misused, piled up horses and walls. God had told Israel's king not to gather them, because protection was meant to rest on Him.
- Desire taxes others. The building bill fell on the people, and they groaned under it. The king who got everything his eyes wanted still found no satisfaction in his heart.
- Desire fulfilled. Solomon's rule covered the whole land of promise and still left him empty. The reign it pictures will exceed his glory, and under that King the yoke is easy and the burden light.
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,
Solomon is building cities, and the record pauses to name peoples still living in the land long after Israel arrived — survivors Israel never finished driving out. Why were they still there, and why does Scripture record their forced labour under Solomon?
The verse traces these peoples back to an incomplete conquest. One writer looks hard at the claim that Israel "could not" drive them out:
Their strength revealed the secret of their inability. They "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to make a profit from these nations rather than obey God. In time Israel learned all the detestable practices of the Canaanites. They served them as a punishment for their sins. Making terms with the enemy, in disobedience to God, was short-sighted. It ended with the tribute-payers becoming thorns in their eyes and thorns in their sides, and at last their masters.
One writer sets Solomon's treatment of these survivors beside Saul's failure with the Gibeonites:
The people's weakness had spared all these Canaanites long ago. Now Solomon brings them into subjection, just as happened earlier to the Gibeonites. Solomon does not repeat Saul's mistake toward those Gibeonites (2 Sam. 21); instead he reduces to servitude the Canaanites who still remain among the people.
Solomon drew his labour gangs from these nations, and from no Israelite. One writer reads Israel's future place in it:
"But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work." A very remarkable statement. He made the Gentiles servants. The Jews will then be lords upon the earth, not slaves.
The long compromise ends, and something new appears:
This glorious reign brings about something that had never existed before, because the people had been unfaithful. All their former mixing with the Canaanites has disappeared. From now on the Lord's people are a free people, and nothing can bring them into servitude.
Commentators read this arrangement as a preview of an age still ahead:
Solomon put all the strangers, the Canaanites living in the land, into subjection, and they had to pay tribute to him. They were the servants... It foreshadows the age in which all will be subject to Him who will be King to rule in righteousness (Isaiah 32:1; Heb. 2:8). Then His own people will serve Him, for "your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power" (Psalm 110:3).
The picture carries a warning too. Outward submission is not a changed heart:
Israel had not expelled all the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites from the land. Solomon conscripted those who were left as forced labour (vv. 20–21). So he had full control of the country. When the Lord Jesus takes His kingdom, people from the nations will submit to Him despite not having genuine faith (Ps. 18:43–45).
There is mercy running under this servitude. One writer links these forced labourers with people who later came back from exile with a heart for God's house:
Instead of being destroyed by the sword of the Lord's army, they were rescued. Centuries later they are found in honourable association with the Lord's people, and with a heart for the Lord's house too, since they returned from Babylon with their fellow captives... We read that Solomon levied a tribute of forced service, lasting to this day, from the children of the Amorites and the others left in the land, whom Israel was not able to destroy completely (1 Kings 9:19–21). It might have been the descendants of these who received the name "Solomon's servants." The lesson is again significant: the least connection with the Lord's people and the Lord's things becomes a means of blessing.
The same writer draws a practical rule for Christians today:
Like Solomon, Christians need not treat as valid the claims of the world that the unfaithful Church has let gain a foothold among her. On the other hand, they are not to drive them out. They themselves should walk in the liberty of the children of God and leave them to their yoke of bondage... Israel never knew such a complete separation before Solomon, but it can and should exist even in the worst days.
- Unfinished — An earlier generation "could not" drive these peoples out. That meant they would not: they chose profit over obedience.
- Subdued — Solomon brings under control what that weakness left behind. He settles an old failure without a battle.
- Free — The labour falls on the strangers, not on Israel. The Lord's people are no longer mixed in with Canaan, and no longer enslaved to it.
- Foreshadowed — The arrangement pictures the age when the true King rules every nation, and His own people offer themselves freely.
- Feigned — Forced service is not faith. Commentators warn that many will submit to Christ without believing hearts. Yet God's mercy still reaches some once marked for destruction.
their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon them did Solomon impose a tribute of bondservice until this day.
Solomon's building projects needed workers. He found them in the people Israel had never driven out of Canaan. It raises a hard question. How did a king's glory come to rest on a job earlier generations left unfinished?
