Chapter 9 of Melachim A is a chapter of summary: Shlomo completed the two great construction projects of his life, the House of Hashem and the king's palace, and now the Holy One, blessed be He, appears to him a second time to respond to the great prayer he prayed at the dedication of the Temple. Afterward the text moves to the account of his relationship with Chiram king of Tzor, the tribute Shlomo imposed, the cities he built, Pharaoh's daughter and the Millo, and the fleet of ships that sailed to Ophir. We will go through the chapter in order according to the explanation of the Malbim.
וַיְהִי כְּכַלּוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה לִבְנוֹת אֶת בֵּית ה' וְאֶת בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְאֵת כָּל חֵשֶׁק שְׁלֹמֹה אֲשֶׁר חָפֵץ לַעֲשׂוֹת. - And it came to pass, when Shlomo had finished building the House of Hashem and the king's palace, and all of Shlomo's desire which he wished to do.
Shlomo finished building the House of Hashem in seven years, and afterward the king's palace in thirteen years. "וְאֵת כָּל חֵשֶׁק שְׁלֹמֹה" refers to everything that Shlomo desired to do in order to expand his kingdom and glorify it, as he himself said: "I made my works great, I built myself houses," and there he describes all the great and mighty things that he did.
וַיֵּרָא ה' אֶל שְׁלֹמֹה שֵׁנִית, כַּאֲשֶׁר נִרְאָה אֵלָיו בְּגִבְעוֹן. - And Hashem appeared to Shlomo a second time, as He had appeared to him at Givon.
The Malbim says: in truth this was the third time, except that the vision Shlomo saw at the beginning of the building of the Temple is not counted by the text, since there was no complete prophecy there. The text counts only the revelations that were complete prophecy: the first at Givon, and this, the second.
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֵלָיו: שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת תְּפִלָּתְךָ וְאֶת תְּחִנָּתְךָ אֲשֶׁר הִתְחַנַּנְתָּה לְפָנַי, הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי אֶת הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בָּנִתָה לָשׂוּם שְׁמִי שָׁם עַד עוֹלָם, וְהָיוּ עֵינַי וְלִבִּי שָׁם כָּל הַיָּמִים. - And Hashem said to him: I have heard your prayer and your supplication which you supplicated before Me; I have sanctified this House which you built to place My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart shall be there all the days.
Shlomo prayed regarding two matters: that Hashem should rest His Presence in the House permanently and hear the prayers offered there, and that Hashem should continue the dynasty of the house of David. The Holy One, blessed be He, answers him that both requests were heard. Regarding the House: "לָשׂוּם שְׁמִי שָׁם" - that it should always be called the House of Hashem, that the name of Hashem should forever be called upon it. And further: "וְהָיוּ עֵינַי וְלִבִּי שָׁם" - a special miraculous providence. The eyes teach about contemplation and sight, that is individual providence; and the heart speaks of love, for the mind symbolizes the intellect and the heart symbolizes the emotion, and love is a matter of emotion. But all this is conditional: when the people of Israel will be worthy, then His eyes and His heart will be there. And when they are not worthy and the House is destroyed, only "to place My name there" will remain, only His name will be called upon the House, but His eyes and His heart will not be there, for it will be a state of concealment of the face.
And from here the Malbim explains a wonderful explanation in the change of wording: regarding the placing of the name it says "עַד עוֹלָם" (forever), and regarding the eyes and the heart it says "כָּל הַיָּמִים" (all the days). "All the days" is always relative to a particular thing: "all the days that the son of Yishai lives," "all the days that you live upon the land"; that is, all the days of that thing, of that person, of that nation, and not eternally. In contrast, "forever" means eternally. And according to this the matter is wonderfully precise: "to place My name there" - which applies even when the House is destroyed - is said with "forever." "And My eyes and My heart shall be" - which is individual providence and the resting of the Presence - is said with "all the days," all the days that the House will stand; and when the House is not standing, this does not continue. So we have two promises: one dependent on time and one not dependent on time.
וְאַתָּה אִם תֵּלֵךְ לְפָנַי כַּאֲשֶׁר הָלַךְ דָּוִד אָבִיךָ בְּתָם לֵבָב וּבְיֹשֶׁר, לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִיךָ, חֻקַּי וּמִשְׁפָּטַי תִּשְׁמֹר. - And as for you, if you will walk before Me as David your father walked, with wholeness of heart and with uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and you will keep My statutes and My laws.
