1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Administration

4So King Solomon was king over all Israel. ²And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, ¹scribes; ^aJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; ^4bBenaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and ^cAbiathar, the priests; ⁵Azariah the son of Nathan, over ^dthe officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, ^ea priest and ^fthe king’s friend; ⁶Ahishar, over the household; and ^gAdoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force.

⁷And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year. ⁸These are their names: ²Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim; ⁹³Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; ¹⁰⁴Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; ¹¹⁵Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹²Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam; ¹³⁶Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged ^hthe towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged ⁱthe region of Argob in Bashan—sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars; ¹⁴Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; ^15jAhimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife; ¹⁶Baanah the son of ^kHushai, in Asher and Aloth; ¹⁷Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; ^18lShimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin; ¹⁹Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in ^mthe country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor who was in the land.

Prosperity and Wisdom of Solomon’s Reign

²⁰Judah and Israel were as numerous ⁿas the sand by the sea in multitude, ^oeating and drinking and rejoicing. ²¹So ^pSolomon reigned over all kingdoms from ^qthe ⁷River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. ^rThey brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

^22sNow Solomon’s ⁸provision for one day was thirty ⁹kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, ²³ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl.

²⁴For he had dominion over all the region on this side of ¹the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over ^tall the kings on this side of the River; and ^uhe had peace on every side all around him. ²⁵And Judah and Israel ^vdwelt ²safely, ^weach man under his vine and his fig tree, ^xfrom Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

^26ySolomon had ³forty thousand stalls of ^zhorses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. ²⁷And ^athese governors, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon’s table. There was no lack in their supply. ²⁸They also brought barley and straw to the proper place, for the horses and steeds, each man according to his charge.

²⁹And ^bGod gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰Thus Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men ^cof the East and all ^dthe wisdom of Egypt. ³¹For he was ^ewiser than all men—^fthan Ethan the Ezrahite, ^gand Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. ^32hHe spoke three thousand proverbs, and his ⁱsongs were one thousand and five. ³³Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. ³⁴And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, ^jcame to hear the wisdom of Solomon.