Poole on 1 Kings 5:7-12: Solomon and Hiram's Arrangement, Part 2

Verse 7:[1]  And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.

He rejoiced greatly; being an ingenuous prince, a lover of excellency, and a faithful friend to David and to his house.

[Blessed be the Lord, ‎יְהוָה]  By this name the Tyrians and other Gentiles were also calling upon the God of Israel (Grotius).  It appears that Hiram knew the true God from his familiarity with David (Lapide); he appears to have been a pious man, and well instructed in the worship of God by his friend David; for it belongs to friends to care for one another’s salvation (Martyr).  [Others otherwise:]  The gods of the Tyrians were Belsamen, that is, the Olympian Jupiter;[2] Astarte, that is, Venus;[3] and Melicartus, that is, Hercules[4] (Grotius).  Hiram worshipped these ancestral gods (Tirinus out of Sanchez); who also renewed the temples of Hercules and Astarte (Sanchez); yet because in the God of the Hebrews he found something excellent and worthy of veneration, he also wanted to praise and glorify Him here (Tirinus).  Most Gentiles were thinking that there were a number of true gods; and so they each were worshipping their ancestral gods in such a way that, nevertheless, they were not despising foreign gods.  Thus the Athenians were erecting altars to gods unknown to them; and the Romans were taking precautions in their Temple of the πανθεῶν, Pantheon, lest to any of the gods anywhere their worship be wanting at Rome.  Thus in Scripture the Philistines feared, or honored, the God of the Hebrews, 1 Samuel 4:8; as well as Darius, Daniel 6:16, and Seleucus, 2 Maccabees 3:3[5] (Tirinus out of Sanchez).  Perhaps Hiram worshipped the God of the Hebrews together with his ancestral deities; just as the Assyrians did, 2 Kings 17 (Lapide).

Blessed be the Lord; for though it be not probable that he was a sincere proselyte, because he did not endeavour the instruction of his people, and the extirpation of their gross idolatry, which by God’s blessing and Solomon’s help he might easily have effected; yet he had sufficient information concerning the nature and excellency of the God of Israel, and had honourable thoughts of him, as also divers other heathens had, 1 Samuel 4:8; Daniel 6:16; 2 Maccabees 3:3.

Verse 8:[6]  And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered (Heb. heard[7]) the things which thou sentest to me for:  and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.

[In timber of cedar and of fir, ‎בְרוֹשִׁים]  Of fir (thus most interpreters).  This does not satisfy; Fir is not suitable for building; because, as Vitruvius relates, it has rigidity, and does not bend, is light, and begets worms and larvæ, does not last, and readily takes fire (Martyr).  [Others, therefore, translate it otherwise:]  Spruce (Tigurinus), larch[8] (certain interpreters in Munster), boxwood[9] (certain interpreters in Lyra), pine (Castalio, certain interpreters in Martyr), or cypress (certain interpreters in Martyr), ash (Forster in Martyr).  It is rather a type of Cedar (Martyr, Hebrews in Munster), of which Theophrastus[10] makes mention.  Therefore, since it pertains to Cedars, it is with good reason conjoined with the former (Martyr).  Solomon sought other types of timber, 2 Chronicles 2:8, with which Lebanon was abounding (Tirinus); which are here omitted, because less was their use in the building of the temple (Sanchez).

Hiram sent a letter, 2 Chronicles 2:11.  Concerning timber of fir; which formerly was, and still is, very useful in most buildings.  Others render the Hebrew word, pitch trees, or ash trees, or pine trees.  To others it was a particular sort of cedars, and therefore comes under the general name of cedars, in Solomon’s message before related.

Verse 9:[11]  My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea:  (2 Chron. 2:16) and I will convey them by sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint (Heb. send[12]) me, and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them:  and thou shalt accomplish my desire, (see Ezra 3:7; Ezek. 27:17; Acts 12:20) in giving food for my household.

