1 Kings 9:20-23

Solomon’s forced labor 9:20-23

Solomon put the defeated native Canaanites to work on government projects (cf. Genesis 9:25-26). Nevertheless this plan proved to be a source of major dissatisfaction in Israel (cf. 1 Kings 12:4). There was a distinction in Solomon’s day between Israelites whom the king conscripted for temporary service and non-Israelites who were permanent slave laborers. The former served as military supervisors over civil forced labor gangs, for example. The latter were the native Canaanites who enjoyed no rights as free persons. [Note: J. Alberto Soggin, "Compulsory Labor Under David and Solomon," in Studies in the Period of David and Solomon and Other Essays, p. 266.]