1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Princes

1 So King Solomon ruled over Israel, ‡ 1Ch 12:381Ki 11:131Ki 11:35-361Ki 12:19-202Ch 9:302Sa 5:5Ecc 1:12 2 and these were his chief officials: ‡ 1Co 12:28Exo 18:211Ch 27:171Ch 6:8-102Sa 20:23-262Sa 8:15-18

Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, ¹ were secretaries; ‡ 2Sa 8:161Ch 18:151Ch 18:62Sa 20:24-25Isa 62:6

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; ‡ 1Ki 2:351Ki 2:26-27

Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

5 Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors; ‡ 1Ch 27:332Sa 15:372Sa 16:161Ki 1:10-531Ki 4:72Sa 12:1-152Sa 12:252Sa 19:37-38 +7

Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;

6 Ahishar was in charge of the palace; ‡ 1Ki 12:181Ki 9:152Sa 20:241Ki 5:13-14

and Adoniram ²son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

Solomon’s Twelve Officers

7 Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year, ‡ 1Ch 27:1-15 8 and these were their names: ‡ Jos 24:33Jdg 17:1Jdg 19:1

Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

9 Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan; ‡ 1Sa 6:121Sa 6:20Jdg 1:35Jos 19:42Jos 21:16

10 Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him); ‡ Jos 12:17Jos 15:35Jos 17:2

11 Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor ³(Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife); ‡ Jos 11:2Jos 12:23Jos 17:11Jdg 1:27

12 Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam; ‡ Jos 17:111Ki 19:16Jdg 5:19Jos 3:161Ch 6:681Ki 18:461Ki 7:461Sa 31:10 +2

13 Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); ‡ Deu 3:4Num 32:411Ki 22:32Ki 9:12Ki 9:14Deu 3:13-14Deu 3:8Deu 4:43 +4

14 Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim; ‡ 2Sa 17:242Sa 17:272Sa 2:8Gen 32:2Jos 13:26

15 Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon); ‡ 1Ki 4:111Sa 18:182Sa 15:27Jos 19:32-39

16 Baana son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth; ‡ 2Sa 15:32Jos 19:24-31

17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar; ‡ Jos 19:17-23

18 Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin; ‡ 1Ki 1:8Jos 18:20-28Zec 12:13

19 Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. ‡ Deu 2:26Jos 13:9-12Num 21:21-35

There was also one governor in the land of Judah. ⁴

Solomon’s Prosperity

20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing. ‡ 1Ki 3:8Gen 22:17Gen 32:121Ch 12:391Sa 30:16Act 2:46Ecc 2:24Gen 13:16 +821 And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates ⁵to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. ‡ Gen 15:18Jos 1:4Psa 68:291Ki 4:242Ch 9:26-31Exo 23:312Ch 17:52Ch 32:23 +6

22 Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, ⁶ sixty cors of meal, ⁷ 23 ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry. ‡ Neh 5:17-18 24 For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates ⁸—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides. ‡ 1Ch 22:9Psa 72:111Ki 4:211Ki 5:4Gen 10:19Heb 7:1-2Isa 9:7Luk 2:14 +325 Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree. ‡ Mic 4:4Zec 3:102Ki 18:31Jdg 20:1Jer 23:5-6Jer 33:15-162Sa 17:112Sa 24:15 +2

26 Solomon had 4,000 ⁹stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses. ¹⁰ ‡ 2Ch 1:142Ch 9:252Sa 8:41Ki 10:25-26Deu 17:16Psa 20:7 27 Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. 28 Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses. ‡ Est 8:10Est 8:14Mic 1:13

Solomon’s Wisdom

29 And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore. ‡ 1Ki 3:12Jas 3:171Ki 4:20Ecc 2:26Jas 1:17Jas 1:52Ch 1:10-12Isa 60:5 +930 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. ‡ Dan 5:11-12Gen 25:6Act 7:22Dan 1:20Job 1:3Isa 19:11-12Mat 2:1Mat 2:16 +131 He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations. ‡ 1Ch 15:191Ch 2:61Ki 3:121Ch 6:33Luk 11:31Mat 12:42Psa 89:1-521Ch 15:17 +7

32 Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. ‡ Mat 13:35Pro 1:1-31Sng 1:1-17Ecc 12:9 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ‡ 2Ki 19:23Psa 51:7Psa 92:12Exo 12:22Gen 1:20-25Heb 9:19Num 19:18Num 24:6

34 So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. ‡ 2Ch 9:231Ki 10:12Ch 9:1Isa 2:2Zec 8:23