[Down from Lebanon]  The lumber was conveyed from mount Lebanon for making ships and towers, Curtius’ History of Alexander the Great 4.  Concerning this same Hiram Menander of Ephesus[13] says:  ὕλην ξύλων ἀπελθὼν ἔκοψεν ἀπὸ—Λιβάνου, κέδρινα ξύλα εἰς τὰς τῶν ἱερῶν στέγας, and, having departed, he cut timber from…Lebanon, cedar wood for the roofs of the temples[14] (Grotius).

[Unto the sea]  Namely, the internal, which touches Phœnicia and Judeah; for it is to be understood when the sea is simply designated (Grotius).

Unto the sea; the midland sea.

[And I will arrange them on rafts in the sea, ‎אֲשִׂימֵ֙ם דֹּבְר֤וֹת]  And I myself will put (or arrange [Syriac, Arabic, Munster, Tigurinus], convey [English]) them by rafts (Jonathan, Pagnine), or on rafts (Montanus), into rafts (Syriac, Arabic, Tigurinus), in rafts (Munster, English).  I will take care that they are organized by rafts, to be conveyed to the sea, etc. (Vatablus, similarly the Dutch).  The Hebrew words indicate, that he did not place the timbers on rafts; but that he arranged the very timbers after the manner of rafts, and bound them together, so that they might be drawn and pushed by sea, after the manner of rafts:  which is also indicated by what is next supplied, and I will unloose, disperse, them to thee (Malvenda, similarly Menochius).  I will take care that they are joined together in the form of rafts (Strigelius).  דֹּבְרוֹת are bundles of great trunks, which by water are moved from one region to another.  For דָּבַר signifies, among other uses, to lead and to convey; and it is frequently in that signification among the Chaldeans (Munster).

In floats, or ships, or rafts.  It is thought the timbers were tied together in the water, as now it is usual, and so by the help of boats or ships conveyed to the appointed place, which was at no great distance.

[And I will convey them to thee, ‎וְנִפַּצְתִּ֥ים שָׁ֖ם [15]]  And I will loose (or disperse [Malvenda]) them to thee (Pagnine, Vatablus).  Them, that is, the timbers, which had been tied and bound together after the manner of rafts, I will loose and disperse there (Malvenda); that is, loosed and dispersed, them will I drag to shore (Vatablus).  נָפַץ properly signifies to break up anything, but here, to loose things bound together (Munster).

Unto the place that thou shalt appoint me; which was Joppa, 2 Chronicles 2:16, a town upon the sea, Joshua 19:46; Acts 9:43.  Discharged; Hebrew, dispersed, or dissolved; which implies that they were tied together.

[That food might be furnished for my house]  That is, so that those that serve thee might be fed, which is more clearly expressed in 2 Chronicles 2:10 (Menochius).  [Others otherwise:]  Thou wilt please me, if thou give food, whereby I might be able to feed my family (Vatablus, similarly Martyr, Sanchez).  For the Tyrians and the Sidonians were inhabiting islands almost barren, and were destitute of provisions.  Therefore, for his hire he asks for victuals out of Israelite stores (Martyr).  He asks, that he might allow crops to be transported to that barren city; yet not gratuitously, but for sale, as Josephus says in Antiquities 8:2 (Sanchez).

Food for my household, that is, either, first, My kingdom or people; for the word house or family is sometimes used for a nation or people, as Judges 13:2; 18:11; Zechariah 12:13; 14:18.  The reason of this desire is, because the country belonging to Tyre and Sidon was very barren, and the people there being very numerous, depended upon Solomon’s country for relief, as is manifest from Acts 12:20:  compare Ezra 3:7; Ezekiel 27:17.  And this relief or provisions Hiram doth not desire to be freely given to him, but to be sold to him and his people at a reasonable rate, as Josephus reports it.  Or, secondly, My servants employed in the work, as it is expressed, 2 Chronicles 2:15; though divers, both Jewish and Christian, interpreters conceive that this and that are differing accounts; and that here he speaks of the recompence which was given to Hiram himself, and to his house, for the materials which were taken out of his territories; and in 2 Chronicles 2 of what was given to his servants for their labour.  Or, thirdly, My royal family and court, which most properly is called his house.

Verse 10:[16]  So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.

Verse 11:[17]  (see 2 Chron. 2:10) And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures (Heb. cors[18]) of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil:  thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.

