1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Officials

1 King Solomon reigned over all Israel,  * 4:1 2Sm 5:5; 8:152 and these were his officials:  * 4:2 1Kg 12:6

Azariah son of Zadok, priest;

3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, secretaries;

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud, court historian;

4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, in charge of the army;

Zadok and Abiathar, priests;

5 Azariah son of Nathan, in charge of the deputies;

Zabud son of Nathan, a priest and adviser to the king;

6 Ahishar, in charge of the palace;

and Adoniram son of Abda, in charge of forced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve deputies for all Israel. They provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month out of the year.  * 4:7 1Kg 4:278 These were their names:

Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan;

10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (he had Socoh and the whole land of Hepher);

11 Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (Taphath daughter of Solomon was his wife);

12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;

13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also had married a daughter of Solomon — Basemath);

16 Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar;

18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin;

19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of King Sihon of the Amorites and of King Og of Bashan.

There was one deputy in the land of Judah.  * 4:19 LXX; MT omits of Judah

Solomon’s Provisions

20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea;  * 4:20 Gn 22:17; 1Kg 3:8 they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing. 21 Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt.  * 4:21 Gn 15:18; 2Ch 9:26 They offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.  * 4:21 2Sm 8:2,6

22 Solomon’s provisions for one day were 180 bushels  * 4:22 Lit 30 cors of fine flour and 360 bushels  * 4:22 Lit 60 cors of meal, 23 ten fattened cattle, twenty range cattle, and a hundred sheep and goats, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and pen-fed poultry,  * 4:23 Hb obscure,* 4:22–23 1Kg 10:5; Neh 5:1824 for he had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza and over all the kings west of the Euphrates. He had peace on all his surrounding borders. 25 Throughout Solomon’s reign, Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan to Beer-sheba,  * 4:25 Jdg 20:1; 1Sm 3:20 each person under his own vine and his own fig tree.  * 4:25 Mc 4:3–4; Zch 3:1026 Solomon had forty thousand  * 4:26 2Ch 9:25 reads 4,000 stalls stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.  * 4:26 Dt 17:16; 1Kg 10:26; 2Ch 1:1427 Each of those deputies for a month in turn provided food for King Solomon and for everyone who came to King Solomon’s table. They neglected nothing. 28 Each man brought the barley and the straw for the chariot teams and the other horses  * 4:28 Est 8:10,14 to the required place according to his assignment.  * 4:28 Lit judgment

Solomon’s Wisdom and Literary Gifts

29 God gave Solomon wisdom, very great insight, and understanding  * 4:29 1Kg 3:12 as vast as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,  * 4:30 Gn 29:1 greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.  * 4:30 Is 19:11; Ac 7:2231 He was wiser than anyone  * 4:31 1Kg 3:12  — wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite,  * 4:31 1Ch 15:19; Pss 88, 89 titles and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol.  * 4:31 1Ch 2:6 His reputation extended to all the surrounding nations.  * 4:31 1Kg 10:1,6

32 Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs,  * 4:32 Pr 1:1; Ec 9:12 and his songs numbered 1,005.  * 4:32 Sg 1:133 He spoke about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall. He also spoke about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 Emissaries of all peoples, sent by every king on earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom.  * 4:34 1Kg 10:1,6