1 Kings 4:23

23 ten fat oxen, and twenty feeding oxen, and a hundred sheep, apart from hart, and roe, and fallow-deer, and fatted beasts of the stalls,

1 Kings 4:23 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 4:23

Ten fat oxen
Such as were kept up in the stall and fatted:

and twenty oxen out of the pastures;
which were killed as they were taken from thence, and not put up to be fed:

and an hundred sheep;
out of the folds:

beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer;
which were clean creatures, according to the Levitical law, ( Deuteronomy 14:5 ) ; these were hunted in fields, or taken out of the park, or were presents from other countries; so that here was plenty of beef, mutton, and venison: for the spiritual application of this to the antitypical Solomon, and his provisions, see ( Matthew 22:4 ) ;

and fatted fowl;
such as we call capons ^F1; some Jewish writers ^F2, because of the likeness of sound in the word here used, take them to be Barbary fowls, or such as were brought from that country: there is a sort of birds called (barbaroi) , which were without a voice, that neither heard men, nor knew their voice ^F3.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 So David de Pomis, Tzemach David, fol. 12. 3. and some in Kimchi in loc.
F2 Baal Aruch & R. Elias Levit. Tishbi, in voce (rbrb) .
F3 Scholia in Aristoph. Aves, p. 550.

1 Kings 4:23 In-Context

21 And Solomon hath been ruling over all the kingdoms, from the River [to] the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt: they are bringing nigh a present, and serving Solomon, all days of his life.

22 And the provision of Solomon for one day is thirty cors of flour, and sixty cors of meal;

23 ten fat oxen, and twenty feeding oxen, and a hundred sheep, apart from hart, and roe, and fallow-deer, and fatted beasts of the stalls,

24 for he is ruling over all beyond the river, from Tiphsah and unto Gaza, over all the kings beyond the river, and he hath peace from all his servants round about.

25 And Judah dwelleth -- and Israel -- in confidence, each under his vine, and under his fig-tree, from Dan even unto Beer-Sheba, all the days of Solomon.