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Solomon’s Officials

So King Solomon was king over all Israel. These were his officials:

Azariah the son of Zadok was (A)the priest;
Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were scribes;
(B)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
and (C)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army;
and Zadok and (D)Abiathar were priests;
and Azariah the son of Nathan was over (E)the deputies;
and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend;
and Ahishar was over the household;
and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

Now Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who sustained the king and his household; each man had to sustain them for a month in the year. These are their names:

Ben-hur, in the (F)hill country of Ephraim;
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)height 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 (now [b](R)Havvoth-Jair—Jair being the son of Manasseh—which is in Gilead was 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 [c]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.

Judah’s and Israel’s Abundance and Security

20 (Y)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the [d]seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and being glad.

21 [e](Z)Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms (AA)from the [f]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 And Solomon’s [g]provision for one day was [h]thirty kors of fine flour and [i]sixty kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty [j]pasture-fed oxen, one hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over everything [k]west of the [l]River, from Tiphsah even to (AC)Gaza, (AD)over all the kings [m]west of the [n]River; and (AE)he had peace on all sides around about him. 25 (AF)So Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and his fig tree, (AG)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 (AH)Solomon had [o]40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And these deputies sustained King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and (AI)swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to the legal judgment for him.

29 And (AJ)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of understanding in his heart, (AK)like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 And Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all (AL)the sons of the east and (AM)all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 And (AN)he was wiser than all men, than (AO)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, (AP)Calcol, and [p]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and the renown of his name was in all the surrounding nations. 32 (AQ)He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. 34 [q]And men (AR)came from all peoples 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 4:13 Or the towns of Jair
  3. 1 Kings 4:16 Or in Aloth
  4. 1 Kings 4:20 Lit sea
  5. 1 Kings 4:21 Ch 5:1 in Heb
  6. 1 Kings 4:21 The Euphrates River
  7. 1 Kings 4:22 Lit bread
  8. 1 Kings 4:22 Approx. 195 bu. or 6.9 metric tons, a kor was approx. 6.5 bu. or 230 l
  9. 1 Kings 4:22 Approx. 390 bu. or 13.8 metric tons
  10. 1 Kings 4:23 Lit oxen of the pasture
  11. 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
  12. 1 Kings 4:24 The Euphrates River
  13. 1 Kings 4:24 Lit beyond
  14. 1 Kings 4:24 The Euphrates River
  15. 1 Kings 4:26 One ms 4,000, cf. 2 Chr 9:25
  16. 1 Kings 4:31 In 1 Chr 2:6, Dara
  17. 1 Kings 4:34 Lit they

¶ So king Solomon was king over all Israel.

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

Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes, Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, writer of the chronicles;

Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests;

Azariah, the son of Nathan, was over the officers; and Zabud, the son of Nathan, was the priest and special companion of the king;

and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, was over the tribute.

And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who maintained the king and his household. Each one of them made provision for one month in the year.

And these are their names: The son of Hur, in Mount Ephraim;

the son of Dekar, in Makaz and in Shaalbim and in Bethshemesh and in Elon and in Bethhanan;

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

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

12 Baana, 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;

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

14 Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

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

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

17 Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

18 Shimei, the son of Elah, in Benjamin;

19 Geber, the son of Uri, was in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan; and in addition to these there was an officer over all the land.

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

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

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

23 ten fat oxen and twenty oxen out of the pastures and one hundred sheep beside harts and roebucks and fallowdeer and fatted fowl.

24 For he had dominion over all the region on the other side of the river and from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on the other side of the river, and he had peace on all sides {Heb. with all the slaves} round about him.

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

26 And Solomon had forty thousand horses in his stables for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.

27 And these officers maintained King Solomon and all that came unto king Solomon’s table, each one in his month; they made sure nothing was lacking.

28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and beasts of burden unto the place where he was, each one according to his charge.

29 ¶ And God gave Solomon exceedingly great wisdom and intelligence and magnanimity of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of the Egyptians.

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

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

33 And he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He also spoke of animals and of fowl and of serpents and of fishes.

34 And they came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.