1 Kings 4:30

30 Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt.

1 Kings 4:30 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 4:30

And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children
of the east
The Arabians, and Persians, famous for wisdom, and who lay to the east of the land of Judea; whose wisdom lay in the knowledge of the stars, in divination by birds, and soothsaying ^F13:

and all the wisdom of Egypt;
which it was eminent for in the times of Moses, and in which he was learned and well-skilled, ( Acts 7:22 ) ; and hence in later times the philosophers of the Gentiles travelled to get knowledge, as Pherecydes, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Plato, and others to Egypt, said to be the mother of arts and sciences ^F14.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Midrash Kohelet. fol. 76. 3.
F14 Macrob. in Som. Scip. c. 19. 21. & Saturnal l. 1. c. 15.

1 Kings 4:30 In-Context

28 Each governor also supplied his share of barley and straw, where it was needed, for the chariot horses and the work animals.

29 God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured.

30 Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt.

31 He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries.

32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs.