15 And this is the account of the levy which king Solomon raised, to build the house of Jehovah, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 —Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer, and burned it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife. 17 —And Solomon built Gezer, and lower Beth-horon, 18 and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, 19 and all the store-cities that Solomon had, and cities for chariots, and cities for the horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and on Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 20 All the people that were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, 21 their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon them did Solomon impose a tribute of bondservice until 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 chiefs, and his captains, and captains of his chariots, and his horsemen. 23 These were the chief superintendents that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, that ruled over the people that wrought in the work. 24 But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David to her house which he had built for her: then he built Millo. 25 And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense upon that which was before Jehovah. So he finished the house. 26 And king Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon; 28 and they went to Ophir, and fetched thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 9:15-28
Commentary on 1 Kings 9:15-28
(Read 1 Kings 9:15-28)
Here is a further account of Solomon's greatness. He began at the right end, for he built God's house first, and finished that before he began his own; then God blessed him, and he prospered in all his other buildings. Let piety begin, and profit follow; leave pleasure to the last. Whatever pains we take for the glory of God, and to profit others, we are likely to have the advantage. Canaan, the holy land, the glory of all lands, had no gold in it; which shows that the best produce is that which is for the present support of life, our own and others; such things did Canaan produce. Solomon got much by his merchandise, and yet has directed us to a better trade, within reach of the poorest. Wisdom is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold, Proverbs 3:14.