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 Kingdom
1King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 2These are the names of his leading officials:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;
3Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, had the job of writing notes about what happened in the courts;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud wrote notes about the history of the people;
4Benaiah son of Jehoiada was the commander of the army;
Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
5Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors;
Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and an advisor to King Solomon;
6Ahishar was responsible for everything in the king’s palace;
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the slaves.
7Israel was divided into twelve districts. Solomon chose governors to rule over each district. These governors were ordered to gather food from their districts and give it to the king and his family. Each of the twelve governors was responsible for giving food to the king one month each year. 8These are the names of the twelve governors:
Ben Hur was governor of the hill country of Ephraim.
9Ben Deker was governor of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan.
10Ben Hesed was governor of Arubboth, Socoh, and Hepher.
11Ben Abinadab was governor of Naphoth Dor. He was married to Taphath, daughter of Solomon.
12Baana son of Ahilud was governor of Taanach and Megiddo and all of Beth Shean next to Zarethan. This was below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah across from Jokmeam.
13Ben Geber was governor of Ramoth Gilead. He was governor of all the towns and villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead. He was also governor of the district of Argob in Bashan. In this area there were 60 cities with big walls around them. These cities also had bronze bars on the gates.
14Ahinadab son of Iddo was governor of Mahanaim.
15Ahimaaz was governor of Naphtali. He was married to Basemath the daughter of Solomon.
16Baana son of Hushai was governor of Asher and Aloth.
17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was governor of Issachar.
18Shimei son of Ela was governor of Benjamin.
19Geber son of Uri was governor of Gilead. There had been two kings in this area, King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan, but Solomon appointed only one governor for that district.
20In Judah and Israel there were as many people as sand on the seashore. The people were happy and had plenty to eat and drink.
21Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines. His kingdom went as far as the border of Egypt. These countries sent gifts to Solomon, and they obeyed him all of his life.#4:21 sent gifts … life This showed that these countries had made peace agreements with Solomon because of his great power.
22-23This is the amount of food that Solomon needed each day for himself and for everyone who ate at his table: 150 bushels#4:22-23 150 bushels Literally, “30 cors” (6600 l). of fine flour, 300 bushels#4:22-23 300 bushels Literally, “60 cors” (13,200 l). of flour, 10 cattle that were fed grain, 20 cattle that were raised in the fields, 100 sheep, wild animals such as deer, gazelles, roebucks,#4:22-23 deer, gazelles, roebucks Different kinds of wild deer. and game birds.
24Solomon ruled over all the countries west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza. And Solomon had peace along all the borders of his kingdom. 25During Solomon’s life everyone in Judah and Israel, all the way from Dan to Beersheba, lived in peace and security. The people were at peace sitting under their own fig trees and grapevines.
26Solomon had places to keep 4000#4:26 4000 This is found in some copies of the ancient Greek version. The standard Hebrew text has 40,000, but see 2 Chron. 9:25. horses for his chariots and he had 12,000 horse soldiers. 27And each month one of the twelve district governors gave King Solomon everything he needed for all the people who ate at the king’s table. 28The district governors also gave the king enough straw and barley for the chariot horses and the riding horses. Everyone brought this grain to the necessary places.
Solomon’s Wisdom
29God made Solomon very wise. Solomon could understand more than you can imagine. 30He was wiser than anyone in the East#4:30 East The area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as far east as the Persian Gulf. or in Egypt. 31He was wiser than anyone on earth, even Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. King Solomon became famous in all the surrounding countries. 32By the end of his life, he had written#4:32 written Literally, “spoken.” 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs.
33Solomon also knew very much about nature. He taught about many different kinds of plants—everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the little vines that grow out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, and snakes.#4:33 snakes Literally, “creeping things.” These can be anything: insects, lizards, snakes, or fish. 34People from every nation came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. Kings all over the world sent their people to listen to him.
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