1 Kings 4

Solomon's Officials

1 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel.

2 These were his 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 the recorder;

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

5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over ⁵the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king's friend;

6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve * deputies over all Israel, who provided for the king and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year.

8 These are their names: Ben-hur, in the ⁶hill country of Ephraim;

9 Ben-deker in Makaz and ⁷Shaalbim and ⁸Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan;

10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (⁹Socoh was his and all the land of ¹⁰Hepher );

11 Ben-abinadab, in all the ¹¹height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife );

12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in ¹²Taanach and Megiddo, and all ¹³Beth-shean which is beside ¹⁴Zarethan below * Jezreel, from Beth-shean to ¹⁵Abel-meholah as far as the other side of ¹⁶Jokmeam;

13 Ben-geber, in ¹⁷Ramoth-gilead (¹⁸the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: ¹⁹the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his);

14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in ²⁰Mahanaim;

15 ²¹Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon );

16 Baana the son of ²²Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

18 ²³Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, ²⁴the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.

Solomon's Power, Wealth and Wisdom

20 ²⁵Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

21 ²⁶Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms ²⁷from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; ²⁸they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour and sixty kors of meal,

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

24 For he had dominion over everything west of the River, from Tiphsah even to ²⁹Gaza, ³⁰over all the kings west of the River; and ³¹he had peace on all sides around about him.

25 ³²So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, ³³from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

26 ³⁴Solomon had 40,000 * stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 * * horsemen.

27 Those deputies provided for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon's table, each in his month; they left nothing * lacking.

28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and ³⁵swift steeds to the place where * it should be, each according to his charge.

29 Now ³⁶God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, ³⁷like the sand that is on the seashore *.

30 Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ³⁸the sons of the east and ³⁹all the wisdom of Egypt.

31 For ⁴⁰he was wiser than all men, than ⁴¹Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, ⁴²Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations.

32 ⁴³He also spoke 3,000 * proverbs, and his songs were 1,005 *.

33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish.

34 Men ⁴⁴came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all 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
• 3. 1 Kings 2:35
• 4. 1 Kings 2:27
• 5. 1 Kings 4:7
• 6. Joshua 24:33
• 7. Judges 1:35
• 8. Joshua 21:16
• 9. Joshua 15:35
• 10. Joshua 12:17
• 11. Joshua 11:1, 2
• 12. Judges 5:19
• 13. Joshua 17:11
• 14. Joshua 3:16
• 15. 1 Kings 19:16
• 16. 1 Chronicles 6:68
• 17. 1 Kings 22:3-15
• 18. Numbers 32:41
• 19. Deuteronomy 3:4
• 20. Joshua 13:26
• 21. 2 Samuel 15:27
• 22. 2 Samuel 15:32
• 23. 1 Kings 1:8
• 24. Deuteronomy 3:8-10
• 25. Genesis 22:17; Genesis 32:12; 1 Kings 3:8
• 26. 2 Chronicles 9:26
• 27. Genesis 15:18; Joshua 1:4
• 28. 2 Samuel 8:2, 6
• 29. Judges 1:18
• 30. Psalms 72:11
• 31. 1 Chronicles 22:9
• 32. Jeremiah 23:6; Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10
• 33. 1 Samuel 3:20
• 34. 1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14
• 35. Esther 8:10, 14; Micah 1:13
• 36. 1 Kings 3:12
• 37. 1 Kings 4:20
• 38. Genesis 29:1; Judges 6:33
• 39. Isaiah 19:11; Acts 7:22
• 40. 1 Kings 3:12
• 41. 1 Chronicles 15:19; Ps 89: title
• 42. 1 Chronicles 2:6
• 43. Proverbs 1:1; Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 25:1; Ecclesiastes 12:9; Song of Songs 1:1
• 44. 1 Kings 10:1; 2 Chronicles 9:23

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "nourished"
• [b]. Lit "nourish"
• [c]. Or "Naphoth-dor"
• [d]. Or "in Aloth"
• [e]. Lit "sea"
• [f]. Ch 5:1 in Heb
• [g]. I.e. Euphrates
• [h]. Lit "bread"
• [i]. I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bu
• [j]. I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bu
• [k]. Lit "oxen of the pasture"
• [l]. Lit "beyond"
• [m]. I.e. Euphrates
• [n]. Lit "beyond"
• [o]. I.e. Euphrates
• [p]. One ms reads "4000," cf 2 Chr 9:25
• [q]. Or "nourished"
• [r]. Lit "heart"
• [s]. In 1 Chr 2:6, "Dara"
• [t]. Lit "name"
• [u]. Lit "they"

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.