The verse says Israel was unable to destroy them. One writer, looking at the same words in Joshua, says the problem was will, not strength.
"Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor" (Joshua 17:13). Their strength exposed the secret of their inability. They "could not" because they "would not" drive them out. They preferred to make a profit from these nations rather than obey God. And so, after a time, Israel learned all the detestable ways of the Canaanites, and served them as a punishment for their sins. Making terms with the enemy, in disobedience to God, was shortsighted: those who paid the tribute became thorns in Israel's eyes and in their sides, and at last their masters.
They chose profit over obedience, and the cost came later.
Under Solomon the relationship changes. The Canaanites no longer live mixed in among Israel; they serve. One commentator says this had never happened before.
The burden-bearers, the stone cutters, and the overseers all come from the Canaanites living among Israel, whom the people had failed to drive out: "But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves." So this glorious reign brings in a state of things that had never existed before, because the people had been unfaithful. All their former mingling with the Canaanites is gone. From now on the Lord's people are a free people, and no one can bring them into servitude.
The same writer links these survivors to the Gibeonites, an earlier people Israel had spared:
All the Canaanites, spared long ago because the people were weak, are now made subject, just as the Gibeonites were before. Solomon does not repeat Saul's mistake toward these people (2 Sam. 21). Instead he puts the Canaanites still left among Israel into servitude.
The phrase "to this day" reaches past Solomon's lifetime. Centuries later, the lists of those who came home from exile in Babylon name a group called "Solomon's servants." One writer traces them back to this forced labour.
We read that Solomon imposed forced labour "to this day" on the sons of the Amorites and others left in the land, whom the people of Israel had not been able to destroy completely (1 Kings 9:19-21). It may have been their descendants who received the name "Solomon's servants." However that may be, the lesson already drawn is again significant: the least connection with the Lord's people and the Lord's things becomes a means of blessing.
He says the same of the Nethinim, another group of servants tied to God's house. Their bondage, he writes, was "bondage in His mercy in connection with His house," and it turned the curse resting on them into a blessing. People spared from judgment ended up alongside the people of God.
Commentators read Solomon's reign as a small model of a greater one. One of them adds a warning about the submission it pictures.
Israel had not driven all the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites out of the land. Solomon drafted those who were left as forced labour (vs. 20-21). So he had full control of the country. When the Lord Jesus takes His kingdom, there will be people from the nations who submit to Him despite not having genuine faith (Ps. 18:43-45).
Outward submission is not the same as a changed heart.
One writer applies this to Christians. They are not to drive the world's claims out, and not to accept them either.
Like Solomon, Christians do not have to accept the claims of the world that the unfaithful Church has let gain a foothold among her. On the other hand, they are not to drive them out. They should walk themselves in the liberty of the children of God, and leave them to their yoke of bondage — the only religion that suits the flesh, and the one the flesh recognises.
- Failure. Israel "could not" drive out the Canaanites because they would not. They chose profit over obedience, and paid for it later.
- Inheritance. Solomon inherited that unfinished business and settled it. What years of unfaithfulness had tangled, one reign put in order.
- Separation. Under him the mingling stopped: strangers served, and the Lord's people were free.
- Mercy. The forced labour lasted "to this day." Descendants of those spared from judgment show up among the returning exiles. The smallest link with God's people proved a blessing.
- Preview. The picture points to Christ's kingdom, where the nations will submit. But some of that submission will be outward only, without genuine faith.
But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen; but they were men of war, and his servants, and his chiefs, and his captains, and captains of his chariots, and his horsemen.
Solomon put the Canaanite peoples left in the land to forced labour. Then the chapter draws a sharp line: no Israelite served on those terms. Instead the verse lists what Israelites were: soldiers, officials, commanders. Why did the King's own people hold one place and the nations another?
The line is not between hard work and easy work. It is between force and freedom. One writer sees here a portrait of Solomon's reign at its best, with the heavy labour falling on the Canaanites Israel had failed to drive out.
Here, as in all these chapters, we see King Solomon in the perfection of his reign. The nations are subject to him. The men who bear burdens, the stone cutters, and the overseers all come from the Canaanites living among Israel, whom the people had not succeeded in driving out. Scripture says, "But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves." So this glorious reign reaches a state of things that the people's unfaithfulness had never allowed before. All their old mingling with the Canaanites has disappeared. From now on the Lord's people are a free people, and no one can force them into servitude.
