1 Kings 4:24

24 Solomon was sovereign over everything, countries and kings, west of the River Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza. Peace reigned everywhere.

1 Kings 4:24 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 4:24

For he had dominion over all [the region] on this side the
river
Or beyond the river Euphrates, in the sense before given, ( 1 Kings 4:21 ) ; which accounts for the plenty of provisions he had, and the revenue with which he supported such a table he kept:

from Tiphsah even to Azzah;
or Gaza, one of the five principalities of the Philistines. Tiphsah is thought to be the Thapsacus of Pliny F4 which both he and Ptolemy F5 place near the river Euphrates, since called Amphipolis; the former places it in Syria, the latter in Arabia Deserta; and which Strabo F6, from Eratosthenes, describes as 4800 furlongs or six hundred miles from Babylon, and from the place where Mesopotamia begins not less than two thousand furlongs or two hundred and fifty miles:

over all the kings on this side the river;
the river Euphrates, or beyond it, in the sense before explained, as the kings of Syria, Arabia

and he had peace on all sides round about him;
in which he was a type of Christ, the Prince of peace.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 24.
F5 Geograph. l. 5. c. 19.
F6 Geograph. l. 16. p. 514.

1 Kings 4:24 In-Context

22 One 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 Solomon was sovereign over everything, countries and kings, west of the River Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza. Peace reigned everywhere.
25 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 Solomon had forty thousand stalls for chariot horses and twelve thousand horsemen.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.