Solomon’s Officials
4 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was (A)the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were secretaries; (B)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 4 and (C)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and (D)Abiathar were priests; 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over (E)the 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 [a]provided for the king and his household; each man had to [b]provide for a month in the year. 8 These are their names: Ben-hur, in the (F)hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz and (G)Shaalbim and (H)Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth ((I)Socoh was his and all the land of (J)Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all [c]the (K)height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in (L)Taanach and Megiddo, and all (M)Beth-shean which is beside (N)Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to (O)Abel-meholah as far as the other side of (P)Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in (Q)Ramoth-gilead ((R)the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: (S)the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in (T)Mahanaim; 15 (U)Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); 16 Baana the son of (V)Hushai, in Asher and [d]Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 (W)Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, (X)the 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 (Y)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the [e]seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
21 [f](Z)Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms (AA)from the [g]River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; (AB)they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 Solomon’s [h]provision for one day was thirty [i]kors of fine flour and sixty [j]kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty [k]pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over everything [l]west of the [m]River, from Tiphsah even to (AC)Gaza, (AD)over all the kings [n]west of the [o]River; and (AE)he had peace on all sides around about him. 25 (AF)So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, (AG)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 (AH)Solomon had [p]40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 Those deputies [q]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 (AI)swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to his charge.
29 Now (AJ)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of [r]mind, (AK)like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all (AL)the sons of the east and (AM)all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For (AN)he was wiser than all men, than (AO)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, (AP)Calcol and [s]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his [t]fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 (AQ)He 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 [u]Men (AR)came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 4:7 Lit nourished
- 1 Kings 4:7 Lit nourish
- 1 Kings 4:11 Or Naphoth-dor
- 1 Kings 4:16 Or in Aloth
- 1 Kings 4:20 Lit sea
- 1 Kings 4:21 Ch 5:1 in Heb
- 1 Kings 4:21 I.e. Euphrates
- 1 Kings 4:22 Lit bread
- 1 Kings 4:22 I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bu
- 1 Kings 4:22 I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bu
- 1 Kings 4:23 Lit oxen of the pasture
- 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
- 1 Kings 4:24 I.e. Euphrates
- 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
- 1 Kings 4:24 I.e. Euphrates
- 1 Kings 4:26 One ms reads 4000, cf 2 Chr 9:25
- 1 Kings 4:27 Or nourished
- 1 Kings 4:29 Lit heart
- 1 Kings 4:31 In 1 Chr 2:6, Dara
- 1 Kings 4:31 Lit name
- 1 Kings 4:34 Lit they
Cross references
- 1 Kings 4:2 : 1 Chr 6:10
- 1 Kings 4:3 : 2 Sam 8:16
- 1 Kings 4:4 : 1 Kin 2:35
- 1 Kings 4:4 : 1 Kin 2:27
- 1 Kings 4:5 : 1 Kin 4:7
- 1 Kings 4:8 : Josh 24:33
- 1 Kings 4:9 : Judg 1:35
- 1 Kings 4:9 : Josh 21:16
- 1 Kings 4:10 : Josh 15:35
- 1 Kings 4:10 : Josh 12:17
- 1 Kings 4:11 : Josh 11:1, 2
- 1 Kings 4:12 : Judg 5:19
- 1 Kings 4:12 : Josh 17:11
- 1 Kings 4:12 : Josh 3:16
- 1 Kings 4:12 : 1 Kin 19:16
- 1 Kings 4:12 : 1 Chr 6:68
- 1 Kings 4:13 : 1 Kin 22:3-15
- 1 Kings 4:13 : Num 32:41
- 1 Kings 4:13 : Deut 3:4
- 1 Kings 4:14 : Josh 13:26
- 1 Kings 4:15 : 2 Sam 15:27
- 1 Kings 4:16 : 2 Sam 15:32
- 1 Kings 4:18 : 1 Kin 1:8
- 1 Kings 4:19 : Deut 3:8-10
- 1 Kings 4:20 : Gen 22:17; 32:12; 1 Kin 3:8
- 1 Kings 4:21 : 2 Chr 9:26
- 1 Kings 4:21 : Gen 15:18; Josh 1:4
- 1 Kings 4:21 : 2 Sam 8:2, 6
- 1 Kings 4:24 : Judg 1:18
- 1 Kings 4:24 : Ps 72:11
- 1 Kings 4:24 : 1 Chr 22:9
- 1 Kings 4:25 : Jer 23:6; Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10
- 1 Kings 4:25 : 1 Sam 3:20
- 1 Kings 4:26 : 1 Kin 10:26; 2 Chr 1:14
- 1 Kings 4:28 : Esth 8:10, 14; Mic 1:13
- 1 Kings 4:29 : 1 Kin 3:12
- 1 Kings 4:29 : 1 Kin 4:20
- 1 Kings 4:30 : Gen 29:1; Judg 6:33
- 1 Kings 4:30 : Is 19:11; Acts 7:22
- 1 Kings 4:31 : 1 Kin 3:12
- 1 Kings 4:31 : 1 Chr 15:19; Ps 89: title
- 1 Kings 4:31 : 1 Chr 2:6
- 1 Kings 4:32 : Prov 1:1; 10:1; 25:1; Eccl 12:9; Song 1:1
- 1 Kings 4:34 : 1 Kin 10:1; 2 Chr 9:23