1 Kings 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Solomon's officers
4 King Solomon ruled over all Israel as king. 2 These were his important officers:
Zadok's son Azariah was the priest.
3 Shisha's sons, Elihoreph and Ahijah, were secretaries.
Ahilud's son Jehoshaphat recorded what happened.
4 Jehoiada's son Benaiah was the leader of the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Nathan's son Azariah had authority over the 12 officers for each region.
Nathan's son Zabud was a priest who gave the king advice.
6 Ahishar had authority over work in the palace.
Abda's son Adoniram had authority over the groups of workers.
7 Solomon had 12 officers with authority in the regions of Israel. They supplied food for the king and for the people who lived in his palace. Each officer had to supply food to the king for one month in each year. 8 These are their names:
Ben-Hur had authority in Ephraim's hill country.
9 Ben-Deker had authority in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh and Elon Beth Hanan.
10 Ben-Hesed had authority in Arubboth. That included Sokoh and all the fields around Hepher.
11 Ben-Abinadab had authority in Naphath Dor. He had married Solomon's daughter, Taphath.
12 Ahilud's son Baana had authority in Taanach and Megiddo, as well as in all of Beth-Shan that is near Zarethan, below Jezreel. He had authority from Beth-Shan to Abel-Meholah and as far as Jokmeam.
13 Ben-Geber had authority in Ramoth Gilead. That included the villages of Manasseh's son Jair in Gilead. It also included the region of Argob in Bashan with 60 large cities which had strong walls gates with bronze bars.[a]
14 Iddo's son had authority in Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz had authority in Naphtali. He had married Solomon's daughter, Basemath.
16 Hushai's son Baana had authority in Asher and Aloth.
17 Paruah's son Jehoshaphat had authority in Issachar.
18 Ela's son Shimei had authority in Benjamin.
19 Uri's son Geber had authority in Gilead. Gilead was the region where Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, had ruled.[b]
There was also one officer who had authority over the whole land.
Solomon's kingdom
20 The people in Judah and Israel were too many to count. There were as many of them as the sand on the shore of the sea. They had enough to eat and to drink and they were happy.
21 Solomon ruled over all the nations from the Euphrates river to the land of the Philistines, as far as Egypt's border. The people of these kingdoms paid taxes to Solomon. They served him all the days of his life.
22 This is the food that Solomon and the people in his palace ate each day:
5,000 litres of flour.
10,000 litres of grain.
23 10 fat calves that they fed with grain.
20 calves that ate grass in the fields.
100 sheep.
Many kinds of deer and fat birds.
24 Solomon ruled all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates river, from Tiphsah as far as Gaza. There was peace in all these places. 25 While Solomon was alive, Judah and Israel were safe from their enemies. In the whole country, from Dan to Beersheba, every family had a place to live and they could grow food to eat. 26 Solomon had places to keep 4,000 horses that pulled his chariots.[c] He also had 12,000 horses. 27 The 12 officers in each region supplied food for King Solomon and for everybody that ate in his palace. Each region supplied food for one month each year so that there was enough for everyone. 28 Each officer also supplied barley and straw for the king's horses. They took the right amount to the different places where the horses lived.
Solomon's wisdom
29 God gave Solomon wisdom so that he understood things well. He knew about everything, more things than there is sand on the shore of the sea! 30 Solomon was wiser than all the wise men in the East and all the wise men in Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any other man. This includes Ethan the Ezrahite, as well as Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol.[d] Solomon was famous in all the nations around Israel. 32 He wrote down 3,000 proverbs and he wrote 1,005 songs.[e] 33 He could describe many plants. These included large trees like cedar trees that grow in Lebanon and small plants like hyssop that grows on walls. He also taught people about all kinds of animals, birds, insects and fish.[f] 34 People came from all countries to listen to Solomon's wise teaching. Kings of all the nations in the world who heard about Solomon's wisdom sent people to learn from him.
Footnotes
- 4:13 The bars locked the gates so that people outside the city could not open them.
- 4:19 The reports about Sihon and Og are in Numbers 21:21-35.
- 4:26 ‘4,000’ or ‘40,000’.
- 4:31 See 1 Chronicles 2:6.
- 4:32 There is a whole book of Solomon's proverbs in the Bible. See Proverbs 1.
- 4:33 ‘insects’ or ‘snakes and lizards’.
