What Does 1 Kings 9:11 Mean in the King James?
(Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
“Furnished” is built on a verb of bearing: Hiram carries Solomon’s desired wealth, and Solomon answers that carried provision by placing twenty cities in Hiram’s hands.
THE MEANING
Provision here has weight and direction: Hiram bears cedar, fir, and gold toward Solomon’s desire, and Solomon answers with twenty cities in Galilee. Tyre is Tsor (צֹר, “rock”), and Solomon is Shelomoh (שְׁלֹמֹה), a name echoing shalom (שָׁלוֹם, “wholeness”). The verse speaks now through a concrete exchange: what is carried to another can be met by something placed in that person’s hands.
THE ROOT
נשא
nasa
GROWS FROM
נשא
Lift, carry, or bear.
The word rendered “furnished” is nasa, whose basic sense is carrying or bearing. Hiram is pictured as bearing the materials Solomon desires; the cities are the material answer to that support.
ALSO GROWS
massa: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
The same root can describe what is carried, making Hiram’s provision tangible as a load borne for another.
nasi: A leader or prince; one elevated.
נָשִׂיא
This branch preserves the root’s sense of being lifted up, extending the image from carrying goods to elevation.
יִתֵּן
yitten root natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
Give, set, or place.
The root behind “gave” also means to set or place. Solomon’s response is not an abstract repayment: he places twenty cities in Hiram’s possession.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This is the root verb of “gave” here; its range lets giving carry the sense of placing something into another’s hands.
mattanah: A gift or present.
מַתָּנָה
This noun from the same root shows a gift as something concretely given.
שְׁלֹמֹה
Shelomoh
GROWS FROM
שלם
Whole or complete; the family of shalom, wholeness.
“Solomon” in this verse is Shelomoh. Shelomoh’s name echoes shalom, wholeness. That name frames an exchange of resources and land, while the verse leaves open whether the exchange itself achieves wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness; also peace.
שָׁלוֹם
This familiar branch makes the wholeness carried in Solomon’s name audible.
shalem: Whole or complete.
שָׁלֵם
This adjective from the same root family clarifies the sense of completeness beneath the name.
THE PATTERN
Provision moves between hands and becomes concrete supply for another.
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:THE THREAD
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,The verb translated “set” comes from natan, the same root rendered “gave” here. In both verses the root carries the sense of placing something into position: lights in the heavens, cities in Hiram’s hands.
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