1 Kings 4
4
Solomon’s Officials
1King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was #1 Chr. 6:10the priest; 3Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; #2 Sam. 8:16; 20:24Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 4#ch. 2:35 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; #2 Sam. 20:25; [ch. 2:27, 35]Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5Azariah the son of Nathan was over #ver. 7 the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and #[2 Sam. 15:37; 16:16; 1 Chr. 27:33]king’s friend; 6Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and #ch. 5:14; [ch. 12:18; 2 Sam. 20:24; 2 Chr. 10:18] Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of #[ch. 9:15]the forced labor.
7Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. 8These were their names: Ben-hur, in #See Josh. 24:33the hill country of Ephraim; 9Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan; 10Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher); 11Ben-abinadab, in all #Josh. 11:2Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 12Baana the son of Ahilud, in #[Josh. 17:11]Taanach, Megiddo, and all #[Josh. 17:11]Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13Ben-geber, #[ch. 22:3] in Ramoth-gilead (he had #Num. 32:41 the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had #Deut. 3:4the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); 14Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); 16Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18#ch. 1:8Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, #Deut. 3:8-10the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.
Solomon’s Wealth and Wisdom
20Judah and Israel were as many #Gen. 22:17; [ch. 3:8; 2 Chr. 1:9]as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 21#4:21 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew #2 Chr. 9:26 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the #Gen. 15:18; Ex. 23:31; Josh. 1:4; Ps. 72:8 Euphrates#4:21 Hebrew the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. #Ps. 68:29; 72:10, 11They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors#4:22 A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates#4:24 Hebrew the River; twice in this verse from Tiphsah to #Gen. 10:19 Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. #1 Chr. 22:9And he had peace on all sides around him. 25And Judah and Israel #Jer. 23:6; 32:37; Ezek. 28:26 lived in safety, #See 2 Sam. 3:10 from Dan even to Beersheba, #Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10; [2 Kgs. 18:31; Isa. 36:16]every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. 26#[ch. 10:26; 2 Chr. 1:14; 9:25]Solomon also had 40,000#4:26 Hebrew; one Hebrew manuscript (see 2 Chronicles 9:25 and Septuagint of 1 Kings 10:26) 4,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28Barley also and straw for the horses and #Esth. 8:10, 14; Mic. 1:13swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.
29 # ch. 3:12 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind #[ver. 20]like the sand on the seashore, 30so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all #Judg. 6:3 the people of the east #Acts 7:22; [Isa. 19:11]and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31For he was #[See ver. 29 above]wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 32#Prov. 1:1; Eccles. 12:9 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, #Song 1:1and his songs were 1,005. 33He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 34And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from #2 Chr. 9:23; [ch. 10:1]all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
Currently Selected:
1 Kings 4: ESV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Sign up to receive news and updates about the ESV:
1 Kings 4
4
Solomon’s Officers
1King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 2These are the names of his leading officers:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;
3Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, recorded what happened in the courts;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud recorded the history of the people;
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 was a priest and adviser to the king;
6Ahishar was responsible for everything in the palace;
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the slaves.
7Solomon placed 12 governors over the districts of Israel. They had to gather food from their districts. Then they were to give it to the king and his family. Each governor was responsible for giving food to the king one month of each year. 8These are the names of the 12 governors:
Ben-Hur was governor over the mountain country of Ephraim.
9Ben-Deker was governor over Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan.
10Ben-Hesed was governor over Arubboth, Socoh and Hepher.
11Ben-Abinadab was governor over Naphoth Dor. (He was married to Taphath daughter of Solomon.)
12Baana son of Ahilud was governor over Taanach, Megiddo and all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan. (This was below Jezreel from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah across Jokmeam.)
13Ben-Geber was governor over Ramoth in Gilead. (He was governor over all the Towns of Jair in Gilead. Jair was the son of Manasseh. Ben-Geber was also over the district of Argob in Bashan. It had 60 large, walled cities with bronze bars on their gates.)
14Ahinadab son of Iddo was governor over Mahanaim.
15Ahimaaz was governor over Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath daughter of Solomon.)
16Baana son of Hushai was governor over Asher and Aloth.
17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was governor over Issachar.
18Shimei son of Ela was governor over Benjamin.
19Geber son of Uri was governor over Gilead. (Gilead was the country where Sihon king of the Amorite people lived. Og king of Bashan also lived there.) But Geber was the only governor over the district.
Solomon’s Kingdom
20There were many people in Judah and Israel. There were as many people as there were grains of sand on the seashore. The people ate, drank and were happy. 21Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistine people. His kingdom went as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought Solomon the payments he demanded. And they obeyed him all his life.
22Solomon needed much food each day to feed himself and all the people who ate at his table. It took 185 bushels of fine flour and 375 bushels of meal. 23It also took 10 cows that were fed good grain, 20 cows that were raised in the fields and 100 sheep. And it took 3 different kinds of deer and fat birds.
24Solomon ruled over all the countries west of the Euphrates River. This was the land from Tiphsah to Gaza. And Solomon had peace on all sides of his kingdom. 25During Solomon’s life Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,# Dan was the city farthest north in Israel. Beersheba was the city farthest south. So this means all the people of Israel. lived in peace. Each man was able to sit under his own fig trees and grapevines.
26Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses. And he had 12,000 chariot soldiers. 27Each month one of the district governors gave King Solomon all the food he needed. This was enough for every person who ate at the king’s table. The governors made sure he had everything he needed. 28They also gave the king enough barley and straw for the chariot and work horses. Each person brought this grain to the required places.
Solomon’s Wisdom
29God gave great wisdom to Solomon. Solomon could understand many things. His wisdom was as hard to measure as the sand on the seashore. 30His wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men in the East. And his wisdom was greater than all the wisdom of the men in Egypt. 31He was wiser than any other man on earth. He was even wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite. He was wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda. They were the sons of Mahol. King Solomon became famous in all the countries around Israel and Judah. 32During his life King Solomon spoke 3,000 wise teachings. He also knew 1,005 songs. 33He taught about many different kinds of plants. He taught about everything from the great cedar trees of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the walls. He also taught about animals, birds, crawling things and fish. 34People from all nations came to listen to King Solomon’s wisdom. The kings of all nations sent them to listen to him. These kings had heard of Solomon’s wisdom.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.