Free did not mean idle. The Israelites Solomon never forced into labour filled his army and his command posts. One writer draws from this a picture of how believers serve now.
Israelites, on the other hand, were free men, not forced labourers (v.22). In the same way, believers today serve the Lord in willing-hearted obedience, whether in conflict or in whatever service. Some of Solomon's servants were men of war, officers or captains, commanders of his chariots and of his cavalry.
Another writer names what that freedom is for.
Solomon also holds all the Canaanites remaining in the land of Israel in subjection. The people of Israel are men of war and free — but free to serve the King.
One writer hears an echo of this arrangement in a question the Lord once put to Peter.
Our Lord's words to Peter come to mind. They may refer to this period of Solomon's reign. They throw a ray of light on the future condition of the people of Israel. "From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?" "From others," said Peter. "Then," said the Lord, "the sons are free."
Commentators also read the arrangement forward. One sees in it a sketch of the order under Christ's rule: the nations subject, and God's people no longer at the bottom.
"But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves." That is a very remarkable statement. He made the nations his servants. The Jews will then be lords on the earth, not slaves. The nations will have to take the place of the tail while Israel is at the head, as the prophet says.
One writer adds what the service of that day will be like: willing, not forced.
Solomon brought all the strangers, the Canaanites living in the land, into subjection, and they had to pay tribute to him. They were the servants. "But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders..." This foreshadows the age when everything will come into subjection under Him who will be King to rule in righteousness. Then His own people will serve Him, for they "shall be willing in the day of His power" (Psalm 110:3).
This verse catches Solomon before his fall. The same writer traces what came next, and what caused it.
Solomon had not yet sunk so far into idolatry and forgetting God that he would treat Israelites, the chosen people, the way he treated Canaanites... A few weighty words give the cause of his fall. "But Solomon loved many foreign women." That was the steep slope down.
- Freedom — Solomon put no Israelite under forced labour; the burden fell on the Canaanites left in the land. No one could force God's own people into servitude.
- Gift — Israel's own unfaithfulness had never produced this state. It came with the King's reign.
- Purpose — they were free for the King. Men of war, captains, commanders: freedom put to work. One writer applies this to believers who serve today in willing-hearted obedience.
- Sons — the Lord asked Peter who pays a king's tax. Outsiders pay; "the sons are free."
- Preview — the arrangement sketches the coming reign of Christ. The nations are subject, and His people serve willingly "in the day of His power" — a glimpse given before Solomon's love of foreign women brought him down.
These were the chief superintendents that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people that wrought in the work.
The record of Solomon's building work ends with a headcount: 550 chief officers set over everyone who did the work. Who were these men, how does their number fit the other figures Scripture gives, and why record a list of foremen at all?
The 550 sit at the top of a huge workforce. One writer lays out the whole scale:
The work needed a large number of workmen, and they came in two classes. First there were 30,000 men drafted out of Israel; they worked in shifts of 10,000 a month. The second class was made up of foreigners, 150,000 of them; 70,000 carried loads and 80,000 cut stone. Over them all were 3,300 officers with 550 chiefs, 250 of whom were native Israelites.
So the 550 stand at the top, above 3,300 lower officers.
The verse just before this one says Solomon made no Israelite a slave. One writer ties that freedom to how believers serve now:
Israelites, on the other hand, were free men, not forced laborers. In the same way, believers today serve the Lord in willing-hearted obedience, whether in conflict or in whatever service. Some of Solomon's servants were men of war, officers or captains, commanders of his chariots and of his cavalry. 550 others were officials over Solomon's work.
Another writer names who did carry the loads, and sets Israel's freedom beside the place given to the surrounding nations:
The men who carried loads, the stone cutters and the overseers are taken only from the Canaanites living among Israel, whom the people had failed to drive out… So this glorious reign brings about something the people's unfaithfulness had never allowed before. All their old mingling with the Canaanites is gone. From now on the Lord's people are a free people, and no one can enslave them. Meanwhile the foreigners whom unfaithful Israel had failed to destroy in their land long ago are the only ones put into servitude. The nations, who hold the riches of the earth and are represented by the king of Tyre, are welcomed as fellow workers in this great work.
