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1 Kings 9:15-28
Christian Standard Bible
1 Kings 9:15-28
Christian Standard Bible
Solomon’s Forced Labor
15 This is the account of the forced labor(A) that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces,(B) the wall of Jerusalem,(C) and Hazor,(D) Megiddo,(E) and Gezer.(F) 16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He then burned it, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.(G) 17 Then Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,(H) 18 Baalath,(I) Tamar[a][b] in the Wilderness of Judah, 19 all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, the chariot cities,(J) the cavalry cities,(K) and whatever Solomon desired to build(L) in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.
20 As for all the peoples who remained of the Amorites, Hethites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not Israelites— 21 their descendants who remained in the land after them, those whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely(M)—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is still this way today.(N) 22 But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to slavery;(O) they were soldiers, his servants, his commanders, his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry. 23 These were the deputies(P) who were over Solomon’s work: 550 who supervised the people doing the work.(Q)
Solomon’s Other Activities
24 Pharaoh’s daughter moved from the city of David(R) to the house that Solomon had built for her;(S) he then built the terraces.(T)
25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them in the Lord’s presence.(U) So he completed the temple.(V)
26 King Solomon put together a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber,(W) which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. 27 With the fleet, Hiram sent his servants, experienced seamen, along with Solomon’s servants. 28 They went to Ophir(X) and acquired gold there—sixteen tons[c]—and delivered it to Solomon.(Y)
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1 Kings 9:15-28
New English Translation
1 Kings 9:15-28
New English Translation
15 Here are the details concerning the work crews[a] King Solomon conscripted[b] to build the Lord’s temple, his palace, the terrace, the wall of Jerusalem, and the cities of[c] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.) 17 Solomon built up Gezer, lower Beth Horon, 18 Baalath, Tadmor in the wilderness,[d] 19 all the storage cities that belonged to him,[e] and the cities where chariots and horses were kept.[f] He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.[g] 20 Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.[h] 21 Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out completely). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day.[i] 22 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews;[j] the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.[k] 23 These men were also in charge of Solomon’s work projects; there were a total of 550 men who supervised the workers.[l] 24 Solomon built the terrace as soon as Pharaoh’s daughter moved up from the City of David[m] to the palace Solomon built for her.[n]
25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings[o] on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense along with them before the Lord. He made the temple his official worship place.[p]
26 King Solomon also built ships[q] in Ezion Geber, which is located near Elat in the land of Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. 27 Hiram sent his fleet and some of his sailors, who were well acquainted with the sea, to serve with Solomon’s men.[r] 28 They sailed[s] to Ophir, took from there 420 talents[t] of gold, and then brought them to King Solomon.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Kings 9:15 sn The work crews. This Hebrew word מַס (mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
- 1 Kings 9:15 tn Heb “raised up.”
- 1 Kings 9:15 tn The words “the cities of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- 1 Kings 9:18 tn The Hebrew text has “in the wilderness, in the land.”
- 1 Kings 9:19 tn Heb “to Solomon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 1 Kings 9:19 tn Heb “the cities of the chariots and the cities of the horses.”
- 1 Kings 9:19 tn Heb “and the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom.”
- 1 Kings 9:20 tn Heb “all the people who were left from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not from the sons of Israel.”
- 1 Kings 9:21 tn Heb “their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were unable to wipe out, and Solomon raised them up for a crew of labor to this day.”
- 1 Kings 9:22 sn These work crews. The work crews referred to here must be different than the temporary crews described in 5:13-16.
- 1 Kings 9:22 tn Heb “officers of his chariots and his horses.”
- 1 Kings 9:23 tn Heb “these [were] the officials of the governors who were over the work belonging to Solomon, five hundred fifty, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”
- 1 Kings 9:24 sn The phrase City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
- 1 Kings 9:24 tn Heb “As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the City of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the terrace.”
- 1 Kings 9:25 tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”
- 1 Kings 9:25 tn Heb “and he made complete the house.”
- 1 Kings 9:26 tn Or “a fleet” (in which case “ships” would be implied).
- 1 Kings 9:27 tn Heb “and Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, men of ships, [who] know the sea, [to be] with the servants of Solomon.”
- 1 Kings 9:28 tn Heb “went.”
- 1 Kings 9:28 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 31,500 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “sixteen tons”; TEV “more than 14,000 kilogrammes.”
1 Kings 9:15-28
New International Version
1 Kings 9:15-28
New International Version
15 Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted(A) to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces,[a](B) the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor,(C) Megiddo and Gezer.(D) 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,(E) Solomon’s wife. 17 And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon,(F) 18 Baalath,(G) and Tadmor[b] in the desert, within his land, 19 as well as all his store cities(H) and the towns for his chariots(I) and for his horses[c]—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,(J) Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites(K) (these peoples were not Israelites). 21 Solomon conscripted the descendants(L) of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate[d](M)—to serve as slave labor,(N) as it is to this day. 22 But Solomon did not make slaves(O) 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(P) in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.
24 After Pharaoh’s daughter(Q) had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.(R)
25 Three(S) 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(T) at Ezion Geber,(U) which is near Elath(V) in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.[e] 27 And Hiram sent his men—sailors(W) who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. 28 They sailed to Ophir(X) and brought back 420 talents[f] of gold,(Y) which they delivered to King Solomon.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 9:15 Or the Millo; also in verse 24
- 1 Kings 9:18 The Hebrew may also be read Tamar.
- 1 Kings 9:19 Or charioteers
- 1 Kings 9:21 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
- 1 Kings 9:26 Or the Sea of Reeds
- 1 Kings 9:28 That is, about 16 tons or about 14 metric tons
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