What is the context?
Twenty years have gone into the temple and royal palace. Hiram has supplied timber and gold, and Solomon gives him twenty towns in Galilee.
Hiram inspects the towns and is not pleased. His question to Solomon expresses that disappointment, and the district becomes known as the Land of Cabul. The account also records the hundred twenty talents of gold Hiram had sent.
The name fits the story’s unhappy response, though its exact meaning is uncertain. Brown–Driver–Briggs offers as good as nothing as a possible explanation of the name in this setting.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry reads the episode as a mismatch between the gift and Hiram’s interests. Gill likewise considers the towns unsuitable for Hiram, without concluding that they were necessarily worthless to everyone.
Gill discusses whether Solomon transferred the towns themselves or their revenues. He favors an actual grant; Wesley also understands a transfer of territory. Their explanations about the towns’ earlier population and status go beyond what this short account directly supplies.
The clear point is the strain in an otherwise productive partnership: the king who supplied Solomon’s projects is dissatisfied with what he receives.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.