Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 9:27
And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
27. that had knowledge of the sea ] For which knowledge in ancient times the Phnicians were the most famous people.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Shipmen – See 1Ki 5:6 note. With respect to the acquaintance of the Phoenicians with this particular sea, it may be observed that they are not unlikely to have had trading settlements there, as they had in the Persian Gulf, even at this early period. The commerce with Ophir was probably an established trade, previously either in their hands or in those of the Egyptians, when Solomon determined to have a share in it. The Egyptians had navigated the other arm of the Red Sea, and perhaps its lower parts, from a much more ancient period.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The Tyrians were famous for
knowledge of the sea. He sent also ships to join with Solomons, 2Ch 8:18; not from Tyre, the famous city of Phoenicia, which was in the midland sea, from whence he could not sail to the Red Sea without fetching a vast compass; but from an island in the Red Sea, called Tyre, because it was a colony of the Tyrians, as Strabo notes.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Hiram sent in his navy his servants,…. And, according to 2Ch 8:18, ships also but how he could send them from Tyre, which lay in the Mediterranean sea, to the above ports in the Red sea, without going a great way round, is not easy to conceive. Perhaps, as Gussetins conjectures c, Hiram had a port in the Red sea for building and sending out ships, for the sake of his eastern navigation, and from thence he sent them to Solomon’s ports in the same sea; but if what R. Japhet d observes is true, that the Red sea is mixed with the sea of Joppa by means of the river Rhinocurura, as is remarked by a learned man e and who approves of the observation, and thinks it does not deserve the censure Dr. Lightfoot f passes on it. If this, I say, can be supported, the difficulty is removed: so Abarbinel asserts g, that a branch of the Nile flows into the Red sea: and another, passing through Alexandria, runs into the Mediterranean sea. This is the first navy of ships we read of; in the construction of which, as well as in the art of navigation, the Tyrians no doubt were greatly assisting to Solomon’s servants, and which appears by what follows; and they are said h to be the first that made use of ships; and the invention of ships of burden, or merchant ships, such as these were, is by Pliny i ascribed to Hippus the Tyrian: and the Tyrians were famous for merchandise, which they could not carry on with foreign nations without shipping; see Isa 23:8, the servants Hiram sent in Solomon’s navy were
shipmen that had knowledge of the sea; of sea coasts and ports, of the manner of guiding and managing ships at sea, and of the whole art of navigation, so far as then known, for which the Tyrians were famous; see Eze 27:3,
with the servants of Solomon; to instruct and assist them in naval affairs, they not having been used thereunto.
c Ebr. Comment p. 628. d In Aben Ezra in Jon. ii. 5. e Texelii Phoenix, l. 3. c. 6. p. 243, 244. f Miscellanies, c. 18. vol. 1. p. 1002, 1003. g Apud Manasseh, Spes Israelis, sect. 2. p. 20. h “Prima ratem ventis credere docta Tyros”, Catullus. i Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(27) Shipmen that had knowledge of the sea.The Tyrians were known far and wide as the great sailors both of the Mediterranean and the seas beyond it, till they were rivalled and superseded by their own colonists in Carthage and by the Greeks. How greatly their seamanship, their commerce, and their civilisation impressed the imagination of Israel, is shown in the magnificent chapters of Ezekiel on the fate of Tyre (Ezekiel 26-28). The Israelites, on the contrary, had but little care for the sea, and little knowledge of seamanship. The coast line of Palestine is but scantily furnished with harbours; and even at the height of their power they were content to use the maritime skill of the Tyrians, without encroaching upon their commerce or attempting to seize their famous ports. This was natural; for their call to be a peculiar and separate people was absolutely incompatible with maritime enterprise and commerce. Even in this attempt at maritime expedition under Tyrian guidance, Solomons action was, as in other points, exceptional, departing from Israelite tradition; and we hear of no similar enterprise, except in the age of Ahab and Jehoshaphat, when the intermarriage of the royal houses of Israel and Phnicia renewed the close connection with Tyre (1Ki. 22:48; 2Ch. 20:35). We observe, accordingly, that the sea is mostly regarded in the Old Testament in its terrible power of wave and storm, restrained from destroying only by the Almighty hand of God; and even the one psalm (Psa. 107:23-31), which describes the seafarers experience, dwells with awe on Gods wonders in the deep. In the description of the glory of the new heaven and earth of the hereafter, it is declared with emphasis that there was no more sea (Rev. 21:1).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. Shipmen that had knowledge of the sea Skilled in navigation. The Phenicians were the earliest and boldest navigators of antiquity. See the tribute to Tyrian wisdom and success in Eze 28:1-5.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 9:27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
Ver. 27. Shipmen that had knowledge of the sea. ] The Tyrians and Phoenicians were famous all the world over for their great skill in navigation. Of the Hollanders, one saith, Peterent caelum navibus Belgae, si navibus peti posset. The Low-country men are brave seamen; and that the English are no less, our recent conflicts with them and our great achievements in the western parts have proclaimed.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
his servants: 1Ki 5:6, 1Ki 5:9, 1Ki 22:49, 2Ch 20:36, 2Ch 20:37
Reciprocal: Gen 46:32 – their trade hath been to feed cattle 1Ki 10:11 – from Ophir 2Ch 8:17 – Eziongeber 2Ch 8:18 – General 2Ch 9:10 – brought gold Eze 27:8 – wise Act 27:27 – the shipmen