Hiram: 1 Kings 9:10-23

From: Meditations on 1 Kings By: Henri L. Rossier

1 Kings 9:10‑23 • 5 min. read • grade level: 10

1 Kings 9:10-14¹⁰And 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. ¹²And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. ¹³And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. ¹⁴And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold. (1 Kings 9:10‑14) speak of the outward relationship of Solomon with Hiram. In return for his voluntary collaboration on the temple and on the king’s house, at the end of the twenty years of their being built, Solomon gave Hiram a territory consisting of twenty cities in the land of Galilee, the nucleus of what was later called “Galilee of the nations” (Isa. 9:1¹Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. (Isaiah 9:1); Mt. 4:15). This territory originally consisted of a part of the borders of Naphtali and later spread to include the area of Zebulun, all of “Upper Galilee,” reaching to the Sea of Tiberias by way of Capernaum. The first of this territory thus was ceded to Hiram. Was Solomon acting according to God in thus subtracting a part, be it the very least part, of Israel’s inheritance for the profit of one of the chiefs of the nations? We do not hesitate to answer in the negative, for the land could not be given away. The Lord had said: “The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me” (Lev. 25:23²³The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. (Leviticus 25:23)). So the land belonged to the Lord. It is a remarkable fact that the book of Chronicles, which for reasons already given never indicates wrongdoing in the kings unless it has to be mentioned to make the history understandable, does not speak of this gift. On the contrary, it substitutes for this account that of the “cities which Huram had given to Solomon,” and which the latter, after having built and fortified them, gave to the children of Israel to dwell in (2 Chron. 8:1-7¹And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house, ²That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. ³And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it. ⁴And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath. ⁵Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars; ⁶And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion. ⁷As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel, (2 Chronicles 8:1‑7)). Thus in 1 Kings Solomon diminishes God’s inheritance; in 2 Chronicles he enlarges it. This fact seems very significant to us. What is even more significant is that this territory is given up to a nation overrun more and more by idolatry until the whole land came to be called “Galilee of the nations.” Still, it was there that God’s grace began to be revealed through the ministry of the Lord. Thus, a thousand years after Solomon, grace remedied his fault.

This mistake has an immediate consequence: it brings discredit and shame upon the Lord’s land. Hiram was unable to appreciate that which had great value in the eyes of Solomon and of any Israelite. He said, “What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul [amounting to nothing] unto this day” (1 Kings 9:13¹³And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. (1 Kings 9:13)). He gave them this name because “they did not please him.” So it always is. When the world, even with best intentions like Hiram, simply — that is, without faith — has the use of those good things of Christianity that are our joy, it finds no relish for them. These things weary the world; they count for nothing in its life. The world will doubtless keep them so that it can boast, on occasion, of having them, but it cannot keep them in their pristine character. Without at all appreciating them, it will use them as a means of showing off, and Satan will use these things that appear religious to spread his dominion over a greater number of souls. He will use them to slight their worth; he will convince the king of Tyre that what is offered by Solomon cannot be compared to the splendors of a kingdom granted by the bounty of the prince of darkness. The Christian who in the pursuit of broadmindedness abandons the least part of his inheritance to the world, will gain nothing but to see his own character debased, his religion despised, and in the end, shame cast upon God Himself.

When it is a matter of giving to Solomon (1 Kings 9:14¹⁴And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold. (1 Kings 9:14)), Hiram shows that he is very generous. This is well-suited to the pride of the head of the greatest maritime and commercial power of that day, the England of the ancient world. Hiram gives one hundred twenty talents of gold (18,000,000 francs at the time of the writing of this book). Is this a benefit, a profit to Solomon? As long as Hiram was tributary to him for the construction of the temple, everything had divine approval. Now Hiram is calling Solomon “my brother” and giving him presents!

Solomon’s activity and wisdom are seen (1 Kings 9:15-23¹⁵And 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. ¹⁶For 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. ¹⁷And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, ¹⁸And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, ¹⁹And 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. ²⁰And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, ²¹Their 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. ²²But 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. ²³These 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. (1 Kings 9:15‑23)) in the establishment of store-cities, cities for chariots, and cities for horsemen. It is the external organization of the kingdom, be it for commerce and trade or be it for war. He receives Gezer from Pharaoh who had exterminated the Canaanites who dwelt in that city, and who had given it to his daughter, the king’s wife. Thus the order to destroy the Canaanites is realized without trouble for this reign of peace. Their city rightfully belonged to Israel. All the Canaanites, spared of old through the weakness of the people, are subjected, just as formerly the Gibeonites. Solomon does not repeat Saul’s error toward these latter (2 Sam. 21), but he reduces to servitude those Canaanites who still remain among the people.

Like Solomon, Christians need not consider as valid the claims of the world which the unfaithful Church has allowed a foothold in her midst; on the other hand, they are not to drive them out. They themselves should walk in the liberty of the children of God and leave them to their yoke of bondage, the only religion proper to the flesh and that which the flesh recognizes. Never before Solomon had so complete a separation ever existed in Israel, but so it can and should be realized even in the worst days of Israel’s history or of that of the Church. “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity.” “From such turn away.” Under the glorious reign of Christ, separation will be absolute; we read of this even to the point that “In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO JEHOVAH” (Zech. 14:20²⁰In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. (Zechariah 14:20)).

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