1 Kings 9:15

_AND 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._ This is the reason of the levy. A levy refers both to men and money; and the necessity for Solomon making it, arose from the many gigantic works he undertook to erect. MILLO - part of the fort of Jerusalem, on Mount Zion (2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Chronicles 11:8); or a row of stone bastions around Mount Zion, Millo being the great corner-tower of that fortified wall (1 Kings 11:27; 2 Chronicles 32:5)....

15-28 Here is a further account of Solomon's greatness. He began at the right end, for he built God's house first, and finished that before he began his own; then God blessed him, and he prospered in all his other buildings. Let piety begin, and profit follow; leave pleasure to the last. Whatever pains we take for the glory of God, and to profit others, we are likely to have the advantage. Canaan, the holy land, the glory of all lands, had no gold in it; which shows that the best produce is that which is for the present support of life, our own and others; such things did Canaan produce. Solomon got much by his merchandise, and yet has directed us to a better trade, within reach of the poorest. Wisdom is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold, Proverbs 3:14....

Verse 1 Kings 9:15. _THIS_ IS _THE REASON OF THE LEVY_] That is, in order to pay Hiram the sixscore talents of gold which he had borrowed from him (Hiram not being willing to take the Galilean cities mentioned above; or, having taken them, soon restored them again) he was obliged to lay a tax upon the people; and that this was a grievous and oppressive tax we learn from 1 Kings 12:1, where the elders of Israel came to Rehoboam, complaining of their heavy state of taxation, and entreating that their yoke might be made lighter. _AND MILLO_] This is supposed to have been a deep valley between Mount Sion and what was called the city of Jebus, which Solomon filled up, and it was built on, and became a sort of fortified place, and a place for public assemblie

LEVY - See the marginal reference note. MILLO - See 2 Samuel 5:9 note. The Septuagint commonly render the word ἡ ἄκρα _hē_ _akra_, “the citadel,” and it may possibly have been the fortress on Mount Zion connected with the Maccabean struggles (1 Macc. 4:41; 13:49-52). Its exact site has not been determined. AND THE WALL OF JERUSALEM - David’s fortification 2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Chronicles 11:8 had been hasty, and had now - fifty years later - fallen into decay. Solomon therefore had to “repair the breaches of the city of David”...

EXPOSITION SOLOMON'S BUILDINGS AND UNDERTAKINGS.—So far the historian has spoken exclusively of the two greatest works of Solomon's reign, the Temple and the Palace, and principally of the former. Even the message just related was, as we have seen, the response to the prayer offered when the temple was consecrated. But he now proceeds to mention other proofs of Solomon's greatness, and of the prosperity of his reign—doubtless because the glory of Israel then reached its climax, and the author would be tempted to linger over these details because of the dark contrast which his own time supplied—and this leads him to speak of the means by which all these enterprises were accomplished. The particulars here given are but fragmentary, and are grouped together in a somewhat irregular manner. It would seem as if both this account and that of the chronicler had been compiled from much more copio...

AND THIS IS THE REASON OF THE LEVY WHICH KING SOLOMON RAISED,.... Both of men to work, 1 Kings 5:13, and of money to defray the expense: IT WAS FOR TO BUILD THE HOUSE OF THE LORD; the temple: AND HIS OWN HOUSE; or palace: AND MILLO; which he repaired: 1 Samuel 5:9. AND THE WALL OF JERUSALEM; which, as Abarbinel says, was a large building, there being three walls one within another: AND HAZOR; a city in the tribe of Naphtali, and which had been a royal city with the Canaanites; see Joshua 11:1 AND MEGIDDO; which was in the tribe of Manasseh,...

5. JEHOVAH APPEARS UNTO SOLOMON AND THE GREATNESS OF THE KING CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The second appearance of the LORD to Solomon (1 Kings 9:1)_ 2. Transactions with Hiram (1 Kings 9:10) 3. The levy of the king (1 Kings 9:15) 4. Pharaoh's daughter occupies the house (1 Kings 9:24) 5. The king's offerings (1 Kings 9:25) 6. Solomon's navy (1 Kings 9:26) Jehovah's righteous government in the midst of His people Israel had

SOLOMON'S DEALINGS WITH HIRAM. THE LEVY. The source of this section seems to be the Acts of Solomon (see above). After Solomon had completed his buildings he was obliged to give Hiram cities in Galilee (1 Kings 9:11). The Chronicler, regarding this as unworthy of the great king, makes Hiram give the cities to Solomon (2 Chronicles 8:2). Galilee (pp. 28- 30) is mentioned in Joshua 20:7; Joshua 21:32; 1 Chronicles 6:76, and in 2 Kings 15:29, nearly always

REASON. account, or schedule. LEVY: i.e. tribute of men. Same word as 1 Kings 5:13. 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. "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 ...

Of the levy which king Solomon raised (2 Chronicles 8:4-11) 15. _the reason of the levy_ On the nature and amount of this compulsory service see notes on chap. 1 Kings 5:13 seqq. The present passage explains the whole purpose for which it was enforced. _and Millo_ This word is always found in the original with the definite article -the Millo" (2 Samuel 5:9; 1Ki 11:27; 2 Chronicles 11:8; 2 Chronicles 32:5). Wherever it occurs it is in connexion with the walls or fortifications of Jerusalem. In...