The Meaning of 1 Kings 9:21 Explained

1 Kings 9:21

KJV: Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.

YLT: their sons who are left behind them in the land, whom the sons of Israel have not been able to devote -- he hath even lifted up on them a tribute of service unto this day.

Darby: their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, upon them did Solomon impose a tribute of bondservice until this day.

ASV: their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel were not able utterly to destroy, of them did Solomon raise a levy of bondservants unto this day.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Their children  that were left  after  them in the land,  whom the children  of Israel  also were not able  utterly to destroy,  upon those did Solomon  levy  a tribute  of bondservice  unto this day. 

What does 1 Kings 9:21 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Kings 9:15-28 - Prosperity And Wealth
Solomon was a great builder and employed vast numbers of Canaanites, the old inhabitants of the land, as forced laborers. They performed the drudgery, while the Israelites filled the more honorable and lucrative posts. See Isaiah 60:10. There are Amorites and Perizzites in our lives. Let us not be mastered by them, but compel them to subserve our own growth in grace.
Millo was the key to the fortifications of Jerusalem; Hazor and Megiddo, Baalath and Tadmor guarded the northern frontier. On the extreme south, the navies visited distant realms, and returned laden with gold. Such were Israel's midsummer days. But as, in the latter days of summer, there is the faint odor of decay in the air, and we know that the autumn comes apace, so beneath all this splendor and imperial glory, as we turn to the earlier chapters of Ecclesiastes, we learn that decadence was at its heart.
1 Kings 9:1-28 - Breaking Three Commandments
From a worldly point of view Naboth might have done a good stroke of business by selling his estate to. Ahab. A royal price and assured favor might have been his-but he had a conscience! Above the persuasive tones of the monarch's offer sounded the voice of God: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18.
Ahab knew perfectly well that Jezebel could not give him the property of another except by foul means, but he took pains not to inquire. Though the direct orders for Naboth's death did not come from him, yet, by his silence, he was an accomplice and an accessory; and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us responsible for wrongs which we do not arrest, though we have the power. The crime was blacker because of the pretext of religion, as suggested by a fast. See also 2 Kings 9:26. The blood of murdered innocence cries to God, and his requital, though delayed, is inevitable. See Revelation 6:9-10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Kings 9

1  God's covenant in a vision with Solomon
10  The mutual presents of Solomon and Hiran
15  In Solomon's works the Gentiles were his bondmen, the Israelites servants
24  Pharaoh's daughter removes to her house
25  Solomon's yearly solemn sacrifices
26  His navy fetches gold from Ophir

What do the individual words in 1 Kings 9:21 mean?

That is their descendants who were left after them in the land whom not had been able the sons of Israel to destroy completely and raised from these Solomon forced labor as it is to day this
בְּנֵיהֶ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר נֹתְר֤וּ אַחֲרֵיהֶם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹֽא־ יָכְל֛וּ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לְהַֽחֲרִימָ֑ם וַיַּעֲלֵ֤ם שְׁלֹמֹה֙ לְמַס־ עֹבֵ֔ד עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה

בְּנֵיהֶ֗ם  That  is  their  descendants 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
נֹתְר֤וּ  were  left 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָתַר  
Sense: to be left over, remain, remain over, leave.
אַחֲרֵיהֶם֙  after  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
Root: אַחַר 
Sense: after the following part, behind (of place), hinder, afterwards (of time).
בָּאָ֔רֶץ  in  the  land 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
אֲשֶׁ֧ר  whom 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
יָכְל֛וּ  had  been  able 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: יָכֹל  
Sense: to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able.
בְּנֵ֥י  the  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל  of  Israel 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִשְׂרָאֵל  
Sense: the second name for Jacob given to him by God after his wrestling with the angel at Peniel.
לְהַֽחֲרִימָ֑ם  to  destroy  completely 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct, third person masculine plural
Root: חָרַם 
Sense: to ban, devote, destroy utterly, completely destroy, dedicate for destruction, exterminate.
וַיַּעֲלֵ֤ם  and  raised  from  these 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular, third person masculine plural
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
שְׁלֹמֹה֙  Solomon 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁלֹמֹה  
Sense: son of David by Bathsheba and 3rd king of Israel; author of Proverbs and Song of Songs.
לְמַס־  forced 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מַס  
Sense: gang or body of forced labourers, task-workers, labour band or gang, forced service, task-work, serfdom, tributary, tribute, levy, taskmasters, discomfited.
עֹבֵ֔ד  labor 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: עָבַד  
Sense: to work, serve.
עַ֖ד  as  it  is  to 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
הַיּ֥וֹם  day 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַזֶּֽה  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, masculine singular
Root: זֶה  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, another, such.