And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether,
Parallel translations
- WEB Solomon built in the land Gezer, Beth Horon the lower,
- BSB So Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon,
- NKJV And Solomon built Gezer, Lower Beth Horon,
- NASB So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower Beth-horon,
- NLT So Solomon rebuilt the city of Gezer.) He also built up the towns of Lower Beth-horon,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon fortified key cities, including Gezer and Lower Beth Horon, to secure his kingdom. It shows the breadth of his building program beyond the temple and palace.
Overview
After completing the temple and royal palace, Solomon strengthened strategic sites that guarded trade routes and military approaches to the central highlands. Gezer had recently been given to him as a dowry (v.16), and Beth Horon controlled a vital pass toward Jerusalem. These projects reflect the peace and prosperity God had granted, fulfilling part of the promised rest in the land, yet they also foreshadow the heavy burdens that would later strain the nation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Josh 16:3And goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti, unto the coast of Bethhoron the nether, and to Gezer; and the goings out thereof are at the sea.
- Josh 21:22And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her suburbs; four cities.
- Josh 19:44And Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath,
- Josh 10:10And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
- 2 Chr 8:4–18And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 9:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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