1 AND it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house,
2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.
4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
5 Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;
6 And 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.
7 As 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,
8 But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.
9 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.
10 And these were the chief of king Solomon’s officers, even two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.
11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come.
12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch,
13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.
16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and until it was finished. So the house of the Lord was perfected.
17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.
18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

1And it came to passe (at the end of twentie yeeres, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, & 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 preuailed against it.

4And he built Tadmor in the wildernesse, and all the store-cities, which he built in Hamath.

5Also he built Beth-horon the vpper, and Beth-horon the nether, fensed cities with walles, gates and barres:

6And Baalath, and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and all the charet-cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all that Solomon desired to build in Ierusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.

7 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hiuites, and the Iebusites, which were not of Israel:

8But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not; them did Solomon make to pay tribute, vntill this day.

9But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no seruants for his worke: but they were men of warre, and chiefe of his captains, and captains of his charets and horsemen.

10And these were the chiefe of king Solomons officers, euen two hundred and fifty, that bare rule ouer the people.

11 And Solomon brought vp the daughter of Pharaoh out of the citie of Dauid, vnto the house that he had built for her: for hee said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of Dauid king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the Arke of the Lord hath come.

12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings vnto the Lord on the Altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch:

13Euen after a certaine rate euery day, offering according to the commandement of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new Moones, and on the solemne Feasts three times in the yeere, euen in the feast of Unleauened bread, and in the feast of Weekes, and in the feast of Tabernacles.

14 And he appointed, according to the order of Dauid his father, the courses of the Priests to their seruice, and the Leuites to their charges, to praise and minister before the Priests, as the duety of euery day required: the porters also by their courses, at euery gate: for so had Dauid the man of God commanded.

15And they departed not from the commandement of the King vnto the Priests and Leuites, concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures.

16Now all the worke of Solomon was prepared vnto the day of the foundation of the house of the Lord, and vntill it was finished: so the house of God was perfected.

17 Then went Solomon to Ezion Geber, and to Eloth, at the sea side in the land of Edom.

18And Huram sent him by the hands of his seruants, shippes, and seruants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the seruants of Solomon to Ophir, and tooke thence foure hundred and fiftie talents of golde, and brought them to king Solomon.

I == 1st Kings 9:10

 

 

 

 

 

IV == 1st Kings 9:14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VII == 1st Kings 9:20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X == 1t Kings 9:23

XI == 1st Kings 3:1 ; 7:8 ; 9:24

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIII == Ez23:14 ; 29:38 ; Num 20:1 ; 28:3 , 9 , 11 , 26 ; Deut 16:16

 

 

 

XIV == 1st Chr 9:17 ; 24:1 ; 25:1 ; 26:1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVII == Deut 2:8 ; 1st Kings 9:26 ; 2nd Kings 14:22

XVIII ==1st Kings 9:27 ; 2nd Chr 9:10 , 13

 

1 After the twenty years during which Solomon built the house of the LORD and his own house,

2 he built up the cities which Huram had given him, and settled Israelites there.

3 Then Solomon went to Hamath of Zoba and conquered it.

4 He built Tadmor in the desert region and all the supply cities, which he built in Hamath.

5 He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates and bars;

6 also Baalath, all the supply cities belonging to Solomon, and all the cities for the chariots, the cities for the horsemen, and whatever else Solomon decided should be built in Jerusalem, in the Lebanon, and in the entire land under his dominion.

7 All the people that remained of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel - 

8 that is, their descendants remaining in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed - Solomon subjected to forced labor, as they continue to this day.

9 But Solomon did not enslave the Israelites for his works. They became soldiers, commanders of his warriors, and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen.

10 They were also King Solomon's two hundred and fifty overseers who had charge of the people.

11 Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the palace which he had built for her, for he said, "No wife of mine shall dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, for the places where the ark of the LORD has come are holy."

12 In those times Solomon offered holocausts to the LORD upon the altar of the LORD which he had built in front of the porch,

13 as was required day by day according to the command of Moses, and in particular on the sabbaths, at the new moons, and on the fixed festivals three times a year: on the feast of the Unleavened Bread, the feast of Weeks and the feast of Booths.

14 And according to the ordinance of his father David he appointed the various classes of the priests for their service, and the Levites according to their functions of praise and ministry alongside the priests, as the daily duty required. The gatekeepers of the various classes stood guard at each gate, since such was the command of David, the man of God.

15 There was no deviation from the king's command in any respect relating to the priests and Levites or the treasuries.

16 All of Solomon's work was carried out successfully from the day the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid until the house of the LORD had been completed in every detail.

