At some point Hiram journeyed from Tyre to see the cites with which Solomon had gifted him. The writer explains his response as disappointment. The ESV translates Hiram’s reaction to the gifts as they did not please him.
This displeasure on the part of Hiram was great enough to elicit a communication sent to Solomon expressing the disappointment. Nevertheless, it was not great enough to sever the alliance between Hiram and Solomon. A number of commentators suggest that this gives credit to the idea that in the alliance Solomon’s position was primary and Hiram was the junior partner.
The writer of 1 Kings gives us two reasons to suspect that the payment of these cities is unequal to Hiram’s provision. The first reason given is found in the name Hiram gave them. Cabul
could be understood to mean as good as nothing.
The second reason the writer gives us to suspect this is by ending this brief account to the transaction by a brief statement that the amount of gold given was 120 talents of gold. This was a massive amount, even at a time when gold was more plentiful than it is today. The juxtaposition of worthlessness of the payment with the great value of what Solomon received speaks volumes.
It ought to be noted that not all scholars agree with this interpretation of the name Cabul. One such scholar suggests the translation borderlands,
which appears to have no overt negative implications. If this is the case, then there is no answer to why this naming by Hiram appears to be in response to his dissatisfaction with these cities.
Outside of the book of Joshua, where the name Galilee appears three times, this is the first occurrence of that title in the Old Testament. The word appears once more in 2 Kings and a few times in the books of Chronicles, and finally it appears once in the prophecy of Isaiah. The prophecy of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:1–21 is of particular interest. There the phrase in which it is included is Galilee of the nations [or Gentiles].
Why, we ask, is there this addition to the name Galilee as in some manner belonging to the nations? It is possible that Solomon’s gift to Hiram opened the borders between Israel and Phoenicia to cause there to be our influx of Gentiles coming into Israel. The Gospel writer, Matthew quotes the passage from Isaiah as fulfilled in the beginning of Jesus' Galilean ministry.
12 Hiram sortit de Tyr, pour voir les villes que lui donnait Salomon. Mais elles ne lui plurent point,