1 Kings 9:20

_AND 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._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

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....

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 ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WERE LEFT OF THE AMORITES, HITTITES, PERIZZITES, HIVITES, AND JEBUSITES,.... Who were not destroyed in the times of Joshua, or since, but dwelt in several cities of the land of Israel from those times; see Judges 1:1, which were not of the children of Israel; not natives of the land of Israel, though they might be proselytes, at least some of them....

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

_which_were _not of the children of Israel_ This clause is added because the people of Canaan had become much mixed up among the Israelite population, being still allowed to live in some cities from which at first it had been found impossible to dislodge them (see above, 1 Kings 9:16). But a distinction was made between these people and the people of Israel, now that Solomon was powerful enough to enforce it, in the kind of service they must render and the tribute they must bear. It may be that the five nations here mentioned were most largely represented in the surviving population, and that the other two out of the seven nations of Canaan had by this time been more nearly exterminated....

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'

GOD'S RESPONSE TO SOLOMON'S PRAYER. SOLOMON AND HIRAM 1. When.. finished] The Temple does not seem to have been dedicated until all the king's buildings were completed, the Temple and Palace being probably included within a single wall and regarded as a unity. In 1 Kings 9:3 is contained the divine response to the prayer offered by Solomon at the dedication festival....

GOD’S LESSONS FROM HISTORY 1 KINGS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 9 GOD APPEARS TO SOLOMON AGAIN V1 So Solomon finished the *temple of the *Lord. He finished the royal palace and everything else that he wanted to do. V2 Then the *Lord appeared to him again as he had at Gibeon. V3 The *Lord said to him, ‘I have heard your prayer and all that you asked me to do. I have made this *temple *holy which you have built. People will give honour to me there for always. I will watch over it and I will love it for all time. V4 Be honest. Have a sincere heart as your father David did. Obey my laws. Obey all