Regarding the second request, the continuation of the kingdom of the house of David, Hashem answers him that the matter is dependent on a condition, and is not guaranteed automatically. Only if he walks in wholeness and without ulterior motives, whether in beliefs, in opinions, or in conduct, and keeps both the positive commandments and the negative commandments, then:
וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת כִּסֵּא מַמְלַכְתְּךָ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעֹלָם, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי עַל דָּוִד אָבִיךָ לֵאמֹר: לֹא יִכָּרֵת לְךָ אִישׁ מֵעַל כִּסֵּא יִשְׂרָאֵל. - Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying: There shall not fail you a man upon the throne of Israel.
The promise to David too was originally stated conditionally: if they keep the mitzvot of Hashem. Therefore Hashem says to Shlomo: if you keep them, My promise will truly be fulfilled.
אִם שׁוֹב תְּשֻׁבוּן אַתֶּם וּבְנֵיכֶם מֵאַחֲרַי וְלֹא תִשְׁמְרוּ מִצְוֺתַי חֻקֹּתַי אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לִפְנֵיכֶם, וַהֲלַכְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם לָהֶם. - But if you and your children turn away from following Me, and do not keep My mitzvot and My statutes which I have set before you, and you go and serve other gods and bow down to them.
וְהִכְרַתִּי אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם, וְאֶת הַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי לִשְׁמִי אֲשַׁלַּח מֵעַל פָּנָי, וְהָיָה יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמָשָׁל וְלִשְׁנִינָה בְּכָל הָעַמִּים. - Then I will cut off Israel from the face of the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight, and Israel shall become a byword and a taunt among all the peoples.
Notice that the warning does not end with the cancellation of Shlomo's kingship alone, but rather "and I will cut off Israel" - all of them. The reason for this: they all depend on the king. In a period when the king was righteous, the people were righteous; in a period when the king was wicked, the people were wicked. Only regarding very few kings is it said that the king was righteous while the people were wicked, such as the generation of Tzidkiyahu. But in most periods, whatever the king led was also the conduct of the people: in the time of Achav the people acted wickedly, for Achav built idolatry on every furrow in the land of Israel; and in the time of Shaul, David and Shlomo the people were righteous. And so too the house itself: "I will cast out of My sight," I will not watch over it, and consequently it will be trampled by the nations who will come and destroy it.
"וְהָיָה יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמָשָׁל וְלִשְׁנִינָה בְּכָל הָעַמִּים" - this is one of the most astonishing prophecies in the Torah, a prophecy that could not have been said even in theory, unless One who knows generations in advance wrote it. "A byword and a taunt" means that they will always make you an example, and they will always harp on you, speak about you and talk about the people of Israel. And this is an enormous wonder: how many does the people of Israel number? A few million, perhaps ten million, and if we exaggerate and add the Reform as well, perhaps fifteen million. This is two per mille of all humanity, that is, two out of a thousand.
By contrast, how much do people write about China, which has more than a billion people? How much do they write about India? Countries numbering billions, and who even hears about them. And all the nations gather at the Durban Conference. To discuss what? That there is a nation here with a severe problem of human dignity and crimes against humanity. True, they do not blow themselves up inside restaurants, and they do not torture and afflict people as in totalitarian regimes, but listen, from time to time they bombard houses that fire is coming from, and such a thing is intolerable. And let us call upon Ahmadinejad to set things in order and to lecture everyone on how to behave, and that it is not nice to threaten other nations. There is no worse joke than this.
The Torah says in advance: you will be few, you will be scattered, and everyone will talk about you. People who were abroad relate that there is no need to tune in to Israel's news. Open the news anywhere in the world, on CNN or on any channel you like, and Israel is always the star. Most of the Security Council resolutions and most of the UN resolutions to this day concern Israel. The whole world does not interest them; there is one very small problem, and its name is Israel, and it is at the center. There are gentiles who approach and ask a Jew to take off his hat to feel whether he has a horn on his head, and they ask: how many of you are there altogether, that so much is spoken about you? It is told of a Chinese minister who met an Israeli foreign minister and asked how many you are, and was answered: something like five million in the land. He said to him: do you know what five million is by us? That is the sampling error in the census. You fall within our sampling error, and you make so much noise, while about us they hear nothing. And so too among the Arabs they speak about us as a superpower; whoever hears thinks there are half a billion people here. What demonization they create of the Jews and of Israel. This is "and Israel shall become a byword and a taunt among all the peoples."
