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
1-2a King Solomon was off to a good start ruling Israel.
These were the leaders in his government:
2b-6 Azariah son of Zadok—the priest;
Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha—secretaries;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud—historian;
Benaiah son of Jehoiada—commander of the army;
Zadok and Abiathar—priests;
Azariah son of Nathan—in charge of the regional managers;
Zabud son of Nathan—priest and friend to the king;
Ahishar—manager of the palace;
Adoniram son of Abda—manager of the slave labor.
7-19Solomon had twelve regional managers distributed throughout Israel. They were responsible for supplying provisions for the king and his administration. Each was in charge of bringing supplies for one month of the year. These are the names:
Ben-Hur in the Ephraim hills;
Ben-Deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan;
Ben-Hesed in Arubboth—this included Socoh and all of Hepher;
Ben-Abinadab in Naphoth Dor (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath);
Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah over to Jokmeam;
Ben-Geber in Ramoth Gilead—this included the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead and the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty large walled cities with bronze-studded gates;
Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;
Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Basemath);
Baana son of Hushai in Asher and Aloth;
Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;
Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin;
Geber son of Uri in Gilead—this was the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and also of Og king of Bashan; he managed the whole district by himself.
Solomon’s Prosperity
20-21Judah and Israel were densely populated—like sand on an ocean beach! All their needs were met; they ate and drank and were happy. Solomon was sovereign over all the kingdoms from the River Euphrates in the east to the country of the Philistines in the west, all the way to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and were vassals of Solomon all his life.
22-23One day’s food supply for Solomon’s household was:
185 bushels of fine flour
375 bushels of meal
10 grain-fed cattle
20 range cattle
100 sheep
and miscellaneous deer, gazelles, roebucks, and choice fowl.
24-25Solomon was sovereign over everything, countries and kings, west of the River Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza. Peace reigned everywhere. Throughout Solomon’s life, everyone in Israel and Judah lived safe and sound, all of them from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south—content with what they had.
26-28Solomon had forty thousand stalls for chariot horses and twelve thousand horsemen. The district managers, each according to his assigned month, delivered food supplies for King Solomon and all who sat at the king’s table; there was always plenty. They also brought to the designated place their assigned quota of barley and straw for the horses.
29-34God gave Solomon wisdom—the deepest of understanding and the largest of hearts. There was nothing beyond him, nothing he couldn’t handle. Solomon’s wisdom outclassed the vaunted wisdom of wise men of the East, outshone the famous wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, wiser than Calcol and Darda the sons of Mahol. He became famous among all the surrounding nations. He created 3,000 proverbs; his songs added up to 1,005. He knew all about plants, from the huge cedar that grows in Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows in the cracks of a wall. He understood everything about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Sent by kings from all over the earth who had heard of his reputation, people came from far and near to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.