And all the cities of store - Though, by the multitude and splendor of his buildings, Solomon must have added greatly to the magnificence of his reign; yet, however plenteous silver and gold were in his times, his subjects must have been greatly oppressed with the taxation necessary to defray such a vast public expenditure. read more
A tribute of bond-service - He made them do the most laborious part of the public works, the Israelites being generally exempt. When Sesostris, king of Egypt, returned from his wars, he caused temples to be built in all the cities of Egypt, but did not employ one Egyptian in the work, having built the whole by the hands of the captives which he had taken in his wars. Hence he caused this inscription to be placed upon each temple: - Ουδεις εγχωριος εις αυτα μεμοχθηκε . No native... read more
And this is the reason [or manner, account, דָּבָר . Keil: "This is the case with regard to, " etc. The historian now proceeds to speak of the forced labour. The LXX . inserts this and the next nine verses after 1 Kings 10:22 ] of the levy [see on 1 Kings 5:13 , and 1 Kings 12:18 ] which Solomon raised; for to build [The punctuation of the A.V. is misleading. The Hebrew has no break—"which Solomon raised for building," etc.] the house of the Lord and his own house and... read more
For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burnt it with fire [The total destruction of the place and its inhabitants by fire and sword looks more like an act of vengeance for some grave offence than like ordinary warfare], and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city [Though Gezer was allotted to Ephraim ( Joshua 16:3 ) and designated as a Levitical city ( ib ; 1 Kings 21:21 ), the Canaanite inhabitants had never been dispossessed ( Joshua 16:10 ; LXX .... read more
And Solomon built Gezer [In the case of Gezer it was an actual rebuilding. But as applied to Beth-boron, etc; "built" probably means enlarged, strength ened] and Beth-horon the nether [mentioned in connexion with Gezer, Joshua 16:3 (cf. Joshua 10:10 ). It is deserving of mention that the two cities of Beth-horon still survive in the modern villages of Beitur el-tahta and el-fok, " names which are "clearly corruptions of Beth-horon "the Nether" and "the Upper": One lies at the... read more
And all the cities of store that Solomon had [cities where the produce of the land was stored for the use of the troops or household, or against a season of scarcity ( Genesis 41:35 ; Exodus 1:11 ), or possibly (Ewald) they were emporiums for the development of trade. The fact that these store cities are mentioned in the same breath with Tadmor, is an argument for the identification of that place with Palmyra, which Solomon could only have built as a means of gaining or retaining control... read more
And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites [ 1:21-36 ; 3:5 ; 1 Chronicles 22:2 ] which were not of the children of Israel. read more
Their children that were left after them in the land [this is explicative of 1 Kings 9:20 ], whom the children of Israel also [ also is not in the Hebrew, and is meaningless] were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bond service [see on 1 Kings 5:13 , and cf. 1:1-36 ; passim, and 1 Chronicles 22:2 ] unto this day. read more
Levy - See the marginal reference note.Millo - See 2 Samuel 5:9 note. The Septuagint commonly render the word ἡ ἄκρα hē akra, “the citadel,” and it may possibly have been the fortress on Mount Zion connected with the Maccabean struggles (1 Macc. 4:41; 13:49-52). Its exact site has not been determined.And the wall of Jerusalem - David’s fortification 2 Samuel 5:9; 1 Chronicles 11:8 had been hasty, and had now - fifty years later - fallen into decay. Solomon therefore had to “repair the... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 9:18
And Tadmor in the wilderness - This is almost universally allowed to be the same with the celebrated Palmyra, the ruins of which remain to the present day, and give us the highest idea of Solomon's splendor and magnificence. Palmyra stood upon a fertile plain surrounded by a barren desert, having the river Euphrates on the east. The ruins are well described by Messrs. Dawkes and Wood, of which they give fine representations. They are also well described in the ancient part of the... read more