וְהַבַּיִת הַזֶּה יִהְיֶה עֶלְיוֹן, כָּל עֹבֵר עָלָיו יִשֹּׁם וְשָׁרָק, וְאָמְרוּ: עַל מֶה עָשָׂה ה' כָּכָה לָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וְלַבַּיִת הַזֶּה. - And this house, which was so exalted, everyone who passes by it shall be appalled and shall hiss, and they will say: Why has Hashem done thus to this land and to this house?
"Shall be exalted" - the meaning is that it once was exalted, a House that even idol worshipers treated with honor and awe. For any gentile who came to the House and prayed would be answered. We have already explained that for a Jew who prays in the House, the matter depends on his merits, but a gentile who prays in the House, his prayer is always answered. Why is that? Because the gentile does not know how to properly interpret the failure of his prayer, and he would say: if so, what is the difference between this House and any place of idol worship, God forbid. Therefore Hashem promised that the gentile's prayer would always be answered, and this is what Shlomo requested, and Hashem told him that I have answered your prayer.
All of this was so long as the people of Israel did not sin. But after the destruction, "everyone who passes by it will be appalled and will hiss." "Yishom" is a term of desolation, and "sharak" is the whistle a person emits from his mouth as a sign of astonishment and wonder: how can it be that such a holy and exalted place should be so desolate. As we saw with Rabbi Akiva and his companions who passed by the site of the Temple and saw foxes emerging from the place where the Kohen Gadol entered once a year, and Rabbi Akiva's companions began to weep. Such great astonishment, until they would ask: "Why has Hashem done thus to this land and to this House." So too it appears in the curses of Parashat Ki Tavo, that every passerby will say "מֶה חֳרִי הָאַף הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה, עַל מֶה עָשָׂה ה' כָּכָה לָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת - What is this great outburst of anger, why has Hashem done thus to this land" - "גָּפְרִית וָמֶלַח שְׂרֵפָה כָל אַרְצָהּ, לֹא תִזָּרַע וְלֹא תַצְמִחַ וְלֹא יַעֲלֶה בָהּ כָּל עֵשֶׂב - Sulfur and salt, all its land a burning waste, it will not be sown and will not sprout, and no grass will grow upon it." The gentile, when he sees how the land had been flourishing and unique, producing wheat kernels the size of kidneys, and suddenly such desolation, will be utterly astonished.
וְאָמְרוּ: עַל אֲשֶׁר עָזְבוּ אֶת ה' אֱלֹהֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר הוֹצִיא אֶת אֲבֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיַּחֲזִקוּ בֵּאלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לָהֶם וַיַּעַבְדֻם, עַל כֵּן הֵבִיא ה' עֲלֵיהֶם אֵת כָּל הָרָעָה הַזֹּאת. - And they will say: because they abandoned Hashem their God who brought their forefathers out of the land of Egypt, and they clung to other gods and bowed to them and served them, therefore Hashem brought upon them all this evil.
Why does the verse emphasize "who brought their forefathers out of the land of Egypt"? The Malbim explains: by bringing them out of Egypt He took them to Himself as a people, and they became the people of Hashem, and thereby He removed them from the rule of the stars, as it is said that He did not apportion them to the stars but apportioned the stars to the nations of the world. Therefore a gentile who worships idols is not held to as strict a standard as Israel, for you Hashem took out from under the rule of the stars, and you He brought out of Egypt and took to Himself as a people, and therefore upon you the prohibition and the restriction are far more severe. And they "clung to other gods" - they paid no attention and did not see what Hashem had done for them that He did not do for any other nation, and they did not appreciate that He had distinguished them above all the peoples, and therefore Hashem brought upon them all this evil.
וַיְהִי מִקְצֵה עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת שְׁנֵי הַבָּתִּים, אֶת בֵּית ה' וְאֶת בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ. - And it was at the end of twenty years, during which Shlomo built the two houses, the House of Hashem and the house of the king.
Twenty years passed from when Shlomo began building: seven years for the Temple, and thirteen for his own house. This is not because his house required more effort - the opposite is true, the Temple involved a far greater investment. Rather, in building the Temple Shlomo hurried, while in building his own house he lingered and did not rush.
