Solomon's forced laborers were non-Israelites (1 Chron. 8:7-8). Israelites also served, but they were not slaves (9:22). Solomon's method of providing workers for state projects became very distasteful to the people eventually, perhaps because of how he administered it (cf. 12:18). Solomon's temple rested on massive limestone blocks that he had quarried out of the hills north of Jerusalem (v. 17). The Gebelites (v. 18) lived in Byblos, 13 miles north of modern Beirut and 60 miles north of Tyre.
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 (v. 7). Solomon wrote that when a person's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Prov. 16:7). Such was God's blessing on Solomon at this time.
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