1 Kings 5:1

EXPOSITION

SOLOMON AND HIRAM —The somewhat detailed description which we have had in 1 Kings 4:1-34 . of Solomon's pomp and power and wisdom, is followed in 1 Kings 5:1-18 . sqq. by an account of what, in Jewish eyes, was the great undertaking of his reign, and, indeed, the great glory of Hebrew history—the erection and adornment of the Temple. And as this was largely due to the assistance he received both in the shape of materials and labourers—from the Tyrian king, we have in the first place an account of his alliance with Hiram.

And Hiram (In 1 Kings 5:10 , 1 Kings 5:18 , the name is spelled Hirom ( חִירוֹם ), whilst in Chronicles, with one exception ( 1 Chronicles 14:1 , where the Keri, however, follows the prevailing usage), the name appears as Huram ( חוּרָם ). In Josephus it is εἰρωμος . This prince and his friendly relations with the Jews are referred to by the Tyrian historians, of whose materials the Greek writers Dins and Menander of Ephesus ( temp. Alexander the Great) availed themselves. According to Dins (quoted by Josephus contr. Apion, 1.17) Hiram was the son of Abibaal. Menander states that the building of the temple was commenced in the twelfth year of Hiram's reign, which lasted 34 years. Hiram is further said to have married his daughter to Solomon and to have engaged with him in an intellectual encounter which took the shape of riddles] king of Tyre [Heb. צוֹר , rock, so called because of the rocky island on which old Tyro was built, sometimes called מִבְצַר צֹר , the fortress of, or fortified Tyro ( Joshua 19:29 ; 2 Samuel 24:7 , etc.) The capital of Phoenicia. In earlier times, Sidon would seem to have been the more important town; hence the Canaanites who inhabited this region were generally called Zidonians, as in verse 6] sent his servants [ legatos, Vatablus] unto Solomon [The Vat. LXX . has here a strange reading, "To anoint Solomon," etc. The object of this embassy was evidently to recognize and congratulate the youthful king (the Syriac has a gloss, "and he blessed him," which well represents one object of the embassy) and at the same time to make overtures of friendship. An alliance, or good understanding, with Israel was then, as at a later period ( Acts 12:20 ) of great importance to them of Tyre and Sidon. Their narrow strip of seaboard furnished no corn lands, so that their country depended upon Israel for its nourishment]; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of David his father [ i.e; he had heard of the death of David and the accession of Solomon; possibly of the events narrated in Hebrews 1:1-14 .]: for Hiram was ever [Heb. all the days : i.e; of their reigns; so long as they were contemporary sovereigns] a lover of David.