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1 Kings 4
New American Standard Bible

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 scribes; (B)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the secretary; 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 confidant; 6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the forced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each deputy had to provide food for a month in the year. 8 And these were 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 [a]the (K)hills 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 villages 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 [b]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 [c]seashore in abundance; they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing.

21 [d](Z)Now Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms (AA)from the Euphrates 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 [e]provision for one day was [f]thirty kors of fine flour and [g]sixty kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty [h]pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened geese. 24 For he was ruling over everything [i]west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah even to (AC)Gaza, (AD)over all the kings [j]west of the River; and (AE)he had peace on all sides surrounding him. 25 (AF)So Judah and Israel lived securely, everyone under his vine and his fig tree, (AG)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 (AH)Solomon had [k]forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27 And those deputies provided food for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they allowed nothing to be lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the war horses and (AI)baggage horses to the place where it was required, each deputy according to his duty.

29 Now (AJ)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of [l]mind, (AK)like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all (AL)the [m]people of the east and (AM)all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For (AN)he was wiser than all other people, more than (AO)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, (AP)Calcol, and [n]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his [o]fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 (AQ)He also told three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered 1,005. 33 He told of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he told also of animals, birds, crawling things, and fish. 34 People (AR)came from all the [p]nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 4:11 Or Naphoth-dor
  2. 1 Kings 4:16 Or in Aloth
  3. 1 Kings 4:20 Lit sea
  4. 1 Kings 4:21 Ch 5:1 in Heb
  5. 1 Kings 4:22 Lit bread
  6. 1 Kings 4:22 About 231 cubic feet or 6.5 cubic meters
  7. 1 Kings 4:22 About 462 cubic feet or 13 cubic meters
  8. 1 Kings 4:23 Lit oxen of the pasture
  9. 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
  10. 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
  11. 1 Kings 4:26 One LXX ms reads 4,000, cf. 2 Chr 9:25
  12. 1 Kings 4:29 Lit heart
  13. 1 Kings 4:30 Lit sons
  14. 1 Kings 4:31 In 1 Chr 2:6, Dara
  15. 1 Kings 4:31 Lit name
  16. 1 Kings 4:34 Lit peoples
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1 Kings 4
International Standard Version

Solomon’s Administration

4 And so King Solomon ruled over all of Israel. 2 Here’s a list of his officials: Zadok’s son Azariah was priest, 3 Shisha’s sons Elihoreph and Ahijah were his secretaries, Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was recorder, 4 Jehoiada’s son Benaiah commanded the army, Zadok and Abiathar served as priests, 5 Nathan’s son Azariah supervised the governors, Nathan’s son Zabud the priest was the king’s counselor, 6 Ahishar supervised palace matters, and Abda’s son Adoniram supervised conscripted labor. 7 Solomon also appointed twelve governors over all of Israel, each of whom were responsible for providing one month’s food provisions to the king and to his administration during each year.

8 Here’s a list of their names: Ben-hur from the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz, Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed served in Arubboth (where he supervised Socoh and all of the territory of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab supervised the Dor heights (Solomon’s daughter Taphath was his wife); 12 Ahilud’s son Baana served Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Beth-shean near Zarethan below Jezreel, including from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead, including the towns that belonged to Manasseh’s descendant Jair that are in Gilead; 14 Iddo’s son Ahinadab served in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz served in Naphtali (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Basemath); 16 Hushai’s son Baana served in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat served in Issachar; 18 Ela’s son Shimei served in Benjamin; 19 and Uri’s son Geber served in the territory of Gilead, the territory formerly ruled by King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan (he was the only governor over that territory).

Solomon’s Magnificence

20 Judah and Israel became as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They enjoyed abundance, and ate, drank, and rejoiced regularly. 21 [a]Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River[b] to the territory of the Philistines and south[c] to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon throughout his lifetime. 22 Solomon’s daily provisions were 30 kors of fine flour, 60 kors of meal, 23 ten fattened oxen, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and domestic poultry. 24 He ruled over everything west of the Euphrates[d] River from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all of the kings west of the Euphrates[e] River, and he enjoyed peace on all sides around him.

25 Judah and Israel lived safely, and everyone enjoyed their own vine and fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba through all of Solomon’s life. 26 Solomon owned 40,000 stalls for the horses that drove his chariots, and he employed 12,000 men to drive them.[f] 27 His officers supplied provisions for King Solomon and for everyone who visited King Solomon’s palace,[g] each in their respective month of service responsibility.[h] Nothing ever ran out. 28 They also provided barley and straw for the horses and camels to their respective locations, each consistent with their responsibilities.

Solomon’s Fame

29 God gave Solomon wisdom and great discernment. His insights were as numerous as sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon was wiser than any of the eastern leaders and wiser than anyone in Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone of his day—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, and wiser than Mahol’s sons Calcol and Darda.

His reputation was known throughout the surrounding nations. 32 Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 33 He described trees—everything from cedars[i] that grow in Lebanon to hyssop that grows on a garden wall. He described animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 People came from everywhere to hear Solomon’s advice. Every king on the earth heard of his wisdom.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 4:21 This v. is 5:1 in MT, 4:22 is 5:2, and so on through 4:34
  2. 1 Kings 4:21 The Heb. lacks River
  3. 1 Kings 4:21 The Heb. lacks south
  4. 1 Kings 4:24 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
  5. 1 Kings 4:24 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
  6. 1 Kings 4:26 The Heb. lacks to drive them
  7. 1 Kings 4:27 Lit. table
  8. 1 Kings 4:27 The Heb. lacks of service responsibility
  9. 1 Kings 4:33 I.e. a genus of coniferous evergreen in the family Pinaceae; and so throughout the book
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1 Kings 3
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