1 Kings 4:23

23 10 fattened oxen, 20 range oxen, and 100 sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and pen-fed poultry,^[a]

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 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt. They offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon's provisions for one day were 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of meal,

23 10 fattened oxen, 20 range oxen, and 100 sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and pen-fed poultry,

24 for he had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza and over all the kings west of the Euphrates. He had peace on all his surrounding borders.

25 Throughout Solomon's [reign], Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan to Beer-sheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hb obscure