[Twenty thousand cors[19] of wheat]  And just so many of barley and wine, 2 Chronicles 2:10.  Synecdoche (Junius).  But there it is read, baths of wine and of oil, etc.  Therefore, a cor and a bath were the same measure.  But others relate that a bath was the tenth part of a cor:  just like the ephah in dry goods (Piscator).

[For food]  ‎מַכֹּלֶת/food is written in the place of מַאֲכוֺלֶת/fuel[20] (Munster).

[And twenty cors of oil most pure, ‎וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים כֹּ֖ר שֶׁ֣מֶן כָּתִ֑ית [21]]  And twenty cors of oil beaten or pounded (Jonathan, Munster, Pagnine, Tigurinus, Montanus, Junius and Tremellius, Septuagint in Mariana), or pressed (Syriac), or fine (Arabic).  It is beaten oil, which is drawn out of olives without the grinding of them:  it is of greater purity than that which is gathered out of ground olives (Munster, similarly Mariana).  The fruit of the olive tree, when it has become ripe, is beaten, and thence oil is expressed (Osiander).  [But there is a difficulty to be considered here.]  In the place of these twenty cors of oil is put twenty thousand baths of oil, 2 Chronicles 2:10.  Response 1:  Some maintain that there is an error.  In the place of כָּתִית/beaten is to be written ‎בַּתִּים/baths, and in the place of ‎אֶלֶף/ thousand is to be placed ‎כֹּר/cor, or vice versa (Cappel’s[22] Sacred Criticism[23]).  This does not satisfy; for, if you read כָּתִית/beaten in 2 Chronicles 2, the name of the measure is wanting.  Response 2:  The Cor is a far more ample measure than the Bath (Buxtorf’s Vindication 2:2:423), as it is evident from Ezekiel 45:11, 14 (Glassius).  In the place of כֹּר/cor is to be read בַּת/bath, says Georgius Agricola,[24] Concerning Measures[25] 1:144, and confirms from this, that in no other place is the כֹּר/cor a measure of liquids (Glassius’ Sacred Philology 1:1:72).  But, although the Cor is properly a measure of dry goods, sometimes it is also used of liquids, as in Ezekiel 45:14 (Buxtorf’s Vindication 423).  The Cor was containing ten Ephahs[26] (Junius, Dutch), that is, Attic medimnoi;[27] or thirty seahs,[28] that is, Roman modii[29] (Junius on 1 Kings 4:22).  This measure is called a Homer, Leviticus 27:16 (Dutch).  Response 3:  There is an Ellipsis here of the word ‎אֶלֶף/thousand, which is to be repeated out of the immediately preceding member (Agricola and Buxtorf in Glassius’ Sacred Philology 72).  [Some of the ancients obviously translate it in this way:   And twenty thousand cors, etc. (Syriac); twenty thousand baths, etc. (Septuagint in Piscator).  Response 4:  These passages, 1 Kings 5 and 2 Chronicles 2, do not at all appear to be parallel; which the diversity of both the reading and the substance suggests.  For, in addition to those things that we have said, here wheat and oil are given; there barley and wine are added:  here wheat מַכֹּלֶת, for food; there wheat ‎מַכּוֹת/beaten (Glassius out of Rothmaler[30]).  These histories are described diversely in those books, not indeed fully, but by epitome, and by each author as it was appropriate for his particular plan (Buxtorf’s Vindication 422).  Response 5:  In Kings he relates what was given to Hiram himself (and to his house [Rothmaler in Glassius, Kimchi in Buxtorf]) (either, according to the value of the timber, and the right of the land; as Rabbi Levi maintains; or) out of the royal munificence of Solomon continuously and annually, even after the cessation of work:  But in Chronicles is related what he gave to the servants of Hiram for the work, etc.  Thus Rabbi Samuel Laniado:[31]  similarly Abarbanel, Kimchi, and Rabbi Levi Ben Gershom (Buxtorf, thus Rothmal in Glassius’ Sacred Philology 72).