Commentators differ on who the chief officers were. Gaebelein counts 250 native Israelites among the 550; Rossier reads the overseers as Canaanites.
These officers ran work far beyond the temple. One writer counts that organising as a mark of Solomon's wisdom:
Solomon's activity and wisdom show in the store-cities he set up, and in the cities for chariots and for horsemen. This is the outward organization of the kingdom, whether for commerce and trade or for war… All the Canaanites, spared long ago because the people were weak, are brought into subjection, just as the Gibeonites were before them… Solomon puts into servitude those Canaanites who still remain among the people.
The Gibeonites were Canaanites who had become servants in Israel generations earlier.
One writer reads this order — Israel free, the nations subject — as a picture of a reign still to come:
It foreshadows the age in which all will be put in subjection under Him who will be King to rule in righteousness. Then His own people will serve Him, for they "shall be willing in the day of His power" (Psalm 110:3).
Another writer draws out the reversal this means for Israel's place among the nations:
"But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves." That is a very remarkable statement. He made the Gentiles servants. The Jews will, then, be lords upon the earth, not slaves.
One writer turns that separation into a rule for Christian life now:
Like Solomon, Christians do not need to treat the world's claims as valid, though the unfaithful Church has allowed the world a foothold among her people. On the other hand, they are not to drive them out. They themselves should walk in the liberty of the children of God and leave them to their yoke of bondage… No separation as complete as this had ever existed in Israel before Solomon. Yet it can and should be reached even in the worst days of Israel's history, or of the Church's.
- Free. Solomon made no Israelite a slave. His own people served him as free men.
- Freed for service. Their freedom did not mean idleness. It meant willing-hearted obedience, the pattern for how believers serve the Lord now.
- Freedom organised. Willing service still had order: 550 chiefs over 3,300 officers, running store cities, chariot cities and the whole building work.
- Freedom's reach. Israel free and the nations subject: no reign before Solomon's had seen it.
- Freedom's fulfilment. It points on to the King who will rule in righteousness, when His own people will be willing in the day of His power.
But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which he had built for her then he built Millo.
Two small items close Solomon's building years. His Egyptian wife leaves the old city for a house of her own, and the king raises the Millo. Both look like plain administration. Yet commentators read in them a lesson about holiness, distance, and where each person belongs in the kingdom.
One writer ties the move and the new fortification together as a single piece of work:
In verse 24 Pharaoh's daughter comes up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her (cf. 1 Kings 7:8). In keeping with this house, the king built Millo, the citadel which from then on formed part of Jerusalem.
Solomon gave his reason, and 2 Chronicles records it:
Solomon said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy, where the ark of the Lord has come." The ark had first been set in the city of David. As the passage in 2 Chronicles tells us, it stood in the very house of the king. Solomon had carried it from the city of David, or Zion, into the temple. But the Gentile wife could not dwell in the place made holy by the presence of the covenant God. No doubt she could have her own large share in the benefits of the covenant. She could even be linked with the one who represented it on earth. Even so, a distance had to be kept. The covenant made with Israel did not concern her directly. In the coming kingdom there will be a difference between Israel and the nations. The nations will receive their blessing only through the people of God. The covenant will not be made with them.
The record never explains the name, and no one now knows where the Millo stood:
A part of ancient Jerusalem, though later said to be "built" by Solomon; it was repaired by Hezekiah. The name always has the article: "the Millo." People have suggested various sites for it, but its location and its shape are unknown.
One writer points out the irony of building this defence:
This was clearly a citadel, a tower in the fortifications of Jerusalem. Solomon fortified his kingdom against possible attacks by enemies. But he had already welcomed the enemy into his kingdom by marrying an Egyptian woman!
Some say the marriage itself was wrong, yet God still drew good from it:
Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. Sadly, one cannot say that righteousness is kept here. But how wonderful that God should make a thing that was wrong in itself into a type of what is perfectly good in Him! As we know, there is no way in which the Lord has shown His grace so much as in His dealings with the Gentiles.
Others answer by pointing to two marriages nobody blames:
Many have thought that Solomon's marriage to the daughter of the king of Egypt was unfaithful to the law. Forgetting the typical meaning of the Word can lead to such mistakes. Would we say that Joseph was unfaithful in marrying Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On? That Moses was unfaithful in marrying Zipporah, daughter of the priest of Midian?
