CHAPTER IX _The Lord appears a second time to Solomon, and assures him that_ _he had heard his prayer; and that he would establish his_ _worship for ever in that temple, and him and his successors on_ _the throne of Israel, provided he and they would keep his_ _statutes and judgments_, 1-5; _b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:2. _THE LORD APPEARED TO SOLOMON_] The design of this appearance, which was in a dream, as that was at Gibeon, was to assure Solomon that God had accepted his service, and had taken that house for his dwelling-place, and would continue it, and establish him and his descendants upon t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:7. _A PROVERB AND A BY-WORD AMONG ALL PEOPLE_] And so they are to the present; the _unbelieving Jews_, the _stubborn,_ _stiff-necked Jews_, are words still in common use. They forsook the Lord, rejected his Christ, and are cast off, their temple destroyed, and they scattered over the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:9. _HAVE TAKEN HOLD UPON OTHER GODS_] When an indigent person claims the protection of a superior, he casts himself down before him, and _lays hold of his feet_; and this expression is frequently used when there is no prostration: _I have taken hold of_ _thy feet_. When a person is c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:10. _AT THE END OF TWENTY YEARS_] He employed seven years and a half in building the temple, and twelve years and a half in building the king's house; see 1 Kings 7:1; 2 Chronicles 8:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:11. _SOLOMON GAVE HIRAM TWENTY CITIES_] It is very likely that Solomon did not give those cities to Hiram so that they should be annexed to his Tyrian dominions, but rather gave him the produce of them till the money was paid which he had advanced to Solomon for his buildings. It ap... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:13. _CALLED THEM THE LAND OF CABUL_] Whether this epithet was given to this land by Hiram as a mark of disapprobation, or what is its proper meaning, the learned are not agreed. That there was a country of this name in the promised land in the time of Joshua, is evident enough from J... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:14. _SIXSCORE TALENTS OF GOLD._] This was the sum which Hiram had lent, and in order to pay this Solomon had laid a tax upon his people, as we afterward learn. The whole is very darkly expressed.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 t... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:18. _AND TADMOR IN THE WILDERNESS_] This is almost universally allowed to be the same with the celebrated _Palmyra_, the ruins of which remain to the present day, and give us the highest idea of Solomon's splendour and magnificence. _Palmyra_ stood upon a fertile plain surrounded by... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:19. _AND ALL THE CITIES OF STORE_] Though, by the multitude and splendour of his buildings, Solomon must have added greatly to the magnificence of his reign; yet, however plenteous silver and gold were in his times, his subjects must have been greatly oppressed with the taxation nece... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:21. _A TRIBUTE OF BOND-SERVICE_] He made them do the most laborious part of the public works, the Israelites being generally exempt. When _Sesostris_, king of Egypt, returned from his wars, he caused temples to be built in all the cities of Egypt, but did not employ one _Egyptian_ in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:25. _THREE TIMES IN A YEAR DID SOLOMON OFFER_] These three times were: 1. The _passover_. 2. The feast of _pentecost_. 3. The feast of _tabernacles_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:26. _A NAVY OF SHIPS_] Literally, אני _oni, a ship_: in the parallel place, 2 Chronicles 8:17, it is said that Hiram sent him אניות _oniyoth, ships_; but it does not appear that Solomon in this case built more than one ship, and this was manned principally by the Tyrians.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Kings 9:28. _AND THEY CAME TO OPHIR_] No man knows certainly, to this day, where this _Ophir_ was situated. There were two places of this name; one somewhere in India, beyond the Ganges, and another in Arabia, near the country of the Sabaeans, mentioned by Job, Job 22:24: _Then shalt thou la... [ Continue Reading ]