חִירָם מֶלֶךְ צֹר נִשָּׂא אֶת שְׁלֹמֹה בַּעֲצֵי אֲרָזִים וּבַעֲצֵי בְרוֹשִׁים וּבַזָּהָב לְכָל חֶפְצוֹ, אָז יִתֵּן הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה לְחִירָם עֶשְׂרִים עִיר בְּאֶרֶץ הַגָּלִיל. - Chiram king of Tzor supplied Shlomo with cedar wood and cypress wood and gold, according to all his desire, then King Shlomo gave Chiram twenty cities in the land of the Galil.
"Nissa" is a term of elevation. Chiram dwelt in Lebanon, the land of cedars, and he had much cedar and cypress wood as well as much gold, and he supplied Shlomo with all his desire. Here a great question arises: how could Shlomo give Chiram twenty cities of the Land of Israel? Is it permitted to expropriate cities from the Land of Israel, to remove them from tithes and from the sanctity of the Land?
וַיֵּצֵא חִירָם מִצֹּר לִרְאוֹת אֶת הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לוֹ שְׁלֹמֹה, וְלֹא יָשְׁרוּ בְּעֵינָיו. וַיֹּאמֶר: מָה הֶעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה לִּי אָחִי, וַיִּקְרָא לָהֶם אֶרֶץ כָּבוּל עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. - And Chiram went out from Tzor to see the cities that Shlomo had given him, and they were not pleasing in his eyes. And he said: what are these cities that you have given me, my brother, and he called them the land of Kavul until this day.
There is a further difficulty: is this how one receives a gift? They gave you a gift, say thank you. And here he even complains.
The Malbim explains that what appears to be the case is as the Abarbanel explained: Shlomo did not give Chiram the cities as a gift, nor were they to be considered his. The cities remained Shlomo's and part of the Land of Israel. Rather, Chiram had given Shlomo wood, silver, and gold, and Shlomo wished to continue the arrangement even after the House was completed. Just as at first he had committed to give him twenty thousand kor of wheat and twenty thousand kor of oil in exchange for the cedars, so he wished to continue; and instead of working the land and producing the grain himself, he gave Chiram cities from which he would himself produce those very twenty thousand kor of wheat and twenty thousand kor of oil - he would settle his own people there, and they would work and produce what was owed to him.
The Ralbag holds that there was no diminishing of the Land of Israel here, for in Divrei HaYamim it is written that Chiram gave cities to Shlomo, so this was an exchange, one for the other. But this is hard to accept: how can one give away part of the Promised Land in exchange for another land? True, "every place upon which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours," yet the Promised Land carries a greater obligation than other lands, for first and foremost we were commanded to conquer the Land, and only afterward does any place that is conquered become part of the Land of Israel, as David conquered in Syria and terumot and maasrot were observed there, but all this only after the Promised Land. Would we say that we should go to Uganda and exchange our Land for Uganda? Therefore this explanation is difficult to accept. But according to the Abarbanel the matter is wonderful, for Shlomo did not give him the places at all, but only granted them to him as places from which he would extract what was due to him in produce and oil, not that they would be registered in his name in the land registry.
According to this, "and they were not right in his eyes" is well understood: Chiram said, from this you want me to extract twenty thousand kor of wheat and twenty thousand kor of oil? The land is not fertile enough for me to be able to fulfill our agreement from its produce. "And he called them the land of Kavul": Rashi explains it as a land of fetters, mud upon which a person treads and his foot sinks, as though he were bound in fetters; or a land of sand that produces no fruit. And indeed it is written that he returned the cities to him, and this is what is written in Divrei HaYamim, that Chiram gave cities to Shlomo. The Malbim says: according to the Ralbag these were other cities in place of those, but according to the Abarbanel there is no question of other cities at all, but rather that he returned to him those very same cities. He said to him: cities like these you are giving me? I forgo such favors. And then, as brought in Divrei HaYamim, Shlomo settled Israelites there to work the places, so that he could extract from them the twenty thousand kor of wheat and twenty thousand kor of oil and transfer them to Chiram.
וַיִּשְׁלַח חִירָם לַמֶּלֶךְ מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים כִּכַּר זָהָב. - And Chiram sent to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold.
The Malbim explains: Shlomo no longer needed cedars, but he still needed gold, and therefore Chiram sent him a hundred and twenty talents of gold.
