10 At the end of twenty years, having built the two buildings, The Temple of God and his personal palace, 11 Solomon rewarded Hiram king of Tyre with a gift of twenty villages in the district of Galilee. Hiram had provided him with all the cedar and cypress and gold that he had wanted. 12 But when Hiram left Tyre to look over the villages that Solomon had given him, he didn't like what he saw. 13 He said, "What kind of reward is this, my friend? Twenty backwoods hick towns!" People still refer to them that way. 14 This is all Hiram got from Solomon in exchange for four and a half tons of gold!
15 This is the work record of the labor force that King Solomon raised to build The Temple of God, his palace, the defense complex (the Millo), the Jerusalem wall, and the fortified cities of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 Pharaoh king of Egypt had come up and captured Gezer, torched it, and killed all the Canaanites who lived there. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, Solomon's wife. 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer. 18 Baalath, and Tamar in the desert, back-country 19 storehouse villages, and villages for chariots and horses. Solomon built widely and extravagantly in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and wherever he fancied. 20 The remnants from the original inhabitants of the land (Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites - all non-Israelites), 21 survivors of the holy wars, were rounded up by Solomon for his gangs of slave labor, a policy still in effect. 22 But true Israelites were not treated this way; they were used in his army and administration - government leaders and commanders of his chariots and charioteers. 23 They were also the project managers responsible for Solomon's building operations - 550 of them in charge of the workforce.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 9:10-23
Commentary on 1 Kings 9:10-14
(Read 1 Kings 9:10-14)
Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities. Hiram did not like them. If Solomon would gratify him, let it be in his own element, by becoming his partner in trade, as he did. See how the providence of God suits this earth to the various tempers of men, and the dispositions of men to the earth, and all for the good of mankind in general.
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.