1 Kings 9:10-28--Solomon’s Other Activities

1 Kings 9:10-28
New International Version

Solomon’s Other Activities
10 At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the LORD and the royal palace-- 11 King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. 12 But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 13 “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul, a name they have to this day. 14 Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.

15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD’s temple, his own palace, the terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, within his land, 19 as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

20 There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites). 21 Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. 22 But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23 They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

24 After Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.

25 Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense before the LORD along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

​26 King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. 27 And Hiram sent his men—sailors who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

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In exchange for the lumber and workers and craftsmen that worked on the Temple and Solomon's Palace for 20 years, Solomon offered Hiram, king of Syria, 20 towns from the region of Galilee (the northern part of Israel that we know from the New Testament was largely influenced by Gentiles).  Apparently the towns were not to Hiram's liking so he called them Kabul, a name which existed until the book of 1 Kings was written and there is even an Arab town in northern Israel with this name today.  The name means "how little" or "nothing" to say that Solomon had offered him nothing in return for the resources and labor and Hiram had also sent the king 120 talents of gold.

There were also additional cities and projects that Solomon used forced labor to complete which are documented in verses 15-19.  All those conscripted for forced labor were the remnant of the conquered peoples of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.  They were not killed as the LORD told them to do, but instead many of the tribes captured the Canaanites and made them work as forced laborers.  Solomon did not use the Israelites as forced labor but instead they were his soldiers and government officials as well as the managers that he put in charge of his various projects--550 Israelites to supervise the work done by the Canaanites.

Solomon married the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt to solidify relations with Egypt.  The city of Gezer was rebuilt for her as well as constructing terraces (hanging gardens) for her.  During all this time, Solomon continued to celebrate the three pilgrimage feasts at the Temple and offered the required sacrifices that the LORD prescribed.

Solomon also built a huge navy of ships and since he was an ally with the Syrians, they offered their sailors to serve on the Israelite ships alongside Solomon's men.  These ships explored and looked for treasure, and they brought back 420 talents of gold (a huge amount of wealth).

Next time we'll talk about Solomon's visit with the Queen of Sheba.