1 Kings 4–5

Solomon’s Officials

4King Solomon ruled over Israel, ^g2and these were his officials: ^h

Azariah son of Zadok, priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, secretaries;

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud, court historian;

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

Zadok and Abiathar, priests;

⁵Azariah son of Nathan, in charge of the deputies;

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

⁶Ahishar, in charge of the palace;

and Adoniram son of Abda, in charge of forced labor.

⁷Solomon had 12 deputies for all Israel. They provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month out of the year. ⁱ⁸These were their names:

Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

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

¹⁰Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (he had Socoh and the whole land of Hepher);

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

¹²Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;

¹³Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, 60 great cities with walls and bronze bars);

¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

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

¹⁶Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin;

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

There was one deputy in the land of Judah. ^j

Solomon’s Provisions

²⁰Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea; ^kthey were eating, drinking, and rejoicing. ^21lSolomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt. ^mThey offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. ⁿ

²²Solomon’s provisions for one day were 150 bushels ^oof fine flour and 300 bushels ^pof meal, ²³10 fattened oxen, 20 range oxen, and 100 sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and pen-fed poultry, ^qr24for he had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza and over all the kings west of the Euphrates. He had peace on all his surrounding borders. ²⁵Throughout Solomon’s reign, Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan to Beer-sheba, ^seach man under his own vine and his own fig tree. ^t26Solomon had 40,000 ^ustalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. ^v27Each of those deputies for a month in turn provided food for King Solomon and for everyone who came to King Solomon’s table. They neglected nothing. ²⁸Each man brought the barley and the straw for the chariot teams and the other horses ^wto the required place according to his assignment. ^x

Solomon’s Wisdom and Literary Gifts

²⁹God gave Solomon wisdom, very great insight, and understanding ^yas vast as the sand on the seashore. ³⁰Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, ^zgreater than all the wisdom of Egypt. ^a31He was wiser than anyone ^b—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, ^cand Heman, Calcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol. ^dHis reputation extended to all the surrounding nations. ^e

³²Solomon composed 3,000 proverbs, ^fand his songs numbered 1,005. ^g33He described trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall. He also taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ³⁴People came from everywhere, sent by every king on earth who had heard of his wisdom, to listen to Solomon’s wisdom. ^h

Hiram’s Building Materials

5ⁱHiram king of Tyre ^jsent his servants to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father’s place, ^kfor Hiram had always been friends with David. ^l

²Solomon sent this message to Hiram: ³“You know my father David was not able to build a temple for the name of Yahweh his God. This was because of the warfare all around him until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. ^m4The Lord my God has now given me rest all around; there is no enemy or crisis. ⁿ⁵So I plan to build a temple for the name of Yahweh my God, ^oaccording to what the Lord promised my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the temple for My name.’ ^p

⁶“Therefore, command that cedars from Lebanon be cut down for me. My servants will be with your servants, and I will pay your servants’ wages according to whatever you say, for you know that not a man among us knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.” ^q

⁷When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he greatly rejoiced and said, “May the Lord be praised today! ^rHe has given David a wise son to be over this great people!” ⁸Then Hiram sent a reply to Solomon, saying, “I have heard your message; I will do everything you want regarding the cedar and cypress timber. ⁹My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place you indicate. I will break them apart there, and you can take them away. You then can meet my needs by providing my household with food.” ^s

¹⁰So Hiram provided Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber he wanted, ¹¹and Solomon provided Hiram with 100,000 bushels ^tof wheat as food for his household and 110,000 gallons ^uof oil from crushed olives. ^vSolomon did this for Hiram year after year.

¹²The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. ^wThere was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty. ^x

Solomon’s Work Force

¹³Then King Solomon drafted forced laborers from all Israel; ^ythe labor force numbered 30,000 men. ¹⁴He sent 10,000 to Lebanon each month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon, two months they were at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵Solomon had 70,000 porters and 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, ^z16not including his 3,300 ^adeputies ^bin charge of the work. They ruled over the people doing the work. ¹⁷The king commanded them to quarry large, costly stones to lay the foundation of the temple with dressed stones. ^c18So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders, ^dalong with the Gebalites, ^equarried the stone and prepared the timber and stone for the temple’s construction.