1Ki 4 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now King Solomon was king over all Israel .

1 Kings 4

Solomon’s Officials

1 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was ^athe priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were secretaries; ^bJehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 4 and ^cBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and ^dAbiathar were priests; 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over ^ethe deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend; 6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who ^{▼▼ Lit nourished}provided for the king and his household; each man had to ^{▼▼ Lit nourish}provide for a month in the year. 8 These are their names: Ben-hur, in the ^hhill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz and ⁱShaalbim and ^jBeth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth ( ^kSocoh was his and all the land of ^lHepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all ^{▼▼ Or Naphoth-dor}the ⁿheight of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in ^oTaanach and Megiddo, and all ^pBeth-shean which is beside ^qZarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to ^rAbel-meholah as far as the other side of ^sJokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in ^tRamoth-gilead ( ^uthe towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: ^vthe region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in ^wMahanaim; 15 ^xAhimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); 16 Baana the son of ^yHushai, in Asher and ^{▼▼ Or in Aloth}Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 ^aaShimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, ^abthe country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.

Solomon’s Power, Wealth and Wisdom

20 ^acJudah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the ^{▼▼ Lit sea}seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

21 ^{▼▼ Ch 5:1 in Heb
,} ^afNow Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms ^agfrom the ^{▼▼ I.e. Euphrates}River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; ^ai they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s ^{▼▼ Lit bread}provision for one day was thirty ^{▼▼ I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bu}kors of fine flour and sixty ^{▼▼ I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bu}kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty ^{▼▼ Lit oxen of the pasture}pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over everything ^{▼▼ Lit beyond}west of the ^{▼▼ I.e. Euphrates}River, from Tiphsah even to ^apGaza, ^aqover all the kings ^{▼▼ Lit beyond}west of the ^{▼▼ I.e. Euphrates}River; and ^athe had peace on all sides around about him. 25 ^auSo Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, ^avfrom Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 ^awSolomon had ^{▼▼ One ms reads 4000, cf 2 Chr 9:25}40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 Those deputies ^{▼▼ Or nourished}provided for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and ^azswift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to his charge.

29 Now ^baGod gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of ^{▼▼ Lit heart}mind, ^bclike the sand that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all ^bdthe sons of the east and ^beall the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For ^bfhe was wiser than all men, than ^bgEthan the Ezrahite, Heman, ^bhCalcol and ^{▼▼ In 1 Chr 2:6, Dara}Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his ^{▼▼ Lit name}fame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 ^bkHe also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. 34 ^{▼▼ Lit they}Men ^bmcame from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.