These verses inform those who read them of the results of the successful negotiations. Each monarch received what he wanted. Solomon received the timber that he desired, and Hiram received food for his household and a quantity of beaten oil, which would amount to approximately 440,000 litres. The payment to Hiram was a yearly payment, but we would be in error to regard the payment as an indication that Israel was tributary to Tyre. In 1 Kings 5:13–14 it is clear that Solomon was able to get the agreement to his plan of procedure, so that it was his ideas, not Hiram’s, that prevailed.
10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired,