Kings I 4:19

19 And his daughter-in-law the wife of Phinees with child, to bring forth; and she heard the tidings, that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead; and she wept and was delivered, for her pains came upon her.

Kings I 4:19 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 4:19

Geber the son of Uri [was] in the country of Gilead
Which was beyond Jordan, and inhabited by the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh; this must be understood of all the country, excepting what was under the jurisdiction of the son of Geber, ( 1 Kings 4:13 ) ; and which had been the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan;
until it was taken from them by Moses, ( Numbers 21:25 ) ; and [he was] the only officer which [was] in the land;
which is not true of Geber; for there was another officer in the land of Gilead besides him, the son of Geber before observed, unless it should be rendered "in that land", in that part of the land he had; but then the same might have been observed of all the rest of the officers: the words may be rendered best, "and there was one officer in the land"; which some understand of one officer over all the rest, Azariah the son of Nathan, ( 1 Kings 4:5 ) ; but it seems best what other Jewish writers say {u}, that this was another officer appointed for the intercalated month; when there were thirteen months in the year, there was an officer in the land fixed for that month to make provision out of the land; perhaps any where, where he pleased, being not limited to any certain place. These twelve providers for Solomon's family were emblems of the twelve apostles of Christ, appointed to provide food for his family, the church; and if you add to them the Apostle Paul, it will make thirteen, as this officer did.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 12. 1.

Kings I 4:19 In-Context

17 And they young man answered and said, The men of Israel fled from the face of the Philistines, and there was a great slaughter among the people, and both thy sons are dead, and the ark of God is taken.

18 And it came to pass, when he mentioned the ark of God, that he fell from the seat backward near the gate, and his back was broken, and he died, for an old man and heavy: and he judged Israel twenty years.

19 And his daughter-in-law the wife of Phinees with child, to bring forth; and she heard the tidings, that the ark of God was taken, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead; and she wept and was delivered, for her pains came upon her.

20 And in her time she was at the point of death; and the women that stood by her, said to her, Fear not, for thou hast born a son: but she answered not, and her heart did not regard it.

21 And she called the child Uaebarchaboth, because of the ark of God, and because of her father-in-law, and because of her husband.