1 Kings 9:11

( Now Hiram the king of Tyre [Here we have a parenthesis referring us back to 1 Kings 5:8-10 ] had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and with fir trees and with gold [The gold is here mentioned for the first time, No doubt Hiram's shipping had brought it in Before the Jewish navy was built. It was this probably that led to the construction of a fleet] according to all his desire ), that then [this is the apodosis to 1 Kings 9:10 ] king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities [really they were mere villages . "It is a genuine Eastern trick to dignify a small present with a pompous name" (Thomson). But עִיר is a word of very wide meaning] in the land of Galilee . גּלִיל lit; circuit, region (like Ciccar, 1 Kings 7:46 ), hence often found as here with the art. = the region of the Gentiles ( Isaiah 9:1 ; 1 Macc. 5:15; Matthew 4:15 ), so called because it was inhabited by Phoenicians, originally designated but a small part of the considerable tract of country later known as the province of "Galilee," viz; the northern part in the tribe of Naphtali ( Joshua 20:7 ; 2 Kings 15:29 ; Isaiah 9:1 . Cf. Jos; Ant. 5.1.18). It is easy to see why this particular region was surrendered to Hiram.