1 Kings 4
GOD’S WORD Translation
Solomon’s Administration(A)
4 When King Solomon was the king of all Israel, 2 these were his officials:
Azariah, son of Zadok, was the ⌞chief⌟ priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were scribes.
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, was the king’s adviser.
6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace.
Adoniram, son of Abda, was in charge of forced labor.
7 Solomon appointed 12 district governors in Israel. They were to provide food for the king and his palace. Each one had to supply food for one month every year. 8 Their names were
Benhur, who was in charge of the hills of Ephraim,
9 Bendeker, who was in charge of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan, and
10 Benhesed, who was in charge of Arubboth, Socoh, and the entire region of Hepher.
11 Benabinadab had the entire region of Dor.
(Solomon’s daughter Taphath was his wife.)
12 Baana, son of Ahilud, had Taanach, Megiddo, and all of Beth Shean.
(This was near Zarethan, below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah and over to Jokmeam.)
13 Bengeber was in charge of Ramoth Gilead; he had the settlements of Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, in Gilead.
He ⌞also⌟ had the territory of Argob in Bashan, 60 large cities with walls and bronze bars across their gates.
14 Ahinadab, son of Iddo, was in charge of Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz was in charge of Naphtali.
(He also married Solomon’s daughter Basemath.)
16 Baana, son of Hushai, was in charge of Asher and Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat, son of Paruah, was in charge of Issachar.
18 Shimei, son of Ela, was in charge of Benjamin.
19 Geber, son of Uri, was in charge of Gilead, the territory of King Sihon the Amorite and King Og of Bashan. (There was only one governor in that territory.) [a]
20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They ate and drank and lived happily.[b]
21 Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the country of the Philistines and as far as the Egyptian border. These kingdoms paid taxes and were subject to Solomon as long as he lived.
22 Solomon’s food supply for one day was 180 bushels of flour, 360 bushels of coarse flour, 23 10 fattened cows, 20 cows from the pasture, and 100 sheep in addition to deer, gazelles, fallow deer, and fattened birds. 24 He controlled all the territory west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah to Gaza and all of its kings. So he lived in peace with all the neighboring countries. 25 As long as Solomon lived, Judah and Israel (from Dan to Beersheba) lived securely, everyone under his own vine and fig tree.
26 Solomon had stalls for 40,000 chariot horses. He also had 12,000 chariot soldiers.[c] 27 Each of the governors provided food for one month every year for King Solomon and all who ate at his table. The governors saw to it that nothing was in short supply. 28 They brought their quota of barley and straw for the chariot horses to the proper places.
Solomon’s Wisdom
29 God gave Solomon wisdom—keen insight and a mind as limitless as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the eastern people and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. 31 He was wiser than anyone, than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Calcol, or Darda, Mahol’s sons. His fame spread to all the nations around him.
32 Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. 33 He described and classified trees—from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall. He described and classified animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 People came from every nation to hear his wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who had heard about his wisdom.
Footnotes
- 4:19 “There was … territory” Masoretic Text; Greek “There was also one governor in the territory of Judah.”
- 4:20 1 Kings 4:21–34 in English Bibles is 1 Kings 5:1–14 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 4:26 Or “12,000 cavalry horses.”
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 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 4:22 Lit bread
- 1 Kings 4:22 About 231 cubic feet or 6.5 cubic meters
- 1 Kings 4:22 About 462 cubic feet or 13 cubic meters
- 1 Kings 4:23 Lit oxen of the pasture
- 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
- 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
- 1 Kings 4:26 One LXX ms reads 4,000, cf. 2 Chr 9:25
- 1 Kings 4:29 Lit heart
- 1 Kings 4:30 Lit sons
- 1 Kings 4:31 In 1 Chr 2:6, Dara
- 1 Kings 4:31 Lit name
- 1 Kings 4:34 Lit peoples
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