1 Kings 4–5

Solomon’s Officials and Governors

4So King Solomon ruled over all Israel. ²And these were his chief officials:^y

Azariah^z son of Zadok—the priest;

³Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha—secretaries;^a

Jehoshaphat^b son of Ahilud—recorder;

⁴Benaiah^c son of Jehoiada—commander in chief;

Zadok^d and Abiathar—priests;

⁵Azariah son of Nathan—in charge of the district governors;

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

⁶Ahishar—palace administrator;^e

Adoniram^f son of Abda—in charge of forced labor.^g

⁷Solomon had twelve district governors^h over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. ⁸These are their names:

Ben-Hur—in the hill countryⁱ of Ephraim;

⁹Ben-Deker—in Makaz, Shaalbim,^j Beth Shemesh^k and Elon Bethhanan;

¹⁰Ben-Hesed—in Arubboth (Sokoh^l and all the land of Hepher^m were his);

¹¹Ben-Abinadab—in Naphoth Dorⁿ (he was married to Taphath daughter of Solomon);

¹²Baana son of Ahilud—in Taanach and Megiddo, and in all of Beth Shan^o next to Zarethan^p below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah^q across to Jokmeam;^r

¹³Ben-Geber—in Ramoth Gilead (the settlements of Jair^s son of Manasseh in Gilead^t were his, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan and its sixty large walled cities^u with bronze gate bars);

¹⁴Ahinadab son of Iddo—in Mahanaim;^v

¹⁵Ahimaaz^w—in Naphtali (he had married Basemath daughter of Solomon);

¹⁶Baana son of Hushai^x—in Asher and in Aloth;

¹⁷Jehoshaphat son of Paruah—in Issachar;

¹⁸Shimei^y son of Ela—in Benjamin;

¹⁹Geber son of Uri—in Gilead (the country of Sihon^z king of the Amorites and the country of Og^a king of Bashan). He was the only governor over the district.

Solomon’s Daily Provisions

²⁰The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand^b on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.^{c 21}And Solomon ruled^d over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River^e to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.^f These countries brought tribute^g and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

²²Solomon’s daily provisions^h were thirty cors^a of the finest flour and sixty cors^b of meal, ²³ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.^{i 24}For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah^j to Gaza, and had peace^k on all sides. ²⁵During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba,^l lived in safety,^m everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.ⁿ

²⁶Solomon had four^c thousand stalls for chariot horses,^o and twelve thousand horses.^d

²⁷The district governors,^p each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. ²⁸They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

Solomon’s Wisdom

²⁹God gave Solomon wisdom^q and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand^r on the seashore. ³⁰Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,^s and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.^{t 31}He was wiser^u than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. ³²He spoke three thousand proverbs^v and his songs^w numbered a thousand and five. ³³He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop^x that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. ³⁴From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings^y of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.^e

Preparations for Building the Temple

5:1–16pp—2Ch 2:1–18

5^aWhen Hiram^z king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. ²Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

³“You know that because of the wars^a waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build^b a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.^{c 4}But now the Lord my God has given me rest^d on every side, and there is no adversary^e or disaster. ⁵I intend, therefore, to build a temple^f for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’^g

⁶“So give orders that cedars^h of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”

⁷When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lordⁱ today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

⁸So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. ⁹My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea^j, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food^k for my royal household.”

¹⁰In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, ¹¹and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors^b of wheat as food^l for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths^cd of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. ¹²The Lord gave Solomon wisdom,^m just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.ⁿ

¹³King Solomon conscripted laborers^o from all Israel—thirty thousand men. ¹⁴He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram^p was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, ¹⁶as well as thirty-three hundred^e foremen^q who supervised the project and directed the workers. ¹⁷At the king’s command they removed from the quarry^r large blocks of high-grade stone^s to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. ¹⁸The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram^t and workers from Byblos^u cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.