Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 5:9

"My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them; and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household." — 1 Kings 5:9 (ASV)

See the marginal reference. The timber was first carried westward from the slopes of Lebanon to the nearest part of the coast. There, it was collected into floats, or rafts, which were then transported southward along the coast to Joppa (now Jaffa), from where the land journey to Jerusalem was no more than about forty miles. A similar course was taken for the building of the second temple (Ezra 3:7).

Food for my household - The Phoenician cities had very little arable territory of their own, as the mountain range of Lebanon rises rapidly behind them, and they always had to import the main part of their sustenance from abroad. They seem to have commonly derived it from Judea (see marginal references). Hiram now agreed to accept an annual payment of grain and oil, both of the best quality, for the sustenance of his court in exchange for his timber and the services of his workmen (1 Kings 5:6). This payment was entirely distinct from the supplies furnished to the workmen (see marginal reference "l").