838 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Baalath,.... A city in the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:44 and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land; or "Tamar", as in the Cetib, or Scriptural reading; for we go according to the marginal reading, and so Thamato in Ptolemy (p); and is thought by some to be the same with Tamar in Ezekiel 47:19, which Jerom there says is Palmyra. Tamar signifies a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the cities of store that Solomon had,.... In which were his magazines of corn, arms, and ammunition; and these were built in Hamath, 2 Chronicles 8:4 and cities for his chariots; chariots of war, iron chariots, which were kept in times of peace, in case of necessity, of which Solomon had 1400, 1 Kings 10:26, and cities for his horsemen; of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites,.... Who were not destroyed in the times of Joshua, or since, but dwelt in several cities of the land of Israel from those times; see Jude 1:1, which were not of the children of Israel; not natives of the land of Israel, though they might be proselytes,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Their children that were left after them in the land,.... The posterity of those left unsubdued in the times of Joshua: whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy; in later times, though now it is thought by some it was not for want of power, but because they had made a covenant with them, as the Gibeonites did, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen,.... For that was contrary to the law; they might be hired servants, but not bond servants, Leviticus 25:39 but they were men of war; which he kept in pay, a standing army, maintained even in time of peace, in case of necessity, should an enemy attempt to invade or surprise them: and his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
These were the chief of the officers over Solomon's work,.... In building the above houses and cities: five hundred and fifty which bore rule over the people that wrought in the work; in 2 Chronicles 8:10 they are said to be but two hundred and fifty; now it may be observed, as is by the Jewish writers, that there were three sorts of those rulers;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David,.... Where he placed her when he first married her, until he had finished his buildings, 1 Kings 3:1, which being done he brought her from thence unto her house, which Solomon had built for her; the reason of which is given, not only because it was the house of David, but because it was holy...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord,.... The brasen altar, the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the priests, and by whom he offered. The three times were the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, as explained in 2 Chronicles 8:13,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber,.... Which was one of the stations of the Israelites, near the wilderness of Sin, or Paran, Numbers 33:35, it signifies the backbone of a man; and it is said (w) the ridge of rocks before this port were in that form, covered by the sea at high water, and sticking up with various points in a line...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Hiram sent in his navy his servants,.... And, according to 2 Chronicles 8:18, ships also but how he could send them from Tyre, which lay in the Mediterranean sea, to the above ports in the Red sea, without going a great way round, is not easy to conceive. Perhaps, as Gussetins conjectures (c), Hiram had a port in the Red sea for building and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they came to Ophir,.... About which place there are various opinions; some take it to be the little island of Zocatora, on the eastern coast of Africa, at a small distance from the straits of Babelmandel; others the island of Ceylon; others Sofala in Africa; some (k) Peru in America; Vatablus the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 10 This chapter contains an account of the queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon to her great satisfaction, 1 Kings 10:1, of Solomon's merchandise and riches, and the magnificence of his court, 1 Kings 10:14, of the rich presents sent to him, and of the purchase of chariots and horses, and other things, he made, 1 Kings...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon,.... Josephus (u) calls her a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia; but Sheba was in the southern part of Arabia Felix; her name with the Ethiopians is Maqueda (w), and with the Arabic geographer (x) Belequis. Some (y) think that Sheba, or Saba, is not the name of a country, but of the queen herself;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train,.... With many of her courtiers and principal men, as well as with a large retinue of servants: with camels that bare spices; her country abounded both with camels and spices; [See comments on Isaiah 60:6], [See comments on Jeremiah 6:20], and as Pliny (f) observes, who says their spices used to be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Solomon told her all her questions,.... Answered them, told her the meaning of everything she inquired about, expounded her riddles, solved her objections, and gave her satisfaction in all things she proposed unto him: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not; there was not anything, though ever so abstruse and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom,.... Which she perceived by his answers to things relative to all sorts of science, natural, civil, and divine: and the house that he had built; the singular for the plural, "house for houses"; the house of the Lord, his own house, that for Pharaoh's daughter, and the house of the forest of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the meat of his table,.... The various sorts of it, the different dishes, and the multitude of them; see 1 Kings 4:22 and the sitting of his servants; at table, either with him, or at tables by themselves, yet in his presence; for these were his nobles and courtiers, who were placed in order, according to their rank and degree, which showed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she said to the king,.... When she was a little come to herself: it was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom; which she was ready to call in question when she first heard it; at least she thought it was greatly exaggerated, but now she found it was strictly true.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it,.... That is, she did not believe the whole of what was related to her; somewhat of it she credited, and supposed there was something grand and extraordinary in it, or she would never have taken such a journey; but she did not believe that all could be true; she thought...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Happy are thy men,.... The men of Israel, that had a king over them so wise, so great, so good: happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom; who were now present, and to whom she pointed, and may respect not his nobles and courtiers only, but his menial servants, who had an opportunity of often hearing...