1 Kings 9


1 Kings 9 is the ninth chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the reign of Solomon over the unified kingdom of Judah and Israel. The focus of this chapter is Solomon's achievements.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and since the 16th century is divided into 28 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.

Old Testament references

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    God's response to Solomon (9:1–9)

With the completion of the Temple, God did not need to appear to Solomon in Gibeon but in Jerusalem, assuring Solomon of the continuation of his dynasty and the temple, as long as God's laws were kept. The destruction of the Temple and the loss of land are predicted here, as well as the possibility of return, so this section contains two
things: 'an explanation for woe and an offer of salvation'.

The tribute to Tyre (9:10–14)

Several times 1 Kings 9–10 overlaps with –, bracketing the construction of the temple. After paying Hiram I of Tyre with agricultural products, Solomon gave a strip of land in Galilee, but Hiram was not satisfied with this gift. However, in 2 Chronicles 8:2 it is asserted that Hiram also gave Solomon some cities as a present.

Verse 14

  • "120 talents": about 4 tons, or 4 metric tons. One talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms.

    Construction of towns and forced labor (9:15–28)

This section parallels the narrative in 1 Kings 5:13–18, emphasizing that Israelites were not employed as forced labor, but 'only' Canaanites, for the construction of various cities outside Jerusalem. Currently, there are archaeological excavation of the cities in the list, in particular of Gezer, Megiddo, and Hazor. In Jerusalem, Solomon expanded the construction of 'Millo', a term which is probably related to the meaning of 'to fill', referring to a substructure designed to secure the sloping terrain of the palace grounds.
Pharaoh's daughter moved to her own palace.
Solomon's triannual sacrificial feasts at the temple was mentioned in verse 25, followed by a report of Solomon's shipping expedition from Red Sea, to Ophir, a place that could be near Aden or on the Horn of Africa.

Verse 15

  • "Millo" : a structure in Jerusalem first mentioned as a part of the city of David in , and in the Books of Kings, previously seeming to have been a rampart built by the Jebusites prior to Jerusalem's being conquered by the Israelites.
  • "Hazor", also Chatsôr, translated in LXX as Hasōr and Tell el-Qedah : now an archaeological tell in Israel, Upper Galilee, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the northern Korazim Plateau.
  • "Megiddo" : now a tell, situated in northern Israel near Kibbutz Megiddo, about 30 km south-east of Haifa.
  • "Gezer": now Tel Gezer; ), in – Tell Jezar or Tell el-Jezari, an archaeological site in the foothills of the Judaean Mountains at the border of the Shfela region roughly midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.