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.
Parallel translations
- WEB their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them Solomon raised a levy of bondservants to this day.
- BSB their 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.
- NKJV that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day.
- NASB their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were unable to completely eliminate, from them Solomon conscripted forced laborers, as they are to this day.
- NLT These were descendants of the nations whom the people of Israel had not completely destroyed. So Solomon conscripted them as slaves, and they serve as forced laborers to this day.
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 conscripted the descendants of these surviving Canaanites as permanent forced laborers. It explains the workforce behind his building projects.
Overview
Because Israel had not been able to destroy these peoples utterly, their children became a slave-labor force that persisted to the writer's day. This fulfilled in part the earlier subjugation of the Canaanites (Joshua), but their continued presence kept idolatrous influences near. The arrangement highlights both Solomon's administrative power and the lingering effects of Israel's incomplete conquest, which would later contribute to spiritual compromise.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Josh 15:63As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
- Josh 17:12Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
- Judg 1:21And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.
- Gen 9:25–26And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
- Ezra 2:55–58The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Peruda,
- Neh 7:57The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida,
- Neh 11:3Now these are the chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt every one in his possession in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon’s servants.
- Judg 1:27–35Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.
- 1 Kgs 5:13And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
- Ps 106:34–36They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
- Judg 2:20And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice;
- 1 Kgs 9:15And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.
- Josh 17:16–18And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.
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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 9:21 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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