Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 9:13
And he said, What cities [are] these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.
13. What cities are these which thou hast given me? ] No doubt spoken with a tone of reproach and disappointment. The language of Josephus is ‘he said to Solomon that he did not want the cities.’ They are just alluded to in Chronicles (2Ch 8:2) as ‘the cities which Huram restored to Solomon.’
my brother ] This form of address between persons of royal rank has been always common. Cf. 1Ki 20:32-33; 1Ma 10:18 ; 1Ma 11:30 ; 2Ma 11:22 . It need not necessarily imply friendly feeling.
And he called them ] Or the Hebrew may mean ‘and one called them’ which was a common form to signify ‘they were called.’ We need not therefore of necessity impute the contemptuous name to Hiram. Josephus gives
the land of Cabul ] This appellation was given to indicate, what is stated in the text, that they were unsatisfactory. But it is not easy to know whence the name comes. There is a town so called in Joshua (Jos 19:27) which was situated in the tribe of Asher. This tribe was in North Galilee but there would be no significance in the name, if it were already that of one of the twenty cities given to Hiram. The LXX. appears to have taken ( Cabul) to be the same as ( gebul) for they render the name , a boundary. Josephus transliterates by , and adds that this word in Phnician means ‘not pleasing,’ an interpretation, as it seems, which he evolved from the context. Some of the Hebrew commentators have connected the name with a verb which in Aramaic signifies ‘to bind,’ and have explained that the district was sandy or muddy, and that the feet were always deep sunk in the mire. A later derivation has taken the word to mean ‘worth nothing,’ as if from = as, and = = nothing. There are many other attempts at explanation but none that can be pronounced satisfactory.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Cabul is said to be a Phoenician word, and signified displeasing (see margin). There is some reason to believe that the cities thus despised by Hiram were restored to Solomon 2Ch 8:2, and that Solomon rebuilt them and colonized them with Israelites.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. Called them the land of Cabul] Whether this epithet was given to this land by Hiram as a mark of disapprobation, or what is its proper meaning, the learned are not agreed. That there was a country of this name in the promised land in the time of Joshua, is evident enough from Jos 19:27, as it was one part of the boundary of the tribe of Asher; hence some interpret the word border or boundary, and so, the Septuagint understood it, for they have translated the Hebrew word , which signifies the same. The margin gives another meaning.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The land of Cabul, i.e. of dirt, as most interpret it. Not that it was a barren soil, as some imagine; for they who describe those parts commend them as fruitful; nor would Solomon have made him so unworthy a return: but because it was not pleasant, nor agreeable to his nor to his peoples humour; because, though the land was very good, yet being a thick and stiff clay, and therefore requiring great pains to manure and improve it, it was very unsuitable to the disposition of the Tyrians, who were delicate, and lazy, and luxurious, and wholly given to merchandise.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said,…. By letter to him:
what cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? so he called him, being not only his neighbour, but his ally, in friendship and covenant with him; and this he said of them not by way of complaint, or contempt, as unworthy of his acceptance; for so munificent a prince as Solomon would never offer to a king to whom he was so much obliged anything mean and contemptible; but as being unsuitable to him, however valuable they might be in themselves, or of advantage to others:
and he called them the land of Cabul unto this day; or rather the words should be rendered impersonally, “they were called so”; for Hiram could not call them by this name to the times of the writer of this book; nor is there any reason to think he would give them any name at all, and much less a contemptible one, as this is thought to be, when he did not choose to accept of them. Some interpret g the word shut up, or unfruitful, sandy, dirty, clayey; so in the Talmud h it is said to be a sandy land, and called Cabul, because a man’s foot was plunged in it up to his ankles, and is represented as unfruitful. Josephus i says, in the Phoenician tongue it signifies “not pleasing”, which agrees with what Hiram says, 1Ki 9:12. Hillerus k interprets it “as nothing”, they being as nothing to Hiram, of no use to him, whatever they might be to others; and therefore he restored them to Solomon, 2Ch 8:2, which seems to be the best sense of the word. They are the same with Decapolis, Mt 4:25 so called from ten cities therein l.
g David de Pomis, Lexic fol. 58. 2. h T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 54. 1. i Antiqu. l. 8. c. 5. sect. 3. k Onomastic. Sacr. p. 435. l Vid. Castel Lex Heptaglot. col. 1669. & Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 18.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(13) Cabul.The derivation of this word is uncertain. Josephus evidently did not know it as a Hebrew word; for he expressly says, that in the Phnician language it signifies what is unpleasing. (Ant. viii. 100:5, sect. 3). A city Cabul is mentioned in Jos. 19:27, in the territory of Asher, evidently on the Tyrian frontier, and in the neighbourhood in question. Hiram, it is thought, takes up this name, and applies it to the whole territory, and by a play of words on it signifies his discontent with Solomons gift. Ewald supposes a Hebrew derivation for the word (as nought); others take it to be like that which vanishes. Either would suit the sense indicated in the text well; but unless these derivations represent something cognate in the Tyrian language, they hardly accord with the requirements of this passage, which (as Josephus says) implies a Phoenician origin for the word.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. My brother Used here and in 1Ki 20:33, as often at the present day in the East, as a term of friendly intercourse. Compare 1 Macc.
1Ki 10:18; 1Ki 11:30; 2Ma 11:22 .
Cabul “Which name,” says Josephus, “if it be interpreted according to the language of the Phenicians, denotes what does not please.” The Cabul of Jos 19:27 may have been one of the twenty cities, and to show his dissatisfaction he may have applied the name of that little insignificant town to the whole district. After Hiram restored the cities, Solomon built them more nobly and peopled them with Israelites. 2Ch 8:2. But notwithstanding this displeasure on the part of Hiram, the friendly relations of these two monarchs seem to have lasted as long as they lived.
Unto this day The day when this document was written.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 9:13. And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day Houbigant thinks that Cabul is derived from an Arabic word, signifying to defer the payment of a debt; perhaps because he had not given them to king Hiram before he had finished all his buildings. The Arabic word signifies also to refuse, to be short in; which signification may imply, that those cities were either too small, or such as a Tyrian king should refuse. Some think, that the word Cabul should here be considered as a compound of caph, (like, as,) and bal, or bul, (nothing:) thus well expressing king Hiram’s dislike, as signifying that those cities were worthless, next to nothing. See Parkhurst on the word. It is uncertain why Hiram so much disliked these cities. Bedford thinks it was because the Tyrians were wholly addicted to trade and merchandize, and therefore would not remove from the sea-shores to live in a soil which required a great deal of labour to cultivate it; a business to which they were little accustomed. See Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ki 9:13 And he said, What cities [are] these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.
Ver. 13. What cities are these? ] i.e., Quanti putas esse? a How much dost thou hold them worth?
And he called them the land of Cabul,
a Vatab.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
What cities. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
Cabul. The point of the sarcasm is not apparent to us on account of our not knowing the meaning of the word. It has been variously suggested as meaning “worthless”, “not to my taste” (Josephus). Galilee always despised. Septuagint says “frontier”; others, “received as a pledge”; others, “good for nothing”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
my brother: 1Ki 5:1, 1Ki 5:2, Amo 1:9
Cabul: that is, Displeasing, or dirty. Josephus says that Cabul, in the Phoenician language, signifies , displeasing; and that these cities were situated in the neighbourhood of Tyre. Most commentators are persuaded that the city Cabul in the tribe of Asher was one; and probably from this Hiram took occasion to give this name to all the other cities which Solomon had ceded to him. Jos 19:27