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 Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Other Acts of Solomon
15 This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord and his own house, the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer(A) 16 (Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it down, had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife;(B) 17 so Solomon rebuilt Gezer), Lower Beth-horon,(C) 18 Baalath, Tadmor in the wilderness, within the land, 19 as well as all of Solomon’s storage cities, the cities for his chariots, the cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.(D) 20 All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel(E)— 21 their descendants who were still left in the land, whom the Israelites were unable to destroy completely—these Solomon conscripted for slave labor, and so they are to this day.(F) 22 But of the Israelites Solomon made no slaves; they were the soldiers; they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, and the commanders of his chariotry and cavalry.(G)
23 These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work: five hundred fifty who had charge of the people who carried on the work.(H)
24 But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her; then he built the Millo.(I)
25 Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being on the altar that he built for the Lord, offering incense[a] before the Lord. So he completed the house.(J)
Solomon’s Commercial Activity
26 King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea,[b] in the land of Edom.(K) 27 Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon.(L) 28 They went to Ophir and imported from there four hundred twenty talents of gold that they delivered to King Solomon.(M)
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