1 Kings 4

So King Solomon ruled as king over all Israel.

1So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

2These were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

2And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,

Note"Priest" here translates a title that in a royal list like this one can mean either a temple priest or a senior officer of the crown; both senses are in use in the same chapter. Azariah is called "son of Zadok," but Hebrew "son of" often means grandson or more distant descendant, and Azariah is elsewhere listed as Zadok's grandson.

3Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, were the royal secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud kept the official records;

3Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.

Note"Scribes" (here royal secretaries) were not copyists but high officers of state, handling correspondence, records and revenue. The "recorder" held another top office, the Hebrew word suggests one who brings matters to the king's attention, so the job may have combined keeping annals with acting as royal spokesman or herald.

4Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

4And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

NoteAbiathar had already been removed from office and sent away earlier in Solomon's reign (1 Kings 2:26-27), so his appearance here suggests the list preserves the officials of an earlier moment, or names him as a matter of record.

5Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a chief officer and the king's personal adviser;

5And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king’s friend:

Note"The king's friend" was a formal court title, not a description of personal affection, a trusted confidential adviser with standing at court. The same office appears under David.

6Ahishar was in charge of the palace and everything in it; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the workers forced to labor for the king.

6And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.

Note"Over the household" means palace administrator, in charge of the royal estates and staff; in later reigns this was among the most powerful posts in the kingdom. The King James "tribute" here is not money but forced labor: subjects owed the crown fixed periods of unpaid work on royal building projects. Resentment of this labor levy becomes a live issue after Solomon's death.

7Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel. They supplied food for the king and his household. Each man was responsible for supplying one month of the year.

7And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.

NoteThis was a tax in kind rather than in coin. Each district had to feed the royal court for one month of the year, delivering grain, livestock and fodder. The twelve districts do not match the twelve tribal territories exactly.

8These are their names: the son of Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

8And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:

NoteSeveral of these governors are listed only as "the son of Hur," "the son of Dekar," and so on, with no personal name given; the Hebrew forms (Ben-hur, Ben-deker) may have functioned as family names. The hill country of Ephraim is the central highland region north of Jerusalem.

9the son of Dekar, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan;

9The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan:

10the son of Hesed, in Aruboth; Sochoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to his district;

10The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:

11the son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; he was married to Taphath, a daughter of Solomon;

11The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

NoteMarrying a daughter of the king to a district governor bound that official to the crown by family ties; royal marriages in this period were normally political arrangements.

12Baana son of Ahilud had Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Bethshean, which is next to Zartanah below Jezreel. His district ran from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, and out past Jokneam;

12Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam:

NoteThese places lie along the Jezreel Valley, the broad fertile plain cutting across northern Israel, the richest farmland in the country and the main route for trade and armies.

13the son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; the villages of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, belonged to him, and so did the region of Argob in Bashan, with its sixty large cities that had walls and bronze bars on their gates;

13The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:

NoteGilead, Argob and Bashan are territories east of the Jordan River. "Great cities" means fortified ones; bronze bars were the heavy beams that barred a city gate from the inside.

14Ahinadab son of Iddo had Mahanaim;

14Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:

15Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he too had married a daughter of Solomon, Basmath;

15Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

16Baanah son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth;

16Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:

17Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar;

17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

18Shimei son of Elah, in Benjamin;

18Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:

19Geber son of Uri was in the land of Gilead, the country that had belonged to Sihon king of the Amorites and to Og king of Bashan; and he was the one officer in that land.

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

NoteThe Hebrew of the last clause is unclear. It may mean that this one governor was the sole official over that whole region, or, as the ancient Greek translation reads it: that there was one further governor over the land of Judah, which the list has otherwise not mentioned. Sihon and Og were kings defeated by Israel generations earlier, at the time of the entry into the land; naming their old territories is a way of describing the region.

20The people of Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and enjoyed themselves.

20Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

Note"As the sand by the sea" is a stock Hebrew phrase for a number too large to count, and it echoes the wording of the promises made to Abraham about his descendants.

21Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. They brought him payments and served him as long as he lived.

21And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Note"The river," with no name attached, always means the Euphrates in this kind of phrase. The "presents" were tribute, regular payments owed by subject kingdoms, not voluntary gifts. The Philistines were a people occupying the coastal plain southwest of Israel, long-standing rivals of the Israelites.

22The food Solomon's household needed for a single day was thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of ordinary flour,

22And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,

NoteThe measure is the Hebrew cor, reckoned at roughly 220 liters or about six bushels of dry goods, though ancient measures are uncertain. Thirty cors of fine flour plus sixty of coarser meal comes to several tons of flour a day, a figure describing the whole court, guards, servants and guests, not one household's dinner.

23ten stall-fed cattle, twenty cattle from the pastures, and a hundred sheep, along with deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened birds.

23Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.

Note"Fat oxen" are stall-fed cattle, penned and grain-fed rather than grazed. The three kinds of game animal named in the King James (harts, roebucks and fallow deer) translate Hebrew words whose exact species are disputed; they cover wild deer and antelope, probably including the gazelle, which was hunted for the table.

24He ruled over the whole region west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah all the way to Gaza, and over all the kings in that region. He had peace on every side.

24For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

NoteThe King James "this side the river" renders a Hebrew phrase, "Beyond the River," that had become a standing name for the whole territory west of the Euphrates, a label originally used from a Mesopotamian point of view. Tiphsah was a crossing point far up the Euphrates in the north; Azzah is Gaza, on the southern coast. The pair marks the extreme limits of the area.

25So Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own grapevine and his own fig tree, as long as Solomon lived.

25And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

Note"Each man under his own vine and fig tree" was a proverbial image of settled peace and prosperity: vines and fig trees take years to bear, so a man only enjoys his own if nobody drives him off the land. "From Dan to Beersheba" names the northernmost and southernmost towns of Israel and means the entire country.

26Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

26And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

NoteThe number is uncertain in the ancient texts: the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 9:25 reads four thousand stalls, and some manuscripts and early translations of Kings agree. Four thousand stalls fits twelve thousand horses more naturally than forty thousand does.

27Those governors supplied the food for King Solomon and for everyone who came to the king's table, each man in his own month. They let nothing run short.

27And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

28They also brought barley and straw to the right place for the chariot horses and the swift riding horses, each man delivering the share he was responsible for.

28Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

NoteThe King James "dromedaries" is a mistaken guess at a rare Hebrew word; it does not mean camels but swift horses, or possibly teams of chariot horses. "According to his charge" means each governor delivered the quota assigned to his district.

29God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding, and a mind as wide in its reach as the sand on the seashore.

29And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

Note"Largeness of heart" is not warmth or generosity. In Hebrew the heart is the seat of thinking and judgment, so a wide heart means a broad, capacious mind.

30Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the east, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

30And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

NoteThe "children of the east" are the peoples of the desert regions east and southeast of Israel, who had a reputation in the ancient world for proverb-lore and riddles; Job and his friends are placed among them. Egypt likewise had a long, famous tradition of written wisdom instruction, some of it still surviving.

31He was wiser than anyone else, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and than Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the nations around him.

31For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

NoteThese four men were evidently proverbial figures of wisdom, well known enough that the comparison needed no explanation. Ethan and Heman also appear in the headings of Psalms 88 and 89.

32He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five.

32And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

NoteThe Hebrew word translated "proverbs" covers a wider range than the English word: short sayings, comparisons, riddles and extended parables all fall under it.

33He spoke about trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of a wall. He also spoke about animals, birds, crawling creatures, and fish.

33And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

NoteThe cedar of Lebanon was the tallest and most valuable tree known to the writer; hyssop is a small bushy plant that grows in cracks in stonework. Naming the two together is a way of saying "everything from the largest to the smallest." "Creeping things" covers reptiles and small ground-crawling creatures.

34People came from every nation to hear Solomon's wisdom. They were sent by all the kings of the earth who had heard how wise he was.

34And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.