Grant's reading sits between the two: the stated reason was "formally correct, for she was a foreigner, but it shows clearly that Solomon was not morally correct in marrying her."
Even those who judge the marriage a failure find the house pointing forward:
Solomon made this for Pharaoh's daughter whom he married. This was the beginning of Solomon's downfall in his relationships with women. He soon married many others. Yet God used even Solomon's failure to illustrate the blessing of Gentiles in the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus. The house built for Pharaoh's daughter reminds us that in that kingdom the submissive Gentile nations will have a dwelling too.
One writer counts four houses in Solomon's work, and sees a pattern in them:
Solomon built each of these four houses. He is a type of the One who will put all things in their right places in the day of display. Every family in heaven and earth takes its name from the Father. He who is the Wisdom of God will put each family into its proper place. He will order the universe, and every family in it, for the pleasure and glory of God.
- Place. The wife leaves the city of David for a house made for her, and the Millo rises alongside it.
- Holiness. Solomon moves her because the ark had made those rooms holy. A foreign wife could not live there.
- Distance. She shares the king's benefits, but not the covenant. Nearness and difference stand together.
- Defence. The citadel guards against attack from outside. One writer notes the danger was already inside, through the marriage.
- Destiny. Commentators differ over whether the marriage was sin. Yet her own house points forward to a place for the nations under Christ's rule.
And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense upon that which was before Jehovah. So he finished the house.
Solomon's reign is at its peak: the temple is finished, and three times a year the king brings offerings himself. This short verse ends the building account, and commentators read it two ways — a picture of Christ's coming reign, and the last calm moment before a long decline.
Solomon did not invent this timing. Israel's calendar held seven set feasts, and three of them called every man in the nation to appear.
These seven are called "the set feasts," and also "holy convocations." The people gathered to offer the various offerings, and so to be reminded of their link with the living God, to whom they owed all their blessings. To make sure of this at least three times a year, God commanded that all the males should appear before the Lord, and they must not appear empty. These times were the Feast of Unleavened Bread (no doubt including the Passover); the Feast of Weeks, or of Harvest; and the Feast of Tabernacles, or "of Ingathering."
Two altars are in view: the bronze altar for the sacrifices, and the golden altar for incense. Older translations say the king burned incense on the golden altar here; the ESV reads "making offerings with it before the LORD." One writer notes how little 1 Kings says about the first altar, and how much the king's two acts say about Christ.
Three times a year Solomon sacrificed on the bronze altar (v. 25), which Hiram made for the temple (2 Chr. 4:1). This is the only mention of that altar in 1 Kings, and a passing mention at that. He also burned incense on the golden altar. As we have seen in 1 Kings 8, on certain occasions he filled the office of priest, of Melchizedek, and of intercessor. Does this not speak to us of Christ? Every dignity comes together in His Person, and He has won them all through His death. Without that death He could not take up even one of these offices.
Solomon is a king, yet here he handles what belonged to priests. One writer ties that double role to Melchizedek, the king-priest of Salem, and to a promise God has not yet kept.
Notice that in all this, and above all in bringing the sacrifices, Solomon takes the full character of priest. He acts as the king-priest, another Melchizedek, King of Salem. And this he was: king of righteousness in his judgments, and king of peace. In all this he foreshadows Him who is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. "He shall be a priest upon His throne" (Zech. 6:13) is the still unfulfilled prediction. Now He is upon the Father's throne as the priest and advocate of His people. When He comes again He will have His own throne and be also a priest.
"So he finished the house" sounds final. But one commentator draws a careful line between the picture and the real thing.
Why, clearly He is bringing once more the man of peace, Solomon, the type of Christ Himself when reigning in peaceful glory. But sadly, it was not Christ yet. It was only a shadow, not the substance. God wrote the Scripture with great care to keep up the picture and to shut out anything that did not fit it. Even so, we have the truth here. God hints at the danger that lay before Solomon and his family. He hints at the conditional ground He must take until Christ brought in sovereign, unconditional grace.
Solomon's worship here was genuine. It also marks the point before his slow decline.