Twenty measures of pure oil; Hebrew, twenty cors of pure oil;[32] but in 2 Chronicles 2:10, it is twenty thousand baths of oil; to which is there added twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine.  Either therefore, first, He speaks of several things, as was now said on 1 Kings 5:9.  Or, secondly, He speaks there of what Solomon offered; for it runs thus, I will give; and here of what Hiram accepted; and accordingly Solomon gave, for it is here said Solomon gave Hiram.  Or, thirdly, The barley, and wine, and twenty thousand baths of common oil, mentioned 2 Chronicles 2, must be added to the twenty thousand measures of wheat, and the twenty measures of pure oil, here expressed, and the whole sum is to be made up from both places; that Book of Chronicles being written to supply and complete the histories of the Books of Samuel and of the Kings.  Thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year; either, first, For sustenance to the workmen, during the years wherein they were employed in the cutting down and hewing of the timber.  Or, secondly, For the yearly support of the king’s house during the said time.  And these words being left out in 2 Chronicles 2, may seem to favour their opinion, that these places speak of divers passages, and several recompences, the one given to the king’s house, the other to the labourers, although the argument is not cogent; and this might be omitted there, either because it was sufficiently implied in the nature of the thing, or because it had been plainly expressed here.

Verse 12:[33]  And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, (1 Kings 3:12) as he promised him:  and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

[The Lord gave wisdom, etc.]  Which is especially manifest in the choice of friends and partnerships (Grotius).  This is repeated, because in this league with Hiram he revealed himself (Martyr).

The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, that is, he increased in wisdom more and more; which is here mentioned, because he showed his wisdom in all his transactions with Hiram.

[They struck a covenant]  To mutual advantage; whence also they call each other brothers, 1 Kings 9:13 (Grotius).

[1] Hebrew: ‎וַיְהִ֞י כִּשְׁמֹ֧עַ חִירָ֛ם אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י שְׁלֹמֹ֖ה וַיִּשְׂמַ֣ח מְאֹ֑ד וַיֹּ֗אמֶר בָּר֤וּךְ יְהוָה֙ הַיּ֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֙ר נָתַ֤ן לְדָוִד֙ בֵּ֣ן חָכָ֔ם עַל־הָעָ֥ם הָרָ֖ב הַזֶּֽה׃

[2] Belsamen, or Baal Shamaim (Lord of Heaven), was the god of the sky, storms, and cosmic order, here presented as the rough equivalent of the Olympian Jupiter.

[3] Astarte, or Ashtaroth, was the Queen of Heaven, goddess of love, fertility, and war.  She was the consort of Melicartus.

[4] Melicartus, or Melqart (King of the City), was the patron deity of Tyre, sometimes called the Tyrian Baal.  He is portrayed as Tyre’s founder/builder, and the embodiment of the city’s vitality.  In Tyrian mythology, he is extolled for his heroic exploits, and in the annual Egeris (Awakening) festival, his death and resurrection were commemorated and celebrated, symbolizing the land’s seasonal renewal.

[5] 2 Maccabees 3:1-3:  “Now when the holy city was inhabited with all peace, and the laws were kept very well, because of the godliness of Onias the high priest, and his hatred of wickedness, it came to pass that even the kings themselves did honour the place, and magnify the temple with their best gifts; insomuch that Seleucus of Asia of his own revenues bare all the costs belonging to the service of the sacrifices.”

[6] Hebrew: ‎וַיִּשְׁלַ֤ח חִירָם֙ אֶל־שְׁלֹמֹ֣ה לֵאמֹ֔ר שָׁמַ֕עְתִּי אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַ֖חְתָּ אֵלָ֑י אֲנִ֤י אֶֽעֱשֶׂה֙ אֶת־כָּל־חֶפְצְךָ֔ בַּעֲצֵ֥י אֲרָזִ֖ים וּבַעֲצֵ֥י בְרוֹשִֽׁים׃

[7] Hebrew: ‎שָׁמַעְתִּי .

[8] The larch tree is a deciduous conifer in the pine family.

[9] The box tree is a small, slow-growing evergreen.  Its wood is especially hard and dense.

