1 Kings 4
4
1 Now king Solomon was reigning over all of Israel.
2 And these were the leaders that he had: Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, the scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the keeper of records;
4 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, over the army; and Zadok, and Abiathar, priests;
5 Azariah, the son of Nathan, over those who were assisting the king; Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the friend of the king;
6 and Ahishar, first ruler of the house; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, over the tribute.
7 And Solomon had twelve commanders over all of Israel, who offered yearly provisions for the king and his house. For each was ministering the necessities, by each month of the year.
8 And these are their names: Benhur, on mount Ephraim;
9 Bendeker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon, and in Beth-hanan;
10 Benhesed, in Arubboth: his was Socoh and the entire land of Hepher;
11 Benabinadab, to whom was all of Naphath-Dor, who had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, as wife;
12 Baana, the son of Ahilud, who was reigning in Taanach, and Megiddo, and all of Bethshean, which is beside Zarethan and below Jezreel, from Bethshean as far as Abelmeholah, opposite Jokmeam;
13 Bengeber, in Ramoth Gilead, who had the town of Jair, the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; the same was first in the entire region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls that had bronze bars;
14 Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, who was first in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali, and he also had Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, in marriage;
16 Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Bealoth;
17 Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin;
19 Geber, the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan, over all who were in that land.
20 Judah and Israel were innumerable, like the sand of the sea in multitude: eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
21 Now Solomon had, in his dominion, all the kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt. And they offered gifts to him, and they served him all the days of his life.
22 And the provisions of Solomon, for each day, were thirty cor of fine wheat flour, and sixty cor of meal,
23 ten fattened oxen, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred rams, aside from the venison of stags, roe deer, and gazelles, and fattened poultry.
24 For he had obtained the entire region which was beyond the river, from Tiphsah as far as Gaza, and all the kings of those regions. And he had peace on every side all around.
25 And so, Judah and Israel were living without any fear, each one under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, during all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand riding horses.
27 And the above-stated commanders of the king nourished these. And they also offered the necessities for the table of king Solomon, with immense diligence, each in his time.
28 Also, they brought barley and straw for the horses and beasts of burden, to the place where the king was, just as it was appointed to them.
29 And God gave wisdom to Solomon, and an exceedingly great prudence, and a spacious heart, like the sand which is on the shore of the sea.
30 And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the East, and of the Egyptians.
31 And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And he was renowned in all the nations on every side.
32 Solomon also spoke three thousand parables. And his verses were one thousand and five.
33 And he discoursed about trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon, to the hyssop which grows out from the wall. And he explained about beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and fish.
34 And they came from all the peoples in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who were hearing about his wisdom.
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1 Kings 4
4
Solomon’s Officials and Governors
1King Solomon now ruled over all Israel, 2and these were his high officials:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.
3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were court secretaries.
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.
4Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors.
Zabud son of Nathan, a priest, was a trusted adviser to the king.
6Ahishar was manager of the palace property.
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of forced labor.
7Solomon also had twelve district governors who were over all Israel. They were responsible for providing food for the king’s household. Each of them arranged provisions for one month of the year. 8These are the names of the twelve governors:
Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim.
9Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-bethhanan.
10Ben-hesed, in Arubboth, including Socoh and all the land of Hepher.
11Ben-abinadab, in all of Naphoth-dor.#4:11 Hebrew Naphath-dor, a variant spelling of Naphoth-dor. (He was married to Taphath, one of Solomon’s daughters.)
12Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth-shan#4:12 Hebrew Beth-shean, a variant spelling of Beth-shan; also in 4:12b. near Zarethan below Jezreel, and all the territory from Beth-shan to Abel-meholah and over to Jokmeam.
13Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead, including the Towns of Jair (named for Jair of the tribe of Manasseh#4:13 Hebrew Jair son of Manasseh; compare 1 Chr 2:22.) in Gilead, and in the Argob region of Bashan, including sixty large fortified towns with bronze bars on their gates.
14Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim.
15Ahimaaz, in Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters.)
16Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth.
17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar.
18Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin.
19Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead,#4:19a Greek version reads of Gad; compare 4:13. including the territories of King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan.
There was also one governor over the land of Judah.#4:19b As in some Greek manuscripts; Hebrew lacks of Judah. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Solomon’s Prosperity and Wisdom
20The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They were very contented, with plenty to eat and drink. 21#4:21a Verses 4:21-34 are numbered 5:1-14 in Hebrew text.Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River#4:21b Hebrew the river; also in 4:24. in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south. The conquered peoples of those lands sent tribute money to Solomon and continued to serve him throughout his lifetime.
22The daily food requirements for Solomon’s palace were 150 bushels of choice flour and 300 bushels of meal#4:22 Hebrew 30 cors [6.6 kiloliters] of choice flour and 60 cors [13.2 kiloliters] of meal.; 23also 10 oxen from the fattening pens, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep or goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roe deer, and choice poultry.#4:23 Or and fattened geese.
24Solomon’s dominion extended over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza. And there was peace on all his borders. 25During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety. And from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, each family had its own home and garden.#4:25 Hebrew each family lived under its own grapevine and under its own fig tree.
26Solomon had 4,000#4:26a As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 2 Chr 9:25); Hebrew reads 40,000. stalls for his chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horses.#4:26b Or 12,000 charioteers.
27The district governors faithfully provided food for King Solomon and his court; each made sure nothing was lacking during the month assigned to him. 28They also brought the necessary barley and straw for the royal horses in the stables.
29God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. 30In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt. 31He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. 34And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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