17 In those times Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Elath on the seashore of the land of Edom.

18 Huram, through his servants, sent him ships and crewmen acquainted with the sea, who accompanied Solomon's servants to Ophir and brought back from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold to King Solomon.

v 1-10 About the midpoint of Solomon’s reign, he attempted to reward Hiram for services by giving him twenty adjoining cities. Hiram found them unproductive land and unsuitable for his maritime interests, however useful they might be to others. He declined them or, as some they kept them until Solomon’s debt to him was paid. Apparently Solomon made more satisfactory settlement and populated the cities with Israelites, 2 Chr. 8:2. o15-19. Solomon embarked on many building projects, among them rebuilding Gezer, which Pharaoh had given his daughter for dowry when she married Solomon. Others in these verses were fortified defense cities, storage cities and cities for his horses for defense. (2 Chr. 8:3-6 list other named and unnamed cities.) Solomon was keeping horses contrary to God’s command, Deut. 17:16, already beginning to rely on the flesh instead of the Lord. Much of his building was for his own satisfaction, not for productive economics. Perhaps David foresaw Solomon’s building skills  when he wrote Ps. 127:1, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.....”.  
Solomon had 550 supervisors, (250 of them Israelites 2 Chr. 8:10); 3,300 foremen (1 Ki. 5:16) and conscripted labor from people of the area who they had not completely destroyed. Israelites were not slaves but soldiers captains etc. (2 Chr. 8:9).v 11 Solomon had spiritual sense to move Pharaoh’s daughter from his house near which the ark had been in the city of David, to her house in the temple complex, because he felt the pagan would defile the sacred places (2 Chr. 8:11). Millo, here, was a well known part of the fortification of Jerusalem, a breach in the wall being repaired there.

V 12-16 Solomon did not do the actual sacrifice as Uzziah did, 1 Chr. 26:18-21, but had the priests offer for him. His desire was to still be spiritual before the Lord, but he was slipping and later failure is seen in 11:7,8. (2 Chr. 8:12-16 detail the three times a year as feast of unleavened bread; feast of weeks; feast of tabernacles; plus daily, new moons and sabbaths. The order of courses and duties is also given 1 Kings 4:1-34.) Solomon’s eleven princes and their particular responsibilities are listed here. Scribes were important secretaries who prepared all documents for business transactions. The recorder maintained the daily records. Benaiah’s position was that of commander in chief of the army. Abiathar was listed as priest along with Zadok. He had been deposed for his defection with Adonijah and could no longer serve, but he retained his title. Azariah, different than verse 2, was over the twelve district officers in v 8-19, while Zabud of the priestly line was over all, and Solomon’s chief advisor. As son of Nathan, he had probably grown up along with Solomon. Ahishar oversaw the servants. Forced laborers were non Israelite conscripted workers working for the king. Each of these twelve officers was responsible for supplying food supplies for the king’s household and his thousands of horses, v 28, one month of the year. In v 11 and 15 we find two of these men married daughters of Solomon, which would have been a noble relationship. Geber, v 9, was over the other two, v 13 , 14, east of Jordan, so is spoken of as being the only officer in that land. No officer is mentioned as being over Judah, so it was perhaps exempt from the levy. Israel and Judah were prosperous and prolific during this period of time. Critics question Solomon being able to reign over this much land, but thorough studies show that Egypt and Assyria were both in decline at this point in history.
The amount of food needed to run the government for one day is hard to imagine. Solomon had dominion over this whole vast area, but part of it was simply tributary to Israel. The part they actually possessed was from Dan to Beer-sheba.
By now Solomon had ignored the command of the Lord for the kings not to multiply to themselves horses, Deut. 17:16. Verse 26 says he had four thousand horse and 2 Chronicles says he had four thousand stalls for horse. There is no contradiction. He had ten horses to a stall. Such a stall of large stones was at one time in Jerusalem.
He continued to violate the next verse and multiplied to himself wives,11:1-4. Solomon’s wisdom exceeded that of the most knowledgeable in the world. He not only spoke 3000 proverbs, but 1005 songs. He had wisdom in every subject, and representatives from all over the known world came to hear him.

V 17-18 Solomon and Hiram continued friendly relations, and Hiram provided experienced sailors to assist Solomon’s navy. The Ezion-geber port is in the gulf of Aqaba on the east arm of the Red Sea. (Excavations in this area in 1937-40 found copper refineries of the 10th century B.C. during Solomon’s reign.) Ophir was probably in southwestern Arabia, and is noted for it’s gold also in Job 22:24 and 28:16.