1 Kings Chapter 9

At a Glance

  • Chapter 9 closes Solomon’s early building program with a divine reaffirmation and a stern covenant warning.
  • The concluding lines reference Hiram’s continued assistance, suggesting enduring diplomatic and economic ties.
  • Historically & Literary Context.
  • This chapter serves as the formal covenantal coda to the temple-building section.
  • - Covenant faithfulness and conditional blessing: God’s presence rests on loyalty to God’s commandments.

1 KINGS CHAPTER 9

Chapter Overview

Chapter 9 closes Solomon’s early building program with a divine reaffirmation and a stern covenant warning. After Solomon finishes the temple and his own house, the LORD appears to him a second time at Gibeon, acknowledging Solomon’s prayer and the outward dedication of the temple. The LORD declares that the house has been hallowed for His name forever and that His eyes and heart will be there perpetually, contingent on Solomon’s fidelity. The terms are stark: if Solomon or his descendants turn away to other gods, God will cut off Israel from the land and rend the temple from His sight; Israel will become a proverb and a byword among nations. The chapter also recounts the prosperity of Solomon’s reign—the completion of both the temple and royal residences—summarizing the wealth and international exchanges that characterize his era.

The concluding lines reference Hiram’s continued assistance, suggesting enduring diplomatic and economic ties. The chapter thus functions as both a celebratory capstone and a sober warning: the temple’s blessing is conditional upon continued obedience to God’s commands.

Historically & Literary Context

This chapter serves as the formal covenantal coda to the temple-building section. It foregrounds the conditional dimension of blessings in Deuteronomistic theology: fidelity yields perpetuity; deviation yields exile. The rhetoric of “forever” and “perpetually” highlights the temple’s intended perpetual presence—a hope that faces the realism of human idolatry later in Israel’s history.

Key Themes

- Covenant faithfulness and conditional blessing: God’s presence rests on loyalty to God’s commandments.

- The temple as enduring symbol of divine habitation: God’s name and heart rest there, shaping national identity.

- Global influence and prosperity as fruit of divine blessing: Solomon’s wealth and alliances reflect God’s favor.

- Warning against apostasy: turning to other gods leads to judgment and national fragility.

Modern Application

The chapter prompts readers to reflect on the conditional nature of many blessings in the life of faith. It invites contemporary faith communities to consider how loyalty to God’s commands shapes institutional life, worship, and leadership. It also cautions against equating outward success with spiritual health, reminding believers that fidelity remains the decisive factor in whether God’s presence and blessing endure.

- Deuteronomy 28 (blessings and curses for obedience)

- 2 Chronicles 7 (God’s response to dedication)

- Joshua 23–24 (reminder of covenant faithfulness)

- 1 Kings 3 (Solomon’s early wisdom leading to obedient leadership)

Recommended Personas

- Solomon (wisdom and leadership under covenant condition)

- Hiram (diplomat and ally)

- Moses (covenant theology and call to obedience)

Chapter Text

1

And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do,

2

That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

3

And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

4

And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:

5

Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

6

But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

7

Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

8

And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?

9

And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

10

And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king’s house,

11

(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

12

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

13

And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

14

And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

15

And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.

16

For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.

17

And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether,

18

And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land,

19

And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

20

And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel,

21

Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

22

But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.

23

These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.

24

But Pharaoh’s daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.

25

And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.

26

And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

27

And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

28

And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

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