וְזֶה דְבַר הַמַּס אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָה הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה לִבְנוֹת אֶת בֵּית ה' וְאֶת בֵּיתוֹ וְאֶת הַמִּלּוֹא וְאֵת חוֹמַת יְרוּשָׁלָיִם, וְאֶת חָצֹר וְאֶת מְגִדּוֹ וְאֶת גָּזֶר. - And this is the matter of the levy which King Shlomo raised, to build the House of Hashem and his own house and the Millo and the wall of Yerushalayim, and Chatzor and Megiddo and Gezer.
Shlomo needed to raise a levy from Israel, for only with the levy funds could he build the House of Hashem and his own house, which was very large, and the Millo, and the wall of Yerushalayim, which by itself was a very heavy expense, and Chatzor and Megiddo and Gezer. And as is well known, when Shlomo died the people rose up against the taxes and were very embittered, and when Rechavam his son came to reign, the first condition they demanded of him was that he remove from them the heavy yoke that his father had laid upon them. In the end Shlomo's days were good days, there were no wars, and each man dwelt under his vine and under his fig tree, and they had from where to raise the levy. Only at the end of Shlomo's days, when wars had already begun, did the matter become hard for the people: from one pocket wars and struggles, and from the other heavy taxes. And therefore they said to Rechavam that what was in Shlomo's days should not continue in his days. Rechavam persisted, and because of this he lost most of the kingdom, as we shall see further on.
פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם עָלָה וַיִּלְכֹּד אֶת גֶּזֶר וַיִּשְׂרְפָהּ בָּאֵשׁ, וְאֶת הַכְּנַעֲנִי הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּעִיר הָרָג, וַיִּתְּנָהּ שִׁלֻּחִים לְבִתּוֹ אֵשֶׁת שְׁלֹמֹה. - Pharaoh king of Egypt went up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the Canaanite dwelling in the city, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Shlomo's wife.
Pharaoh was Shlomo's father-in-law, to our shame, and he wanted to give his daughter a dowry. Therefore he went up and captured the city of Gezer, burned it with fire and killed the Canaanite dwelling in it, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter, Shlomo's wife. And Pharaoh's daughter was the principal among Shlomo's wives; though he married many wives, it was she whom he chiefly loved, and as we shall see further on, the main troubles began from her.
וַיִּבֶן שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת גָּזֶר וְאֶת בֵּית חֹרֹן תַּחְתּוֹן. וְאֶת בַּעֲלָת וְאֶת תַּדְמֹר בַּמִּדְבָּר בָּאָרֶץ. - And Shlomo built Gezer and Beit Choron the lower. And Baalat and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land.
After Pharaoh captured Gezer and burned it, Shlomo came and rebuilt it, as well as Beit Choron the lower, as his own cities. And he likewise built Baalat and Tadmor. The Malbim explains that Tadmor is the place of the Tarmodites, Tadmor and Tarmod being the same place with interchanged letters, like keves and kesev, simlah and salmah. And it is brought that the Tarmodites dwell among the sands, which fits the expression "Tadmor in the wilderness," a desert land in which they dwelt among the sands.
וְאֵת כָּל עָרֵי הַמִּסְכְּנוֹת אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ לִשְׁלֹמֹה, וְאֵת עָרֵי הָרֶכֶב וְאֵת עָרֵי הַפָּרָשִׁים, וְאֵת חֵשֶׁק שְׁלֹמֹה אֲשֶׁר חָשַׁק לִבְנוֹת בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם וּבַלְּבָנוֹן וּבְכֹל אֶרֶץ מֶמְשַׁלְתּוֹ. - And all the store cities that Shlomo had, and the cities for the chariots and the cities for the horsemen, and whatever Shlomo desired to build in Yerushalayim and in the Lebanon and in all the land of his dominion.
The store cities are cities of treasuries, cities in which the king would place his treasures. As for the cities of the chariots and the horsemen, as we shall see further on, he had a very great number of horses and horsemen, and in this he unfortunately transgressed what is written in the Torah, "he shall not multiply horses for himself." And all that he desired to build in Jerusalem and throughout the land of his dominion, all of it Shlomo did according to his will and according to his wisdom.
כָּל הָעָם הַנּוֹתָר מִן הָאֱמֹרִי הַחִתִּי הַפְּרִזִּי הַחִוִּי וְהַיְבוּסִי אֲשֶׁר לֹא מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵמָּה. בְּנֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר נֹתְרוּ אַחֲרֵיהֶם בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָכְלוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַחֲרִימָם, וַיַּעֲלֵם שְׁלֹמֹה לְמַס עֹבֵד עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה. - All the people who remained of the Emori, the Chitti, the Perizzi, the Chivvi and the Yevusi, who were not of the children of Israel; their children who remained after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were unable to destroy, Shlomo levied upon them a labor tribute to this day.
