Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 9:11

"(now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar-trees and fir-trees, and with gold, according to all his desire), that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee." — 1 Kings 9:11 (ASV)

Gave Hiram ... cities. —This implies a debt to him for timber and gold, and probably stone also, over and above the payment in kind stipulated in 1 Kings 5:9. From the notice in 2 Chronicles 8:2, that when these cities were restored by Hiram, Solomon rebuilt them and peopled them with Israelites, it seems likely that they were previously cities of the subject races, which he would have no scruple in alienating; although, indeed, the often-quoted enactment of the Law (Leviticus 25:23–24), would likely not have been strictly observed under his self-reliant despotism.