Solomon did not at first leave God out; in fact he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings three times a year and burned incense (v. 25). Sadly, little by little he cared less and less about the commandments of the Lord. His great wisdom did not protect him from evil. Yet his kingdom prospered tremendously.
One writer traces how that decline began.
He never had such a serious fall as David. He never committed so great a sin as his father. But a careful look at this famous man's life shows us a slow return to the world. His reign opened in the glory of a little millennium: his golden sceptre shone at the dedication of the temple, and around him all was joy and peace. Sadly, it did not last long. How did this decline begin? It did not happen all at once. Little by little the things of the world gained access to his heart, and he went from bad to worse.
- Finished — The house is complete and the altar is in use. The verse closes Solomon's building work at its brightest moment.
- Commanded — Every man in Israel had to appear before the Lord three times a year: at Unleavened Bread, Weeks and Tabernacles. No one came empty-handed.
- Combined — Sacrifice on the bronze altar and incense on the golden one put the king in a priest's place. He is a shadow of the One who holds every office, won by His own death.
- Coming — "He shall be a priest upon His throne" is still unfulfilled. Solomon reigning in peace pictures what Christ will be.
- Conditional — This was a shadow, not the substance: God spoke on conditional ground until Christ brought in unconditional grace. Solomon's worship did not keep his heart from drifting to the world.
And king Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
Among lists of Solomon's building projects, this verse records something new: Israel's king now had a fleet. It lay at the far south of his land, on ground that once belonged to Edom — so why would a people who were not sailors need ships?
Eloth and Ezion-geber sat at the top of the Gulf of Akaba. The place had a long history before Solomon and after him.
Seaport town at the extreme north of the Gulf of Akaba branch of the Red Sea. It is first mentioned during the wanderings of the Israelites. Later it came under Solomon's rule, and near it, at Ezion-geber, he had a navy of ships. Later still we read that Azariah built it, and that it was given back to Judah. After that Rezin conquered it, and the Syrians held it, until it became a frontier town of Rome. Elath is now called Aqaba and is in Jordan; it is the only seaport of that country.
Israel had ships now, but no tradition of the sea. (Where the ESV says "a fleet of ships," older translations say "a navy.")
The Israelites were not a seafaring people. Solomon had a 'navy of ships' at Ezion Geber, on the eastern branch of the Red Sea. But Hiram sent his sailors, 'who had knowledge of the sea', along with the servants of Solomon… The word for 'galley' in Isaiah 33:21 is the same as the word translated 'navy' in Kings.
The shipyard stood "in the land of Edom." One writer takes that detail as a measure of how far Solomon's rule reached.
Solomon brings under his control everything that could have stood in the way of fully enjoying the promised land, to its whole extent, whether on the side of Tyre or of Syria… Edom itself was his possession, and all the way to the Red Sea everyone was the king's subject. The king of Tyre, who represents the Gentile glory of the world, supplied all that he needed to carry out his plans.
The fleet had one job: bring wealth home. One writer gives the details, then asks an uncomfortable question.
He built a fleet of ships near Elath, on the shores of the Red Sea. With it he could carry valuable goods from other countries to Israel (v.26). Hiram joined him in this project by sending experienced seamen, since Tyre was a leading sea trading country. It was not a long trip to Ophir, in Saudi Arabia, where at that time there was much gold. Now, it is reported, no gold can be found there at all. Perhaps Solomon took all the gold that was there: 420 talents, which comes to 55,000 pounds! With wealth like that, why did he tax the people so heavily? (1 Kings 12:4).
Another writer sees these verses as part of the kingdom's outward glory, with Hiram at the centre of it.
In verses 26-28 we again find the relationship of Solomon with Hiram in view of the glory and external affairs of the kingdom. Gold flows into Jerusalem. Hiram is the Gentile friend, always ready to serve the greatness of the king who sits on Jehovah's throne. In the same way, his good will for the house of the Lord extends to the wealth and prosperity of the kingdom.
Not every writer reads the gold as pure gain. One weighs Solomon's record against the limits set for Israel's king.
How very remarkable that the three things the king was told not to do were exactly the things done — and done on a large scale — by the greatest and wisest of Israel's kings.
Commentators differ: some read the fleet as a picture of glory, others as an early step in a drift that ended badly.
Years later another king, Jehoshaphat, tried to copy Solomon at this same port. It went wrong.
