Solomon"s forced laborers were non-Israelites ( 2 Chronicles 8:7-8). Israelites also served, but they were not slaves ( 1 Kings 9:22). Solomon"s method of providing workers for state projects became very distasteful to the people eventually, perhaps because of how it was administered (cf. 1 Kings 12:18). [source][source][source]
"[1] was probably one of the most hated men in Israel, an embodiment of autocracy." [2][source]
Solomon"s temple rested on massive limestone blocks that he had quarried out of the hills north of Jerusalem ( 1 Kings 5:17). The Gebelites ( 1 Kings 5:18) lived in Byblos, 13miles north of modern Beirut and60 miles north of Tyre. [source][source][source]
The main emphasis in this chapter is on the favorable response of the Phoenician king, Hiram, with which God blessed Israel through Solomon"s wisdom ( 1 Kings 5:7). Solomon wrote that "when a person"s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" ( Proverbs 16:7). Such was God"s blessing on Solomon at this time. [source][source][source]