The people of Israel were warned, "you shall not let a soul live," and every one of these nations who remained was subject to a command that he be killed. And the expression "whom the children of Israel were unable to destroy" is astonishing in the time of Shlomo, for it is written of him that he ruled over the whole world and all the nations around him feared him. It therefore stands to reason that they were unable to destroy them in earlier periods, and since that was so, they came to an arrangement with them that they would remain and pay tribute. Even so, this went against what the Torah stated explicitly, "you shall not let a soul live," and "those of them whom you allow to remain shall be as thorns in your eyes and as pricks in your sides," and so indeed it was, for as we shall see further on, they caused the people of Israel to sin and led them to serve idolatry. Shlomo too, it would seem, did not act properly in this: he did not root them out, but even took from them a labor tribute, that is, he made them like enslaved servants to give him taxes year after year.
וּמִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא נָתַן שְׁלֹמֹה עָבֶד, כִּי הֵם אַנְשֵׁי הַמִּלְחָמָה וַעֲבָדָיו וְשָׂרָיו וְשָׁלִישָׁיו וְשָׂרֵי רִכְבּוֹ וּפָרָשָׁיו. - But of the children of Israel Shlomo made no bondman, for they were the men of war, and his servants, and his officers, and his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen.
Although the Emori, the Chitti, the Perizzi, the Chivvi and the Yevusi were his labor tribute, of the children of Israel he did not make servants. They did the king's work, but degrading labors they did not do. And indeed we saw that there were among Israel hewers of wood in the Levanon, but that is not called servitude; the servitude was from the nations around them.
אֵלֶּה שָׂרֵי הַנִּצָּבִים אֲשֶׁר עַל הַמְּלָאכָה לִשְׁלֹמֹה, חֲמִשִּׁים וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת, הָרֹדִים בָּעָם הָעֹשִׂים בַּמְּלָאכָה. - These were the chief officers who were over Shlomo's work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work.
These five hundred and fifty were the ones who ruled over the people who did the work. The commentators go at length here to reconcile the numbers with the other reckonings we have seen and with the numbers in Divrei HaYamim, and as is our way we do not enter into all these calculations; whoever wishes may look into the Malbim and Rashi and the other commentators who work out how the reckonings fit together.
אַךְ בַּת פַּרְעֹה עָלְתָה מֵעִיר דָּוִד אֶל בֵּיתָהּ אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה לָהּ, אָז בָּנָה אֶת הַמִּלּוֹא. - But the daughter of Pharaoh went up out of the City of David to her house which he had built for her; then he built the Millo.
Let us begin from the end: what is the Millo? It is written that this was a very large open square within Jerusalem, to which the pilgrims coming for the festivals would come and set up their tents. Shlomo the king at first settled the daughter of Pharaoh in the City of David, as it is written, "and he brought her into the City of David," and afterward he said, as brought in Divrei HaYamim: "a wife shall not dwell for me in the City of David, for these places are holy, into which the Ark of Hashem has come." The City of David is a holy place, the Ark of Hashem is there, and how could I settle a woman there, and in particular such a woman, of whom it is said that she shall not enter the congregation until the third generation, for she is an Egyptian. He therefore built the Millo for the needs of the daughter of Pharaoh. And regarding this Yeravam later rebuked him: your father left the Millo open for the needs of the pilgrims, and you went and built it up for the daughter of Pharaoh?
Rashi explains the word "but": it was only in this that Shlomo did wrong, that he took the daughter of Pharaoh out of the City of David and brought her into Jerusalem, so it was understood. And he brings a further interpretation which he explains: the cities mentioned above he needed to build as store cities, as treasuries, for chariots and horsemen and for greatness; but the Millo he did not build for greatness, rather he built it for the daughter of Pharaoh. This is the "but" in the verse, that this was different from all his other buildings.
The Malbim explains: since he did not want her to remain in the City of David, which is a holy place, he built her a house and, as it were, persuaded her that it was a beautiful, magnificent and honorable house, and so she went up on her own to dwell there. Why in this manner? Because he could not tell her explicitly that she could not sit in the City of David because it is the place of the Aron and a holy place, and Hashem should have mercy, for then she would have been hurt, and it is even possible that, on the contrary, she would deliberately have remained there. Therefore he built her the Millo for her own sake, so that he would entice her by its being a more beautiful and honorable place, and then she went up on her own, and thus he gained that he would not need to persuade her.