Jehoshaphat clearly wanted to follow Solomon in building ships to bring gold from Ophir, but his ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber. 2 Chronicles 20:37 shows us the reason. Jehoshaphat had unwisely allied himself with Ahaziah the son of Ahab, who followed his father in wickedness. So God sent a prophet to tell Jehoshaphat that He would destroy his works. Ezion Geber means "the counsel of a man." Jehoshaphat had sought that kind of counsel, not the counsel of God.
- Place. Solomon built the fleet at Ezion-geber, beside Eloth, at the top of the Gulf of Akaba — a port later lost, rebuilt, and today called Aqaba.
- Partner. Israel was not a seafaring nation, so Hiram of Tyre supplied the crews who knew the sea.
- Possession. The shipyard stood in Edom, showing how far Solomon's rule reached — as far as the Red Sea, all were the king's subjects.
- Picture. Gold flowed into Jerusalem through a willing Gentile friend, a sign of a kingdom whose glory the nations serve.
- Peril. That same wealth broke the limits set for Israel's king. That same harbour later wrecked a king who took a man's counsel instead of God's.
And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon;
Solomon built a fleet, but Israel had no sailors to man it, so Hiram of Tyre lent him trained crews to work beside Solomon's own servants. Was this partnership the high point of Solomon's glory, or his first step toward ruin?
One reference work gives the plain reason. Its wording follows an older translation of the verse:
The Israelites were not a seagoing people. Solomon had a "navy of ships" at Ezion Geber, on the eastern branch of the Red Sea. But Hiram sent his shipmen "who had knowledge of the sea" with the servants of Solomon.
Hiram had what Solomon lacked. One writer points to Tyre's place in sea trade:
Hiram joined him in this project by sending experienced seamen, since Tyre was a prominent sea trading country.
Read at its best, this verse shows wealth flowing toward Jerusalem. One writer links Hiram's help here with his earlier help on the temple:
In verses 26-28 we see Solomon's relationship with Hiram again, now in view of the glory and outward affairs of the kingdom. Gold flows into Jerusalem. Hiram is the Gentile friend, always ready to serve the greatness of the king who sits on Jehovah's throne. His good will for the house of the Lord reaches the wealth and prosperity of the kingdom as well.
One writer reads these joint voyages forward. Nations outside Israel work with God's king here, as they will in a kingdom still to come:
Every three years Solomon sent ships to Tarshish. He used the help of Huram's servants to bring back gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. So he had Gentile cooperation in such ventures, as will be true in the future kingdom of Israel. Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. Yet he gives only a faint picture of the greater glory of "the world kingdom" of the Lord Jesus.
Commentators differ on whether these voyages were a blessing at all. One measures Solomon's success against the rules given to Israel's kings:
How very remarkable that the three things the king was not to do were the very things the greatest and wisest of Israel's kings did — and did on a large scale.
Another writer names where the ships went, and then asks a hard question:
It was not a long distance to go to Ophir, in Saudi Arabia, where at that time there was much gold. Perhaps Solomon obtained all the gold that was there, the amount being 420 talents. … Having such wealth, why did he tax the people so heavily?
One writer marks the turn in who gives to whom:
When it comes to giving to Solomon, Hiram shows that he is very generous. … As long as Hiram was paying tribute to him for the building of the temple, everything had divine approval. Now Hiram is calling Solomon "my brother" and giving him presents!
The same writer finds the lesson in a later king who lost his fleet:
Thank God, after the prophet's word and the destruction of his fleet, Jehoshaphat understood what the great weakness of his life had been. An alliance with the world, whatever its purpose, is something God disapproves of, and it will bring judgment on His children.
- Lack — Israel was not a seagoing people. The ships could not sail without Hiram's crews, seamen "familiar with the sea."
- Loan — Tyre supplied the skill Solomon lacked. The king who helped build the temple now helped fill the treasury.
- Likeness — Help from the nations to the king on Jehovah's throne is a faint sketch of Christ's coming reign. Then the nations will serve the King.
- Limit — Israel's king was told not to do certain things. Solomon did them, on a large scale, and still taxed his own people hard.
- Line — The shift comes when the world stops serving and starts calling the king "my brother." A later king lost his fleet, and learned where an alliance with the world ends.