[10] Theophrastus (372-287 BC) was a disciple of Aristotle and his successor at the Lyceum.  He wrote Historiam Plantarum.

[11] Hebrew: ‎עֲ֠בָדַי יֹרִ֙דוּ מִן־הַלְּבָנ֜וֹן יָ֗מָּה וַ֠אֲנִי אֲשִׂימֵ֙ם דֹּבְר֤וֹת בַּיָּם֙ עַֽד־הַמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־תִּשְׁלַ֥ח אֵלַ֛י וְנִפַּצְתִּ֥ים שָׁ֖ם וְאַתָּ֣ה תִשָּׂ֑א וְאַתָּה֙ תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה אֶת־חֶפְצִ֔י לָתֵ֖ת לֶ֥חֶם בֵּיתִֽי׃

[12] Hebrew:  ‎תִּשְׁלַח.

[13] Menander of Ephesus (second century BC) was Greek historian, remember for his work on Tyre and Phœnicia.  His work survives only in fragments preserved by Josephus.

[14] Josephus’ Against Apion 1:118.

[15] נָפַץ signifies to shatter, to dash in pieces.

[16] Hebrew:  ‎וַיְהִ֙י חִיר֜וֹם נֹתֵ֣ן לִשְׁלֹמֹ֗ה עֲצֵ֧י אֲרָזִ֛ים וַעֲצֵ֥י בְרוֹשִׁ֖ים כָּל־חֶפְצֽוֹ׃

[17] Hebrew: ‎וּשְׁלֹמֹה֩ נָתַ֙ן לְחִירָ֜ם עֶשְׂרִים֩ אֶ֙לֶף כֹּ֤ר חִטִּים֙ מַכֹּ֣לֶת לְבֵית֔וֹ וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים כֹּ֖ר שֶׁ֣מֶן כָּתִ֑ית כֹּֽה־יִתֵּ֧ן שְׁלֹמֹ֛ה לְחִירָ֖ם שָׁנָ֥ה בְשָׁנָֽה׃ פ

[18] Hebrew:  ‎כֹּר.

[19] A cor was about two hundred and twenty quarts liquid, or two hundred quarts dry.

[20] אָכַל signifies to eat; מַאֲכֹּלֶת, fuel or food.  Isaiah 9:5:  “For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel (‎מַאֲכֹלֶת) of fire.”

[21] כָּתַת signifies to beat.

[22] Louis Cappel (1585-1658) was a Huguenot divine of broad and profound learning.  He served as a minister of the gospel and Professor of Hebrew and Theology at Saumur.  Although his expertise in the Hebrew language was beyond question, his denial of the authority of the vowel points and of the absolute integrity of the Hebrew texts was hotly contested.

[23] Critica Sacra.

[24] Georgius Agricola (1494-1555) was a German Roman Catholic and Renaissance humanist, specializing in medicine, mineralogy, and metallurgy.

[25] Libri Quinque de Mensuris et Ponderibus.

[26] The Ephah was containing about twenty dry quarts.

[27] The Attic Medimnos appears to contain about forty-seven dry quarts, more than twice as much as the Ephah.

[28] A Seah is about seven dry quarts.

[29] The Roman Modius was about eight dry quarts.

[30] Erasmus Rothmaler (1562-c. 1611) was a German Lutheran pastor.

[31] Rabbi Samuel ben Abraham Laniado (c. 1530-c. 1605) was a Sephardic Rabbi of Aleppo, Syria.  He wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch (Keli Hemdah, or Delightful Vessel), the Former Prophets (Kel Yakar, or Precious Vessel), Isaiah (Keli Paz, or Vessel of Pure Gold), and other books and passages.

[32] Hebrew:  ‎וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים כֹּ֖ר שֶׁ֣מֶן כָּתִ֑ית.

[33] Hebrew:  ‎וַיהוָ֗ה נָתַ֤ן חָכְמָה֙ לִשְׁלֹמֹ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּר־ל֑וֹ וַיְהִ֣י שָׁלֹ֗ם בֵּ֤ין חִירָם֙ וּבֵ֣ין שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה וַיִּכְרְת֥וּ בְרִ֖ית שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