Or, near (as beth oft signifies, as hath been proved before) the land of Galilee, bordering upon it; in those parts which were near and adjoining to Hiram's dominions: with the cities understand the lands and territories belonging to them. Quest. How could Solomon give away any part of that land wherein the people had a right by a Divine lot, and God had a right, as being the only proprietary of it; upon which ground the total alienation of it, or any part of it, was forbidden, Leviticus 25:23 ? Answ.
1. It is not said that he gave them away wholly, and for ever; but he might assign them to him only for a time, until he was fully satisfied for his debt.
2. If these cities were possessed by Israelites, Solomon did not give him their particular possessions, but only his own royalties over them, and all the profits he received from them, which were very considerable, as may be gathered from that passage, 1 Kings 12:4.
3. These cities, though they were within those large bounds which God fixed to the Land of Promise, Genesis 15:18 Joshua 1:4, yet were not within those parts which were distributed by Lot in Joshua's time, nor belonging to the tribe of Asher, (as some suppose,) as may be gathered both from Joshua 19:27, where their border is said to go out only to the land of Cabul, to wit, exclusively; and Joshua 19:30, where all their cities are said to be but twenty and two; and from 2 Chronicles 8:2, where it is said of those cities, when Hiram restored them, that Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there; which makes it more than probable that these cities were not inhabited by Israelites, but by Canaanites, or other heathens; who being subdued and extirpated by David, or Solomon, those cities became a part of their dominions, and at their disposal; and afterwards were reckoned a part of Galilee, as Josephus notes; and may be one reason why he gave these rather than other cities, because they were in his power to give, when others were not.