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1 Kings 9

KJV · Chapter 9/22

1And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do,

2That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

3And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

4And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:

5Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

6But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

7Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

8And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and to this house?

9And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.

10And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord, and the king’s house,

11(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.

13And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

14And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

15And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.

16For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

17And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth–horon the nether,

18And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,

19And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

20And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,

21Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

22But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.

23These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.

24But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.

25And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the house.

26And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion–geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

27And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

28And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God appears to Solomon a second time, confirming the covenant but warning that disobedience would lead to the destruction of the temple and the kingdom. Solomon completes other building projects, expands his navy with Hiram's help, and seeks gold in the land of Ophir.

Explanation

God's second appearance to Solomon balances the glorious promise of the previous chapter with a serious warning: continued blessing depends on continued faithfulness — it is not unconditional. The warning that the temple would become a 'ruin' and an object of horror among the nations if the people turned away from God is literally fulfilled centuries later, in the Babylonian destruction. This teaches that divine promises of blessing generally come with responsibilities — the covenant is two-sided, not merely a blank check.

Fun facts

  • The 'land of Cabul,' the name King Hiram gave to the twenty cities Solomon gave him as payment (because they did not please Hiram), may mean 'like nothing' or 'barren land' in Phoenician — a rare recorded moment of dissatisfaction between international allies.
  • Ophir, the source of Solomon's finest gold, is a location whose exact whereabouts archaeologists still debate, with theories pointing to Arabia, East Africa, or even India.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Kings 9:1After finishing the Temple, his own palace, and everything else he wanted to build, Solomon enters a new phase — and it is right at this moment that God appears to him again.
  2. 1 Kings 9:2The Lord appears to Solomon a second time, in the same way He had appeared before at Gibeon.
  3. 1 Kings 9:3God says He has heard Solomon’s prayer, has consecrated the Temple to put His name there forever, and that His eyes and His heart will be there every day.
  4. 1 Kings 9:4God repeats the condition: if Solomon walks before Him with integrity and uprightness as David did, doing everything commanded and keeping His statutes and judgments.
  5. 1 Kings 9:5Then God will establish the throne of Solomon’s kingdom over Israel forever, as He promised David — a descendant will never be missing from the throne.
  6. 1 Kings 9:6But if Solomon or his children turn away and do not keep God’s commandments, going to serve and bow down before other gods.
  7. 1 Kings 9:7Then God will cut Israel off from the land and will cast this consecrated Temple away from His presence; Israel will become a byword among all peoples.
  8. 1 Kings 9:8This house, so exalted today, will become an object of horror: whoever passes by it will be appalled and ask why God did this to the land and to the Temple.
  9. 1 Kings 9:9The expected answer: because they abandoned the Lord who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and clung to other gods, serving and bowing down before them — that is why God brought all this disaster.
  10. 1 Kings 9:10At the end of twenty years, Solomon had finished building the two great projects: the Temple and his own palace.
  11. 1 Kings 9:11Hiram is unhappy with the twenty cities he received and nicknames them Cabul, a play on words scholars connect to an expression similar to “as nothing.” It is a rare moment when Solomon’s trading partner openly complains about the deal.
  12. 1 Kings 9:12Hiram goes to inspect the cities Solomon had given him in Galilee, but he does not like what he sees at all.
  13. 1 Kings 9:13Hiram calls those cities “the land of Cabul,” a name that stuck — a polite way of saying he felt shortchanged.
  14. 1 Kings 9:14The text recalls the background of the deal: Hiram had sent Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold before receiving the cities.
  15. 1 Kings 9:15The text makes a point of saying that the heaviest forced labor fell on the non-Israelite population still left in the land, while Israelites served as soldiers and officials. It is a distinction chapter 5 had already blurred a bit, and one that will fall apart completely under Rehoboam.
  16. 1 Kings 9:16It explains where Gezer came from: Pharaoh had attacked and burned the city, killed the Canaanites who lived there, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
  17. 1 Kings 9:17So Solomon rebuilds Gezer and Lower Beth-horon, expanding the territory under his control.
  18. 1 Kings 9:18He also builds Baalath and Tadmor, in the wilderness of that region.
  19. 1 Kings 9:19As well as all the store cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his horsemen, and everything else Solomon wanted to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and throughout his whole domain.
  20. 1 Kings 9:20As for all the people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites — peoples who were not Israelites.
  21. 1 Kings 9:21Their descendants who remained in the land, whom Israel had not been able to destroy completely, Solomon reduced to forced labor, a practice that continued after him.
  22. 1 Kings 9:22But no Israelite became Solomon’s slave; they served as soldiers, officials, commanders, and chiefs of his chariots and horsemen.
  23. 1 Kings 9:23Five hundred and fifty foremen supervised the people working on Solomon’s building projects.
  24. 1 Kings 9:24Pharaoh’s daughter moves from the City of David to her own house, built by Solomon especially for her; after that he builds the Millo.
  25. 1 Kings 9:25Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built, and burned incense before the Lord — the Temple entering regular use.
  26. 1 Kings 9:26Ophir was a gold-rich region whose exact location scholars still debate, with candidates ranging from Arabia to East Africa. What the text makes clear is that Solomon depended on experienced Phoenician sailors to reach that trade route across the Red Sea.
  27. 1 Kings 9:27Hiram sends his own experienced sailors, along with Solomon’s servants, to crew those ships.
  28. 1 Kings 9:28They sail to Ophir and bring back four hundred and twenty talents of gold for King Solomon.

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