וְהֶעֱלָה שְׁלֹמֹה שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה עֹלוֹת וּשְׁלָמִים עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה לַה', וְהַקְטֵיר אִתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי ה', וְשִׁלַּם אֶת הַבָּיִת. - And Shlomo offered up three times a year burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar that he had built to Hashem, and he burned incense with it before Hashem, and he completed the house.
This refers to the festival burnt offerings, three times a year, which were at the king's expense and from the costs of the king's house. "And he burned incense with it" - for there are two altars: the outer altar, which is the altar of the offerings, and the inner altar, which is the altar of the incense, and Shlomo funded the incense too from the king's treasury. "And he completed the house" - just as he built the house itself, so too he completed it, in that he saw to it that it reached full operation by bearing the costs of its service, and thereby the house was completed.
וָאֳנִי עָשָׂה הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה בְּעֶצְיוֹן גֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר אֶת אֵלוֹת עַל שְׂפַת יַם סוּף בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם. - And King Shlomo made a fleet in Etzyon Gever, which is near Elot, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
The commentators explain that "oni" is a shortening of "oniyot," that is, a fleet of ships. And just as in "and I have acquired oxen and donkeys," where the meaning is not one ox and one donkey but that the oxen are called by the name "ox," so too here "oni" is a fleet of ships. And where? In Etzyon Gever, which is near Elot, in the area of Eilat, on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom.
וַיִּשְׁלַח חִירָם בָּאֳנִי אֶת עֲבָדָיו אַנְשֵׁי אֳנִיּוֹת יֹדְעֵי הַיָּם עִם עַבְדֵי שְׁלֹמֹה. - And Chiram sent in the fleet his servants, men of ships who knew the sea, along with the servants of Shlomo.
The Targum renders "sailors, craftsmen who navigate the sea" - skilled sailors to sail the sea. "Who knew the sea" - that they knew the ways of the sea. And a further explanation: that they would taste the waters of the sea, and by the degree of saltiness they would know where they were and in which sea. And something similar we find among the Chittites, who were experts in examining the soil: they would taste a bit of the earth and know what soil it was, for what it was good, and which crops could be grown in it.
And some say that from here the sailors are called "malachim" - because they were experts in the quality of the sea's saltiness (melichut), and by the saltiness they knew where they were. And there is another explanation for the name "malachim": that they would stir the waters with their oars, for "memulach" in the Holy Tongue means mixed, as in "memulach tahor kodesh," whose meaning is mixed, and so Rashi explains there. According to this, "malachim" means those who stir the sea. And some explain that "memulach" there is from the word "melach," salt itself, which is seasoned and has sharpness and flavor, like food seasoned with salt.
וַיָּבֹאוּ אוֹפִירָה וַיִּקְחוּ מִשָּׁם זָהָב אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת וְעֶשְׂרִים כִּכָּר, וַיָּבִאוּ אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה. - And they came to Ophir and took from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Shlomo.
The servants of Chiram and the servants of Shlomo would go out together in partnership in order to bring gold. Ophir was the place of the gold mine, and after it the gold is called "ketem Ophir." And from there they brought four hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very large quantity, to King Shlomo.
It is brought in Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar, parsha 10, section 4: "The words of Lemuel the king" - why was Shlomo called Lemuel? On the very night that Shlomo completed the work of the Beit HaMikdash, he married Batya the daughter of Pharaoh, and there was both the joy of the celebration of the Beit HaMikdash and the joy of the celebration of Pharaoh's daughter, and the sound of the celebration of Pharaoh's daughter rose higher than the sound of the celebration of the Beit HaMikdash. See what a terrible thing. And this is what the proverb refers to: everyone flatters the king. And therefore he was called "Lemuel," for he cast off the yoke of Heaven from upon himself, that is, "lamah lo El" (why does he need God).
And at that hour the thought arose before the Holy One, blessed be He, to destroy Jerusalem. Already at its very building, the thought arose to destroy it. And this is an explicit verse: "כִּי עַל אַפִּי וְעַל חֲמָתִי הָיְתָה לִּי הָעִיר הַזֹּאת לְמִן הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר בָּנוּ אוֹתָהּ וְעַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה - For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it until this day." What happened from the day they built it? On that very night of the dedication of the Temple, Shlomo married Pharaoh's daughter, and already from the very first day there was something that stirred up the wrath of Hashem.
