1.
And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,
the Lord. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 .
2.
That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
as He had appeared. See 1 Kings 3:5 .
3.
And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Mine eyes. Mine heart. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia .
4.
And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:
and. Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulg, read this "and" in the text.
5.
Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.
as = according as.
6.
But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:
children = sons.
7.
Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
people = peoples.
8.
And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?
And at this house, &c. Render thus: "And this house will become conspicuous; every passer by will be astonished, and hiss; and they will say", &c.
9.
And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.
God. Hebrew. Elohim.
evil. Hebrew. ra'a'. App-44 .
10.
And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house,
twenty years. Compare 1 Kings 7:1 .
11.
(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
Now Hiram. Figure of speech Parenthesis.
fir , or cypress.
12.
And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.
13.
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.
What cities. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .
Cabul. The point of the sarcasm is not apparent to us on account of our not knowing the meaning of the word. It has been variously suggested as meaning "worthless", "not to my taste" (Josephus). Galilee always despised. Septuagint says "frontier"; others, "received as a pledge"; others, "good for nothing".
14.
And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.
sent : referring to 1 Kings 9:11 . Perhaps this was an advance for which the cities of 1 Kings 9:11 were the security.
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.
reason = account, or schedule.
Levy: i.e. tribute of men. Same word as 1 Kings 5:13-18 ; 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 a "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 (2 Samuel 5:9 . 1 Chronicles 11:8 ). Solomon closed the breaches (1 Kings 11:27 ).
Hazor , an old Canaanitish town (Joshua 11:1 ).
Megiddo , the same (Joshua 12:21 .Judges 1:27 ; Judges 5:19 , and 1 Kings 4:12 ).
Gezer. Gezer was formerly under the suzerainty of Egypt. Correspondence of the time of Amen-hotep III and IV, about 1450 B.C, has been found at Tel-el-Amarnah explorations, which mentions Yapakhi as "king" of Gezer. Letters from Abdkhiba, king of Jerusalem, complain of the Gezerites. First mentioned in Joshua 10:33 . Conquest only partial (Joshua 16:10 . Judges 1:29 ). Allotted to Levites (Joshua 21:21 ). In excavation by Palestine Exploration Fund a contract was found, dated 649 B.C. (in Assyrian). Gezer then still under an Egyptian Governor. Another contract, dated 647 B. C, was found, showing an Assyrian occupation in the time of Manasseh. This may explain the "captains" of 2Ch 38:11 .
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.
present = dowry.
17.
And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether,
built = rebuilt and fortified.
18.
and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,
Tadmor. Called, later, Palmyra (from its palms).
19.
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.
20.
And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,
21.
Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.
bondservice. See note on 1 Kings 9:22 .
22.
But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
make no bondmen. According to Leviticus 25:39 . The levy, of 1 Kings 5:13 ; 1 Kings 11:28 , was a levy for free service. This was for bondservice (1 Kings 9:21 ).
and. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton ( App-6 ) in this verse.
23.
These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.
24.
But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.
25.
And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.
26.
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.
Ezion-geber. Compare Numbers 33:35 .Deuteronomy 2:8 . Position lost when Edom revolted (2 Kings 8:20 ). Restored by Uzziah (2 Kings 14:22 ). Finally lost by Ahaz (2 Kings 16:6 ).
27.
And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
28.
And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.