The Court of Solomon
4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were the officials in his court:
Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries.
Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers,
and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer and the king’s friend.
6 Ahishar was over the household,
and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.
7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel who made provision for the king and his household. Each man was assigned a month to make provision. 8 These are their names:
the son of Hur in Mount Ephraim;
9 the son of Deker in Makaz and in Shaalbim and Beth Shemesh and Elon Bethhanan;
10 the son of Hesed in Arubboth (to him belonged Sokoh and all the land of Hepher);
11 the son of Abinadab in all the region of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);
12 Baana the son of Ahilud in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shan that is by Zarethan beneath Jezreel, and from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam;
13 the son of Geber in Ramoth Gilead (to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh which are in Gilead, and also the region of Argob which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and iron 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 in Aloth;
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar;
18 Shimei the son of Ela in Benjamin;
19 Geber the son of Uri in the country of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only officer who was in that region.
The Wealth of Solomon
20 Judah and Israel had a large populace, as numerous as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. 21 Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River[a] to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. The people brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty kors[b] of fine flour and sixty kors[c] of meal, 23 ten fat oxen and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep in addition to deer, roebucks, gazelle, and fatted poultry. 24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River[d] from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings on this side of the River,[e] and he had peace on all borders of his land. 25 Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba all the days of Solomon.
26 Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 Those officers made provision for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, every man in his month, and they lacked nothing. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries were brought to the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and great depth of understanding as well as compassion, as vast as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the people of the East country and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Kalkol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; his fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He also spoke of beasts and of fowl and of insects and fish. 34 People from all over came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 4:21 Euphrates River.
- 1 Kings 4:22 Likely about 5½ tons, or 5 metric tons.
- 1 Kings 4:22 Likely about 11 tons, or 10 metric tons.
- 1 Kings 4:24 Euphrates River.
- 1 Kings 4:24 Euphrates River.