1st Kings Chapter 9 verse 13 Holy Bible
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.
read chapter 9 in ASV
And he said, What sort of towns are these which you have given me, my brother? So they were named the land of Cabul, to this day.
read chapter 9 in BBE
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.
read chapter 9 in DARBY
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.
read chapter 9 in KJV
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul to this day.
read chapter 9 in WBT
He said, What cities are these which you have given me, my brother? He called them the land of Cabul to this day.
read chapter 9 in WEB
and he saith, `What `are' these cities that thou hast given to me, my brother?' and one calleth them the land of Cabul unto this day.
read chapter 9 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? [Cf. 1 Kings 20:32. It would seem, at first sight, as if this form of speech was then, as now, the usage of courts. But the Fellahin of Palestine, the "modern Canaanites," still address each other as "my father" or "my brother." See Conder, "Tent-work," p. 332]. And he called them the land of Cabul [The meaning of this word is quite uncertain. The LXX. reads Οριον, which shows that they must have read גבול instead of כבול; indeed, it is possible that the words have the same meaning (Gesen.) Stanley (S. and P. p. 364) thinks these cities formed the boundary between the two kingdoms, and refers to the use of ὅρια in Matthew 15:21; Luke 6:17, etc. According to Josephus, Ξαβαλὼν, is a Phoenician word, meaning displeasing; but his etymologies are to be received with caution, and Gesenius justly pronounces this a mere conjecture from the context. Thenius and Ewald regard the word as compounded of כ and בל = as nothing; Keil connects it with the root חבל, which would yield the meaning pawned or pledged, and hence concludes that, this strip of territory was merely given to Hiram as a security for the repayment of a loan (see below on ver. 14); while Bahr derives it from כבל, an unused root, akin to the preceding - vinxit, constrinxit, and would see in it a name bestowed on the region because of its confined geographical position. He does not understand the word, however, as a term of contempt. "How," he asks, "could Hiram give the district a permanent name which contained a mockery of himself rather than of the land?" But the word was obviously an expression of disparagement, if not disgust, which, falling from Hiram's lips, was caught up and repeated with a view to mark not so much his displeasure as Solomon's meanness. But it is not necessary to find a meaning for the word, for it is to be considered that a city Bearing this name existed at that time and in this neighbourhood (Joshua 19:27), the site of which, in all probability, is marked by the modern Kabul, eight miles east of Accho (Robinson, 3:87, 88; Dict. Bib. 1:237; Thomson, "Land and Book," 1:281, 511). It is possible, indeed, that it may have been one of the "twenty cities" (ver. 11) given to Hiram. And if this city, whether within or without the district of Galilee, were notorious for its poverty or meanness, or conspicuous by its bleak situation, we can at once understand why Hiram should transfer the name to the adjoining region, even if that name, in itself, had no special significance] unto this day. [See on 1 Kings 8:8.]
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) Cabul.--The derivation of this word is uncertain. Josephus evidently did not know it as a Hebrew word; for he expressly says, that in the Phaenician language it signifies "what is unpleasing." (Ant. viii. 100:5, sect. 3). A city Cabul is mentioned in Joshua 19:27, in the territory of Asher, evidently on the Tyrian frontier, and in the neighbourhood in question. Hiram, it is thought, takes up this name, and applies it to the whole territory, and by a play of words on it signifies his discontent with Solomon's gift. Ewald supposes a Hebrew derivation for the word ("as nought"); others take it to be "like that which vanishes." Either would suit the sense indicated in the text well; but unless these derivations represent something cognate in the Tyrian language, they hardly accord with the requirements of this passage, which (as Josephus says) implies a Phoenician origin for the word.
