1 Kings 4
4
1So king Solomon was king over all Israel. 2And these were the princes which he had; Azari´ah the son of Zadok the priest, 3Eliho´reph and Ahi´ah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehosh´aphat the son of Ahi´lud, the recorder. 4And Benai´ah the son of Jehoi´ada was over the host: and Zadok and Abi´athar were the priests: 5and Azari´ah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend: 6and Ahi´shar was over the household: and Adoni´ram the son of Abda was over the tribute.
7And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision. 8And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount E´phra-im: 9the son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Sha-al´bim, and Beth–she´mesh, and E´lon–beth–ha´nan: 10the son of Hesed, in Aru´both; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher: 11the son of Abin´adab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 12Ba´ana the son of Ahi´lud; to him pertained Ta´anach and Megid´do, and all Beth–she´an, which is by Zarta´nah beneath Jezreel, from Beth–she´an to A´bel–meho´lah, even unto the place that is beyond Jok´ne-am: 13the son of Geber, in Ra´moth–gil´e-ad; to him pertained the towns of Ja´ir the son of Manas´seh, which are in Gil´e-ad; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars: 14Ahin´adab the son of Iddo had Mahana´im: 15Ahim´a-az was in Naph´tali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 16Ba´anah the son of Hu´shai was in Asher and in Aloth: 17Jehosh´aphat the son of Paru´ah, in Is´sachar: 18Shim´e-i the son of Elah, in Benjamin: 19Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gil´e-ad, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land.
20Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. 21#Gen 15.18; 2 Chr 9.26. And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, 23ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowl. 24For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. 25And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer–sheba, all the days of Solomon. 26#1 Kgs 10.26; 2 Chr 1.14; 9.25. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27And those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. 28Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
29And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. 30And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31#Ps 89 Title. For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ez´rahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. 32#Prov 1.1; 10.1; 25.1; Song 1.1. And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. 33And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. 34And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
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.