1 Kings 9:12

And he said,.... By letter to him:

what cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? so he called him, being not only his neighbour, but his ally, in friendship and covenant with him; and this he said of them not by way of complaint, or contempt, as unworthy of his acceptance; for so munificent a prince as Solomon would never offer to a king to whom he was so much obliged anything mean and contemptible; but as being unsuitable to him, however valuable they might be in themselves, or of advantage to others:

and he called them the land of Cabul unto this day; or rather the words should be rendered impersonally, "they were called so"; for Hiram could not call them by this name to the times of the writer of this book; nor is there any reason to think he would give them any name at all, and much less a contemptible one, as this is thought to be, when he did not choose to accept of them. Some interpret (g) the word shut up, or unfruitful, sandy, dirty, clayey; so in the Talmud (h) it is said to be a sandy land, and called Cabul, because a man's foot was plunged in it up to his ankles, and is represented as unfruitful. Josephus (i) says, in the Phoenician tongue it signifies "not pleasing", which agrees with what Hiram says, Kg1 9:12. Hillerus (k) interprets it "as nothing", they being as nothing to Hiram, of no use to him, whatever they might be to others; and therefore he restored them to Solomon, Ch2 8:2, which seems to be the best sense of the word. They are the same with Decapolis, Mat 4:25 so called from ten cities therein (l).

(g) David de Pomis, Lexic fol. 58. 2. (h) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 54. 1. (i) Antiqu. l. 8. c. 5. sect. 3. (k) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 435. (l) Vid. Castel Lex Heptaglot. col. 1669. & Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Ki 9:12 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.

Ver. 12. And they pleased him not.] Here some tax Hiram of covetousness, which he expressed by his lofty looks, and discontented expostulations.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(12) The cities are said to have been in “the land of Galilee.” The name Galilee, signifying properly a “circle” or “ring” of territory, is used twice in the Book of Joshua for a region round Kedesh-Naphtali (Jos_20:7; Jos_21:32), lying to the north-west of the Lake of Gennesareth, and extending to the Waters of Merom. (See also 2Ki_15:29.) The western portion of this territory would lie nearly on the frontiers of Tyre, and so would suit well the purpose both of Hiram and of Solomon. The discontent of Hiram probably referred to the condition of the cities (which afterwards had to be rebuilt), not to their geographical position.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. came out from Tyre] The LXX. adds ‘and went into Galilee.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They pleased him not - It is a reasonable conjecture that, when a question arose with respect to a cession of land, Hiram had cast his eyes on the bay or harbour of Acco, or Ptolemais, and was therefore the more disappointed when he received an inland tract of mountain territory.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He did not accept them for satisfaction, because the cities were out of repair, as appears from 1Ki 9:13, and the soil not good in his eyes, and therefore he refused them, 2Ch 8:2, and expected, and doubtless had, satisfaction some other way, as may be gathered from the following story.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. They pleased him not — “These twenty cities were mere villages, of course, and it is a genuine Eastern trick to dignify a small present with a pompous name.” — Thomson. The Phenicians being a maritime and commercial people, Hiram might naturally have coveted some of Solomon’s coast-towns, and was therefore displeased with the gift of a comparatively useless inland region, and so restored the cities to Solomon. 2Ch_8:2.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. Heb. were not right in his eyes. It has been conjectured that Hiram had hoped for the noble bay of Acco or Ptolemais (Milman, Rawlinson), but surely he had seaboard enough already. It was rather corn lands he would most need and desire. His disappointment is amply accounted for by the fact that the country assigned him was a hungry and mountainous, and therefore comparatively useless, tract. "The region lay on the summit of a broad mountain ridge" (Porter).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

What cities are these which you have given me, my brother?

Hiram is rebuking Solomon. This questions can be translated as a statement. AT: "These cities that you have given me are good for nothing." (See: Rhetorical Question)

which they are still called today

This can be stated in active form. AT: "and people still call them that today" (See: Active or Passive)

120 talents of gold

"one hundred and twenty talents of gold." A talent is a unit of weight equal to about 33 kilograms. AT: "about 4,000 kilograms of gold" (See: Numbers and Biblical Weight)

translationWords

Tyre

brother

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.