1 Kings 9:16

_FOR 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._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

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 9:16. _PHARAOH - HAD GONE UP, AND TAKEN GEZER_] This city Joshua had taken from the Canaanites, Joshua 10:33; Joshua 12:12, and it was divided by lot to the tribe of Ephraim, and was intended to be one of the Levitical cities; but it appears that the Canaanites had retaken it, and kept possession till the days of _Solomon_, when his father-in-law, Pharaoh king of Egypt, retook it, and gave it to Solomon in dowry with his daughter....

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...

FOR PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT HAD GONE UP, AND TAKEN GEZER, AND BURNT IT WITH FIRE,.... Egypt lay lower than Canaan, and therefore Pharaoh is said to go up to it; what moved him to it is not certain; whether he went of himself provoked, or was moved to it by Solomon, who had married his daughter; however, so he did, and took the place, and burnt it: AND SLAIN THE CANAANITES THAT DWELT IN THE CITY: for though it was given to the tribe of Ephraim, yet they could not drive the Canaanites out of it, who seem to have remained in it to this time; see Joshua 16:10 AND GIVEN IT FOR A PRESENT UNTO HIS DAUGHTER, SOLOMON'S WIFE; not as a dowry with her, but as a present to her; perhaps some time after marriage....

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

PRESENT. dowry....

For _Pharaoh king of Egypt_ See above on 1 Kings 3:1. _and taken Gezer_ This incursion was probably before Solomon had taken the king's daughter to wife, though Josephus (_Ant._viii. 6, i) says -he gave it to his daughter who had been married to Solomon." Philippson (_die Israelitische Bibel_) suggests that Solomon wishing to be rid of these Canaanites asked his father-in-law to undertake their extermination. _and given it_for _a present_ By -present" here is meant -a wedding-portion." The noun implies -a gift on sending away" and the verb is found Joshua 12:9, where Ibzan the judge is said to have -sent abroad" (i.e. apparently, portioned out in marriage) his thirty daughters and to have taken in thirty others from abroad as wives for his sons. Though it appears to have been the

B. SOLOMON AND THE _CORVÉE_ 9:15-25 The second means by which Solomon was able to construct so many buildings was the compulsory labor force. The use of forced labor (Heb. _hammas)_ was mentioned in connection with the building of the Temple (1 Kings 5:13-18). Here it is mentioned again in connection with Solomon's other building projects. The object of the forced labor was the building of public works, the Temple, palace, fortifications and strategic points in the provinces. This section lists the various construction projects of the corvée (1 Kings 9:15-19), discusses the composition of the corvée (1 Kings 9:20-23), and concludes with two brief notes pointing to the completion of Solomon'