1 Kings 4
Complete Jewish Bible
4 King Shlomo was king over all Isra’el, 2 and these were his high officials:
‘Azaryah the son of Tzadok, the cohen;
3 Elichoref and Achiyah the sons of Shisha, secretaries;
Y’hoshafat the son of Achilud, secretary of state;
4 B’nayah the son of Y’hoyada, commander of the army;
Tzadok and Evyatar, cohanim;
5 ‘Azaryah the son of Natan, chief administrator;
Zavud the son of Natan, the king’s trusted counselor;
6 Achishar, in charge of the palace;
Adoniram the son of ‘Avda, in charge of forced labor.
7 Shlomo had twelve officers over all Isra’el who were in charge of providing food and supplies for the king and his household; each one was in charge of provisions for one month out of the year. 8 They were:
the son of Hur, in the hills of Efrayim;
9 the son of Deker, in Makatz, Sha‘albim, Beit-Shemesh and Eilon-Beit-Hanan;
10 the son of Hesed, in Arubot; he also had charge of Sokhoh and all the territory of Hefer;
11 the son of Avinadav, in all the area of Dor; he had Tafat the daughter of Shlomo as his wife;
12 Ba‘ana the son of Achilud, in Ta‘anakh, Megiddo, and all Beit-Sh’an by Tzartan below Yizre‘el, from Beit-Sh’an to Avel-M’cholah, as far as beyond Yokme‘am;
13 the son of Gever, in Ramot-Gil‘ad; he was in charge of the villages of Ya’ir the son of M’nasheh in Gil‘ad and in charge of the region of Argov in Bashan, sixty large cities with walls and bronze bars;
14 Achinadav the son of ‘Iddo, in Machanayim;
15 Achima‘atz, in Naftali; he also took Basmat the daughter of Shlomo as his wife;
16 Ba‘ana the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Alot;
17 Y’hoshafat the son of Paruach, in Yissakhar;
18 Shim‘i the son of Ela, in Binyamin; and
19 Gever the son of Uri, in the land of Gil‘ad, the country of Sichon king of the Emori and ‘Og king of Bashan.
Over all these, there was one administrator in the land.
20 Y’hudah and Isra’el were as numerous as sand grains on the seashore; they ate, drank and enjoyed themselves.
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’.
1 Kings 4
King James Version
4 So king Solomon was king over all Israel.
2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,
3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.
4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:
5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend:
6 And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.
7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.
8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:
9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan:
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; which 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 are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had 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 country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in 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: 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 threescore measures of meal,
23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.
24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.
28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.
32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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