1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Princes

¹So King Solomon ruled over Israel, ²and these were his chief officials:

Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries;

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army;

Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors;

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

⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace;

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

Solomon’s Twelve Officers

⁷Solomon 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, ⁸and these were their names:

Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

⁹Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan;

¹⁰Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);

¹¹Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor (Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife);

¹²Baana 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;

¹³Ben-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);

¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

¹⁵Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon);

¹⁶Baana son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin;

¹⁹Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan.

There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

Solomon’s Prosperity

²⁰The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to 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.

• 1KI 4:21[FULFILLS]The land from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates would belong to Abraham's descendants ← GEN 15:18
• 1KI 4:21[NOTE]FROM THE EUPHRATES TO EGYPT. This matches the land God promised Abraham, Genesis 15:18. How big Solomon's kingdom really was is debated. See the Big Question pages Solomon's Kingdom.

²²Solomon’s provisions for a single day were 180 bushels of fine flour, 360 bushels of meal, ²³ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry. ²⁴For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides. ²⁵Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

• 1KI 4:24[FULFILLS]David would have a son named Solomon, a man of peace who would build God's house ← 1CH 22:9-10

²⁶Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses. ²⁷Each 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. ²⁸Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.

• 1KI 4:26[TEXT]4,000 OR 40,000? The standard Hebrew text says 40,000 stalls. Some Greek copies and 2 Chronicles 9:25 say 4,000, and this Bible follows them.

Solomon’s Wisdom

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and largeness of heart, like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. ³¹He 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.

• 1KI 4:30[FULFILLS]God promised Solomon unmatched wisdom plus riches and honor ← 1KI 3:12-13

³²Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. ³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

³⁴So 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.