3 Kings 4
4
1And king Solomon reigned over all Israel:
2And these were the princes which he had: Azarias the son of Sadoc, the priest:
3Elihoreph, and Ahia, the sons of Sisa, scribes: Josaphat the son of Ahilud, recorder:
4Banaias the son of Joiada, over the army: and Sadoc and Abiathar, priests:
5Azarias the son of Nathan, over them that were about the king: Zabud, the son of Nathan the priest, the king's friend:
6And Ahisar, governor of the house: and Adoniram the son of Abda, over the tribute.
7And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and for his household: for every one provided necessaries, each man his month in the year.
8And these are their names: Benhur, in mount Ephraim.
9Bendecar, in Macces, and in Salebim, and in Bethsames, and in Elon, and in Bethanan.
10Benhesed, in Aruboth: his was Socho, and all the land of Epher.
11Benabinadab, to whom belonged all Nephath-Dor: he had Tapheth the daughter of Solomon to wife.
12Bana the son of Ahilud, who governed Thanac and Mageddo, and all Bethsan, which is by Sarthana beneath Jezrael, from Bethsan unto Abelmehula over against Jecmaan.
13Bengaber, in Ramoth Galaad: he had the towns of Jair the son of Manasses in Galaad, he was chief in all the country of Argob, which is in Basan, threescore great cities with walls, and brazen bolts.
14Abinadab the son of Addo was chief in Manaim.
15Achimaas in Nephtali: he also had Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife.
16Baana the son of Husi, in Aser and in Baloth.
17Josaphat the son of Pharue, in Issachar.
18Semei the son of Ela, in Benjamin.
19Gaber the son of Uri, in the land of Galaad, in the land of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites and of Og the king of Basan: over all that were in that land.
20Juda and Israel were innumerable, as the sand of the sea in multitude: eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
21And Solomon had under him all the kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt: and they brought him presents, and served him, all the days of his life.
22And the provision of Solomon for each day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal;
23Ten fat oxen and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred rams, besides venison of harts, roes, and buffles, and fatted fowls.
24For he had all the country which was beyond the river, from Thaphsa to Gazan, and all the kings of those countries. And he had peace on every side round about.
25And Juda and Israel dwelt without any fear, every one under his vine, and under his fig tree, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon.
26And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand for the saddle.
27And the foresaid governors of the king fed them: and they furnished the necessaries also for king Solomon's table, with great care in their time.
28They brought barley also and straw for the horses and beasts, to the place where the king was, according as it was appointed them.
29And God gave to Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart as the sand that is on the sea-shore.
30And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the Orientals and of the Egyptians,
31And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dorda the sons of Mahol. And he was renowned in all nations round about.
32Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems were a thousand and five.
33And he treated about trees from the cedar that is in Libanus, unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall: and he discoursed of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34And they came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon and from all the kings of the earth who heard of his wisdom.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
1 Kings 4
4
Solomon's officials
1-6Here is a list of Solomon's highest officials while he was king of Israel:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;
Elihoreph and Ahijah sons of Shisha were the secretaries;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud kept the government records;
Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the army commander;
Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the regional officers;
Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and the king's adviser;
Ahishar was the prime minister;
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labour.
7Solomon chose twelve regional officers, who took turns bringing food for him and his household. Each officer provided food from his region for one month of the year. 8These were the twelve officers:
The son of Hur was in charge of the hill country of Ephraim.
9The son of Deker was in charge of the towns of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan.
10The son of Hesed was in charge of the towns of Arubboth and Socoh, and the region of Hepher.
11The son of Abinadab was in charge of Naphath-Dor and was married to Solomon's daughter Taphath.
12Baana son of Ahilud was in charge of the towns of Taanach and Megiddo. He was also in charge of the whole region of Beth-Shan near the town of Zarethan, south of Jezreel from Beth-Shan to Abel-Meholah to the other side of Jokmeam.
13The son of Geber was in charge of the town of Ramoth in Gilead and the villages in Gilead belonging to the family of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh. He was also in charge of the region of Argob in Bashan, which had sixty walled towns with bronze bars on their gates.
14Ahinadab son of Iddo was in charge of the territory of Mahanaim.
15Ahimaaz was in charge of the territory of Naphtali and was married to Solomon's daughter Basemath.
16Baana son of Hushai was in charge of the territory of Asher and the town of Bealoth.
17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of the territory of Issachar.
18Shimei son of Ela was in charge of the territory of Benjamin.
19Geber son of Uri was in charge of Gilead, where King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan had lived.
And one officer was in charge of the territory of Judah.#4.19 of Judah: One ancient translation; these words are not in the Hebrew text.
The size of Solomon's kingdom
20There were so many people living in Judah and Israel while Solomon was king that they seemed like grains of sand on a beach. Everyone had enough to eat and drink, and they were happy.
21Solomon ruled every kingdom between the River Euphrates and the land of the Philistines down to Egypt. These kingdoms paid him taxes as long as he lived.#Gn 15.18; 2 Ch 9.26.
22Every day, Solomon needed five thousand litres of fine flour, ten thousand litres of coarsely-ground flour, 23ten grain-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, one hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, and geese.
24Solomon ruled the whole region west of the River Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and he was at peace with all the countries around him. 25Everyone living in Israel, from the town of Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, was safe as long as Solomon lived. Each family sat undisturbed beneath its own grapevines and fig trees.
26Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses and twelve thousand chariot soldiers.#1 K 10.26; 2 Ch 1.14; 9.25.
27Each of the twelve regional officers brought food to Solomon and his household for one month of the year. They provided everything he needed, 28as well as barley and straw for the horses.
Solomon's wisdom
29Solomon was brilliant. God had blessed him with insight and understanding. 30-31He was wiser than anyone else in the world, including the wisest people of the east and of Egypt. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Mahol's three sons, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. Solomon became famous in every country around Judah and Israel.#Ps 89 Title. 32Solomon wrote three thousand wise sayings and composed more than a thousand songs.#Pr 1.1; 10.1; 25.1; Sgs 1.1. 33He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34Kings all over the world heard about Solomon's wisdom and sent people to listen to him teach.
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