1 Kings 4

Solomon's Officials

1 King Solomon was king over all Israel,

2 and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was ¹the priest;

3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; ²Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

4 ³Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; ⁴Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over ⁵the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and ⁶king's friend;

6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and ⁷Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of ⁸the forced labor.

7 Solomon 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.

8 These were their names: Ben-hur, in ⁹the hill country of Ephraim;

9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan;

10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher);

11 Ben-abinadab, in all ¹⁰Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);

12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in ¹¹Taanach, Megiddo, and all ¹²Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;

13 Ben-geber, ¹³in Ramoth-gilead (he had ¹⁴the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had ¹⁵the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);

16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

18 ¹⁶Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, ¹⁷the 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

20 Judah and Israel were as many ¹⁸as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy.

21 ^[a]19Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the ²⁰Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. ²¹They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors^[b] of fine flour and sixty cors of meal,

23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.

24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to ²²Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. ²³And he had peace on all sides around him.

25 And Judah and Israel ²⁴lived in safety, ²⁵from Dan even to Beersheba, ²⁶every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.

26 ²⁷Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.

27 And 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.

28 Barley also and straw for the horses and ²⁸swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

29 ²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind ³⁰like the sand on the seashore,

30 so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ³¹the people of the east ³²and all the wisdom of Egypt.

31 For he was ³³wiser 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 ³⁴He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, ³⁵and his songs were 1,005.

33 He 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.

34 And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from ³⁶all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

1 Kings 4 Commentary

Chapter 4

Solomon's court. (1-19) Solomon's dominions, His daily provision. (20-28) The wisdom of Solomon. (29-34)

Verses 1-19 In the choice of the great officers of Solomon's court, no doubt, his wisdom appeared. Several are the same that were in his father's time. A plan was settled by which no part of the country was exhausted to supply his court, though each sent its portion.

Verses 20-28 Never did the crown of Israel shine so bright, as when Solomon wore it. He had peace on all sides. Herein, his kingdom was a type of the Messiah's; for to Him it is promised that he shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and that princes shall worship him. The spiritual peace, and joy, and holy security, of all the faithful subjects of the Lord Jesus, were typified by that of Israel. The kingdom of God is not, as Solomon's was, meat and drink, but, what is infinitely better, righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. The vast number of his attendants, and the great resort to him, are shown by the provision daily made. Herein Christ far outdoes Solomon, that he feeds all his subjects, not with the bread that perishes, but with that which endures to eternal life.

Verses 29-34 Solomon's wisdom was more his glory than his wealth. He had what is here called largeness of heart, for the heart is often put for the powers of the mind. He had the gift of utterance, as well as wisdom. It is very desirable, that those who have large gifts of any kind, should have large hearts to use them for the good of others. What treasures of wisdom and knowledge are lost! But every sort of knowledge that is needful for salvation is to be found in the holy Scriptures. There came persons from all parts, who were more eager after knowledge than their neighbours, to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon was herein a type of Christ, in whom are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and hid for us, for he is made of God to us, wisdom. Christ's fame shall spread through all the earth, and men of all nations shall come to him, learn of him, and take upon them his easy yoke, and find rest for their souls.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Chronicles 6:10
• 2. 2 Samuel 8:16; 2 Samuel 20:24
• 3. 1 Kings 2:35
• 4. 2 Samuel 20:25; [1 Kings 2:27, 35]
• 5. ver. 7
• 6. [2 Samuel 15:37; 2 Samuel 16:16; 1 Chronicles 27:33]
• 7. 1 Kings 5:14; [1 Kings 12:18; 2 Samuel 20:24; 2 Chronicles 10:18]
• 8. [1 Kings 9:15]
• 9. See Joshua 24:33
• 10. Joshua 11:2
• 11. [Joshua 17:11]
• 12. [Joshua 17:11]
• 13. [1 Kings 22:3]
• 14. Numbers 32:41
• 15. Deuteronomy 3:4
• 16. 1 Kings 1:8
• 17. Deuteronomy 3:8-10
• 18. Genesis 22:17; [1 Kings 3:8; 2 Chronicles 1:9]
• 19. 2 Chronicles 9:26
• 20. Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:31; Joshua 1:4; Psalms 72:8
• 21. Psalms 68:29; Psalms 72:10, 11
• 22. Genesis 10:19
• 23. 1 Chronicles 22:9
• 24. Jeremiah 23:6; Jeremiah 32:37; Ezekiel 28:26
• 25. See 2 Samuel 3:10
• 26. Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10; [2 Kings 18:31; Isaiah 36:16]
• 27. [1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14; 2 Chronicles 9:25]
• 28. Esther 8:10, 14; Micah 1:13
• 29. 1 Kings 3:12
• 30. [ver. 20]
• 31. Judges 6:3
• 32. Acts 7:22; [Isaiah 19:11]
• 33. [See ver. 29 above]
• 34. Proverbs 1:1; Ecclesiastes 12:9
• 35. Song of Songs 1:1
• 36. 2 Chronicles 9:23; [1 Kings 10:1]

Footnotes

• [a]. Ch 5:1 in Hebrew
• [b]. A cor was about 6 bushels or 220 liters

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST KINGS 4

As in the preceding chapter we have a proof of the wisdom and understanding which the Lord gave to Solomon, as promised, so in this an account is given of the riches and honour he was possessed of; of him, as king over all Israel, and of his princes, 1Ki 4:1-6; of the providers of food for his household in the several parts of the land, 1Ki 4:7-19; of the largeness and extent of his dominions, and of the peace and prosperity thereof, 1Ki 4:20,21,24,25; of his daily provisions for his household and for his cattle, 1Ki 4:22,23,26-28; and of his superior wisdom and knowledge to all others in all nations, which brought some out of all to hear it, 1Ki 4:29-34.