The Rabbis said: a thousand kinds of musical instruments did Pharaoh's daughter bring in to him, and she was commanding them to play before him on that night, saying to him: this is how they play before such and such an idol, and this is how they play before such and such an idol. An orchestra of a thousand instruments - not like today, where they bring five instruments and one already senses a great orchestra - each according to its own special melody. And what did Pharaoh's daughter do? She spread out above his bed a kind of canopy, like a special rug or sheet, and set in it all kinds of precious stones and pearls that sparkled like stars and constellations. And whenever Shlomo wished to arise in the morning, he would see those stars and constellations and say: it is still night - for she had darkened everything for him, and he would sleep until the fourth hour of the day, like one who sleeps until nine or ten in the morning.
Rabbi Levi said: on that day the daily offering was brought at the fourth hour. And concerning that occasion we learned in the Mishnah: it once happened that the morning daily offering was brought at the fourth hour. And Israel were grieved, for it was the day of the dedication of the Beit HaMikdash and they could do nothing: they waited, and there were no keys; where was Shlomo? Asleep. The people of Israel come on the first day to offer sacrifices, and they are told there are no keys, everything is locked, Shlomo is still asleep. And they were afraid to wake him because of the dread of the monarchy. They went and informed Bat Sheva his mother, and she went and woke him and rebuked him, and this is what is meant by "מַשָּׂא אֲשֶׁר יִסְּרַתּוּ אִמּוֹ - the oracle with which his mother chastised him."
Rabbi Yochanan said: this teaches that his mother bound him to the pillar and said to him: "מַה בְּרִי וּמַה בַּר בִּטְנִי וּמֶה בַּר נְדָרָי - what, my son? and what, son of my womb? and what, son of my vows?" What, my son - everyone knows that your father was a God-fearing man, and now they will say: Bat Sheva his mother, she caused this. For there are three partners in a person: the Holy One, blessed be He, his father, and his mother; and if the father is righteous and the son turns out to be a piece of work, they will say it comes from the mother, that she raised him this way and she caused it. And what, son of my womb - all the women of your father's house, once they became pregnant, no longer saw the face of the king, but I pressed and came in so that the child would be healthy and vigorous. And what, son of my vows - all the women of your father's house, once they became pregnant, would make vows and say: may we have a son fit for kingship, they would donate money and make vows at the graves of the righteous that their son merit the crown, for there were many competing for the crown. But I vowed and said: may I have a son who is diligent and learned in Torah and fit for prophecy. I did not aspire to kingship, but only that my son be learned in Torah and fit for prophecy. "אַל תִּתֵּן לַנָּשִׁים חֵילֶךָ - do not give your strength to women" - that you should chase after immorality, for they unsettle a person's mind, "וְרֹעֶה זוֹנוֹת יְאַבֶּד הוֹן - and he who consorts with harlots wastes wealth."
Thus his mother rebuked him. And it is implied that this thing happened only once: from then on Shlomo had already learned the trick with the canopy and the precious stones, and apparently he also made sure to duplicate an additional key to be in the hands of the other priests, so that such an incident would not happen again.
Chapter 9 opens with the second revelation to Shlomo, in which both of his prayers were answered: regarding the House - "to place My name there forever" for eternity, and "My eyes and My heart shall be there all the days" for as long as the House exists and the people of Israel are worthy; and regarding the kingship - on the explicit condition of walking with integrity of heart and uprightness. Alongside the promise comes the severe warning about the destruction and about "and Israel shall become a byword and an object of scorn among all the peoples," a prophecy that we see with our own eyes in every generation. Afterward the chapter describes the arrangement with Chiram, which according to the Abarbanel and the Malbim was not an actual granting of cities but the right to the produce of grain and oil that Shlomo had obligated himself to provide, and the levy that Shlomo imposed for the building of the cities and the wall, the store cities and the labor tax from the peoples that remained, Pharaoh's daughter and the Millo, the festival offerings that the king funded, and the fleet of ships that brought gold from Ophir. And in the end the Midrash teaches us that already on the night of the dedication of the House, when the joy of Pharaoh's daughter rose above the joy of the Beit HaMikdash, the thought arose before the Holy One, blessed be He, to destroy Jerusalem - a piercing testimony to how much a single inclination of the heart influences the fate of a House and a people.