1 Kings 4
Lexham English Bible
Solomon’s Wisdom: Political Administration
4 King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 Now these are the officials who were his: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest. 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were the secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder. 4 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army, and Zadok and Abiathar were priests. 5 Azariah the son of Nathan was over the governors, and Zabud the son of Nathan was a priest, an advisor to the king. 6 Ahishar was over the palace, and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor. 7 Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, and they sustained the king and his palace, each one was to sustain for each month of the year.[a] 8 These are their names: Ben-Hur was in the hill country of Ephraim. 9 Ben-Deker was in Makaz and in Shaalbim and in Beth-Shemesh and Elon of Beth-Hanan. 10 Ben-Hesed was in the Arubbot; Socoh and all the land of Hepher were his. 11 Ben-Abinadab was in all of Naphat of Dor; Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife. 12 Baanah the son of Ahilud was in Taanach and Megiddo and all Beth-Shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, of Beth-Shean up to Abel-Meholah up to the other side of Jokmeam. 13 Ben-Geber was in Ramoth-Gilead; the villages of Jair, the son of Manasseh which are in the Gilead were his, and the region of Argob which is in the Bashan, sixty great cities, with walls having crossbars of bronze, were his. 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo was in Mahanaim. 15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he moreover also had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife. 16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and Bealoth. 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah was in Issachar. 18 Shimei the son of Ela was in Benjamin. 19 Geber the son of Uri was in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, and of Og, the king of Bashan; one governor which was over the land. 20 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand which is on the seashore in abundance, eating and drinking and rejoicing!
Solomon’s Wisdom: Prosperity
21 [b] Now Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms from the River[c] to the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt, who were bringing tribute and were serving Solomon all the days of his life. 22 The food of Solomon for one day was thirty dry measures of choice meal and sixty dry measures of flour; 23 ten stall-fed oxen and twenty pasture-fed oxen and a hundred sheep, besides deer and buck gazelles and roebucks and well-fed fowls. 24 For he was ruling over all the west of the River[d] from Tiphsah up to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River;[e] and he had peace from every side all around. 25 Judah and Israel lived in security, each man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 Now Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his war chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. 27 These governors sustained King Solomon and all who came near to the table of King Solomon, each in his month; they did not omit anything. 28 The barley and the straw for the horses and for packhorses they brought to the place where they were, each according to his share.
Solomon’s Wisdom: Literature, Zoology, Biology, Dendrology
29 God gave wisdom to Solomon and very great discernment, as well as breadth of understanding,[f] as the sand which is on the edge of the seashore. 30 The wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the people[g] of the east and more than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than all the men: Ethan the Ezrahite; Heman, Calcol, and Darda the children of Mahol; and he was very well known.[h] 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. 33 He spoke concerning the trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon up to the hyssop which grows on the wall; he also spoke concerning the animals, concerning the birds, concerning the creeping things, and concerning the fish. 34 They came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 4:7 Literally “a month in the year he was over one to sustain”
- 1 Kings 4:21 1 Kings 4:21–5:18 in the English Bible is 5:1–32 in the Hebrew Bible
- 1 Kings 4:21 That is, the Euphrates
- 1 Kings 4:24 That is, the Euphrates
- 1 Kings 4:24 That is, the Euphrates
- 1 Kings 4:29 Literally “width of heart”
- 1 Kings 4:30 Or “sons/children”
- 1 Kings 4:31 Literally “his name was among all the peoples around”
1 Kings 4
New Living Translation
Solomon’s Officials and Governors
4 King Solomon now ruled over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were court secretaries.
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.
4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors.
Zabud son of Nathan, a priest, was a trusted adviser to the king.
6 Ahishar was manager of the palace property.
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of forced labor.
7 Solomon also had twelve district governors who were over all Israel. They were responsible for providing food for the king’s household. Each of them arranged provisions for one month of the year. 8 These are the names of the twelve governors:
Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-bethhanan.
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth, including Socoh and all the land of Hepher.
11 Ben-abinadab, in all of Naphoth-dor.[a] (He was married to Taphath, one of Solomon’s daughters.)
12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth-shan[b] near Zarethan below Jezreel, and all the territory from Beth-shan to Abel-meholah and over to Jokmeam.
13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead, including the Towns of Jair (named for Jair of the tribe of Manasseh[c]) in Gilead, and in the Argob region of Bashan, including sixty large fortified towns with bronze bars on their gates.
14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters.)
16 Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar.
18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin.
19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead,[d] including the territories of King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan.
There was also one governor over the land of Judah.[e]
Solomon’s Prosperity and Wisdom
20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They were very contented, with plenty to eat and drink. 21 [f]Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River[g] in the north to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt in the south. The conquered peoples of those lands sent tribute money to Solomon and continued to serve him throughout his lifetime.
22 The daily food requirements for Solomon’s palace were 150 bushels of choice flour and 300 bushels of meal[h]; 23 also 10 oxen from the fattening pens, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep or goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roe deer, and choice poultry.[i]
24 Solomon’s dominion extended over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza. And there was peace on all his borders. 25 During the lifetime of Solomon, all of Judah and Israel lived in peace and safety. And from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, each family had its own home and garden.[j]
26 Solomon had 4,000[k] stalls for his chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horses.[l]
27 The district governors faithfully provided food for King Solomon and his court; each made sure nothing was lacking during the month assigned to him. 28 They also brought the necessary barley and straw for the royal horses in the stables.
29 God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. 30 In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. 34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.
Footnotes
- 4:11 Hebrew Naphath-dor, a variant spelling of Naphoth-dor.
- 4:12 Hebrew Beth-shean, a variant spelling of Beth-shan; also in 4:12b.
- 4:13 Hebrew Jair son of Manasseh; compare 1 Chr 2:22.
- 4:19a Greek version reads of Gad; compare 4:13.
- 4:19b As in some Greek manuscripts; Hebrew lacks of Judah. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 4:21a Verses 4:21-34 are numbered 5:1-14 in Hebrew text.
- 4:21b Hebrew the river; also in 4:24.
- 4:22 Hebrew 30 cors [6.6 kiloliters] of choice flour and 60 cors [13.2 kiloliters] of meal.
- 4:23 Or and fattened geese.
- 4:25 Hebrew each family lived under its own grapevine and under its own fig tree.
- 4:26a As in some Greek manuscripts (see also 2 Chr 9:25); Hebrew reads 40,000.
- 4:26b Or 12,000 charioteers.
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