1 Kings 9:21
in 1 Kings 9their descendants who remained in the land, those whom the Israelites were unable to devote to destruction—Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers, as they are to this day.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants unto this day.
KJV
Their 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.
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This verse in 1 Kings 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA tribute of bond-service - He made them do the most laborious part of the public works, the Israelites being generally exempt. When Sesostris, king of Egypt, returned from his wars, he caused temples to be built in all the cities of Egypt, but did not employ one Egyptian in the work, having built the whole by the hands of the captives which he had taken in his wars. Hence he caused this inscription to be placed upon each temple: - Ουδεις εγχωριος εις αυτα μεμοχθηκε. No native has labored in these Diodor. Sic. Bibl., lib. i., c.
This site's exposition
the people who were not Israelites
on 1 Kings 9:20-23
The peoples left from Joshua’s conquest, the “Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites”, become Solomon’s forced laborers, and Israel is spared. Israelites serve instead as “his men of war, his servants, his officers, his captains”. Over the whole work stand “550 supervisors over the people who did the work”.
This site's exposition
Solomon conscripted these people to be forced laborers
Adam Clarke sets beside this a practice of Sesostris of Egypt. That king built temples with war captives and inscribed on each that no native had labored on it. Solomon laid the forced labor on the peoples who remained in the land in the same way.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Those - He used them as bondmen, and imposed bodily labours upon them. "But why did not Solomon destroy them as God had commanded, when now it was fully in his power to do so?" The command of destroying them, Deut. vii, 2, did chiefly, if not only, concern that generation of Canaanites, who lived in, or, near the time of the Israelites entering into Canaan.
Herein he observed God's law ( Lev. xxv. 44 , Thy bondmen shall be of the heathen ), and fulfilled Noah's curse upon Canaan, A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren, Gen. ix.
Their children that were left after them in the land,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
this is the reason of the levy--A levy refers both to men and money, and the necessity for Solomon making it arose from the many gigantic works he undertook to erect.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּנֵיהֶ֗ם | beneihem | descendants their | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נֹתְר֤וּ | noteru | they were left | H3498 → | 106 times |
| אַחֲרֵיהֶם֙ | ʾachareihem | after them | H310 → | 715 times |
| בָּאָ֔רֶץ | baaretz | in the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָכְל֛וּ | yakhelu | they were able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לְהַֽחֲרִימָ֑ם | lehacharimam | to totally destroy them | H2763 → | |
| וַיַּעֲלֵ֤ם | vaiyaalem | and he raised them | H5927 → | 890 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹה֙ | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| לְמַס־ | lemas- | to forced labor of | H4522 → | 23 times |
| עֹבֵ֔ד | ʾoved | laboring | H5647 → | 288 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיּ֥וֹם | haiyom | the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
בְּנֵיהֶ֗םdescendants their
beneihemH1121 →4930 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נֹתְר֤וּthey were left
noteruH3498 →106 times
אַחֲרֵיהֶם֙after them
ʾachareihemH310 →715 times
בָּאָ֔רֶץin the land
baaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָכְל֛וּthey were able
yakheluH3201 →194 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לְהַֽחֲרִימָ֑םto totally destroy them
lehacharimamH2763 →
וַיַּעֲלֵ֤םand he raised them
vaiyaalemH5927 →890 times
שְׁלֹמֹה֙Solomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
לְמַס־to forced labor of
lemas-H4522 →23 times
עֹבֵ֔דlaboring
ʾovedH5647 →288 times
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַיּ֥וֹםthe day
haiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 15:63But the descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the descendants of Judah.
it leads to
- Judges 1:8
Then the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 5:6–9
Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 1:21
The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.
- 1 Chronicles 11:4–8
Then David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus), where the Jebusites inhabited the land.
- Judges 1:8
Through
Judges 1:21The Benjamites, however, failed to drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the Benjamites.
it leads to
- Joshua 15:63
But the descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So to this day the Jebusites live there among the descendants of Judah.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 15:63
Through
Nehemiah 11:3These are the heads of the provinces who settled in Jerusalem. (In the villages of Judah, however, each lived on his own property in their towns—the Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants, and descendants of…
it leads to
- Nehemiah 7:73
So the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, and temple servants, along with some of the people and the rest of the Israelites, settled in their own towns. And by the seventh month the Israelites had…
- Ezra 2:1
Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar its king. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his…
- 1 Chronicles 9:1–34
So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.
- Nehemiah 7:73
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.