מלכים א, פרק ט׳, פסוק כ״א

Following the period of settlement in the land, descendants of various foreign nations remained living among the Israelites. The Israelites had been unable to drive them out or completely destroy them during their initial conquests [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Because the land was divided exclusively among the Israelite tribes, these remaining foreign populations had no legal right to inherit or own property. Stripped of their previous lands, they were left without any independent way to make a living.

To address this, King Solomon integrated these landless populations into his growing national administration by drafting them into a labor force. Rather than paying a financial tax, their obligation was fulfilled through physical servitude and manual labor [מצודת דוד]. In practice, these remaining groups served as the primary workforce for the massive building projects that King Solomon established throughout the country [ביאור שטיינזלץ].