I Regum 4
Biblia Sacra Vulgata
4 Erat autem rex Salomon regnans super omnem Israel:
2 et hi principes quos habebat: Azarias filius Sadoc sacerdotis:
3 Elihoreph et Ahia filii Sisa scribae: Josaphat filius Ahilud a commentariis:
4 Banaias filius Jojadae super exercitum: Sadoc autem et Abiathar sacerdotes:
5 Azarias filius Nathan super eos qui assistebant regi: Zabud filius Nathan sacerdos, amicus regis:
6 et Ahisar praepositus domus: et Adoniram filius Abda super tributa.
7 Habebat autem Salomon duodecim praefectos super omnem Israel, qui praebebant annonam regi et domui ejus: per singulos enim menses in anno, singuli necessaria ministrabant.
8 Et haec nomina eorum: Benhur in monte Ephraim.
9 Bendecar in Macces, et in Salebim, et in Bethsames, et in Elon, et in Bethanan.
10 Benhesed in Aruboth: ipsius erat Socho, et omnis terra Epher.
11 Benabinadab, cujus omnis Nephath Dor: Tapheth filiam Salomonis habebat uxorem.
12 Bana filius Ahilud regebat Thanac et Mageddo, et universam Bethsan, quae est juxta Sarthana subter Jezrahel, a Bethsan usque Abelmehula e regione Jecmaan.
13 Bengaber in Ramoth Galaad: habebat Avothjair filii Manasse in Galaad: ipse praeerat in omni regione Argob, quae est in Basan, sexaginta civitatibus magnis atque muratis quae habebant seras aereas.
14 Ahinadab filius Addo praeerat in Manaim.
15 Achimaas in Nephthali: sed et ipse habebat Basemath filiam Salomonis in conjugio.
16 Baana filius Husi in Aser, et in Baloth.
17 Josaphat filius Pharue in Issachar.
18 Semei filius Ela in Benjamin.
19 Gaber filius Uri in terra Galaad, in terra Sehon regis Amorrhaei et Og regis Basan, super omnia quae erant in illa terra.
20 Juda et Israel innumerabiles, sicut arena maris in multitudine: comedentes, et bibentes, atque laetantes.
21 Salomon autem erat in ditione sua, habens omnia regna a flumine terrae Philisthiim usque ad terminum AEgypti: offerentium sibi munera, et servientium ei cunctis diebus vitae ejus.
22 Erat autem cibus Salomonis per dies singulos triginta cori similae, et sexaginta cori farinae,
23 decem boves pingues, et viginti boves pascuales, et centum arietes, excepta venatione cervorum, caprearum, atque bubalorum, et avium altilium.
24 Ipse enim obtinebat omnem regionem quae erat trans flumen, a Thaphsa usque ad Gazan, et cunctos reges illarum regionum: et habebat pacem ex omni parte in circuitu.
25 Habitabatque Juda et Israel absque timore ullo, unusquisque sub vite sua et sub ficu sua, a Dan usque Bersabee, cunctis diebus Salomonis.
26 Et habebat Salomon quadraginta millia praesepia equorum currilium, et duodecim millia equestrium.
27 Nutriebantque eos supradicti regis praefecti: sed et necessaria mensae regis Salomonis cum ingenti cura praebebant in tempore suo.
28 Hordeum quoque, et paleas equorum et jumentorum, deferebant in locum ubi erat rex, juxta constitutum sibi.
29 Dedit quoque Deus sapientiam Salomoni, et prudentiam multam nimis, et latitudinem cordis quasi arenam quae est in littore maris.
30 Et praecedebat sapientia Salomonis sapientiam omnium Orientalium et AEgyptiorum,
31 et erat sapientior cunctis hominibus: sapientior Ethan Ezrahita, et Heman, et Chalcol, et Dorda filiis Mahol: et erat nominatus in universis gentibus per circuitum.
32 Locutus est quoque Salomon tria millia parabolas: et fuerunt carmina ejus quinque et mille.
33 Et disputavit super lignis a cedro quae est in Libano, usque ad hyssopum quae egreditur de pariete: et disseruit de jumentis, et volucribus, et reptilibus, et piscibus.
34 Et veniebant de cunctis populis ad audiendam sapientiam Salomonis, et ab universis regibus terrae qui audiebant sapientiam ejus.
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