The First Book of the Kings

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 4 -

Now king Solomon was reigning over all of Israel.

And these were the leaders that he had: Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest;

Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, the scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the keeper of records;

Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, over the army; and Zadok, and Abiathar, priests;(a)

Azariah, the son of Nathan, over those who were assisting the king; Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the friend of the king;

and Ahishar, first ruler of the house; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, over the tribute.

Solomon’s Twelve Officers

And Solomon had twelve commanders over all of Israel, who offered yearly provisions for the king and his house. For each was ministering the necessities, by each month of the year.

And these are their names: Benhur, on mount Ephraim;

Bendeker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon, and in Beth-hanan;

Benhesed, in Arubboth: his was Socoh and the entire land of Hepher;

Benabinadab, to whom was all of Naphath-Dor, who had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, as wife;

Baana, the son of Ahilud, who was reigning in Taanach, and Megiddo, and all of Bethshean, which is beside Zarethan and below Jezreel, from Bethshean as far as Abelmeholah, opposite Jokmeam;

Bengeber, in Ramoth Gilead, who had the town of Jair, the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; the same was first in the entire region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls that had bronze bars;

Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, who was first in Mahanaim;

Ahimaaz, in Naphtali, and he also had Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, in marriage;

Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Bealoth;

Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

Geber, the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan, over all who were in that land.

Solomon’s Prosperity

Judah and Israel were innumerable, like the sand of the sea in multitude: eating and drinking, and rejoicing.

Now Solomon had, in his dominion, all the kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt. And they offered gifts to him, and they served him all the days of his life.(b)

And the provisions of Solomon, for each day, were thirty cor of fine wheat flour, and sixty cor of meal,

ten fattened oxen, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred rams, aside from the venison of stags, roe deer, and gazelles, and fattened poultry.

For he had obtained the entire region which was beyond the river, from Tiphsah as far as Gaza, and all the kings of those regions. And he had peace on every side all around.

And so, Judah and Israel were living without any fear, each one under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, during all the days of Solomon.

And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand riding horses.

And the above-stated commanders of the king nourished these. And they also offered the necessities for the table of king Solomon, with immense diligence, each in his time.

Also, they brought barley and straw for the horses and beasts of burden, to the place where the king was, just as it was appointed to them.

Solomon’s Wisdom

And God gave wisdom to Solomon, and an exceedingly great prudence, and a spacious heart, like the sand which is on the shore of the sea.

And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the East, and of the Egyptians.

And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And he was renowned in all the nations on every side.

Solomon also spoke three thousand parables. And his verses were one thousand and five.(c)

And he discoursed about trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon, to the hyssop which grows out from the wall. And he explained about beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and fish.

And they came from all the peoples in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who were hearing about his wisdom.

Footnotes

(a)4:4 Abiathar:By this it appears that Abiathar was not altogether deposed from the high priesthood; but only banished to his country house, and by that means excluded from the exercise of his functions.(Challoner)

(b)4:21 The river:Euphrates.(Challoner)

(c)4:32 Three thousand parables, etc:These works are all lost, excepting some part of the parables extant in the book of Proverbs; and his chief poem called the Canticle of Canticles.(Challoner)

King Solomon was king over all Israel.

These were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest;

Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder;

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, the king’s friend;

Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

Solomon’s Twelve Officers

Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for a month in the year.

These are their names: Ben Hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

Ben Deker, in Makaz, in Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan;

Ben Hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);

Ben Abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, as wife);

Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth Shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam;

Ben Geber, in Ramoth Gilead (the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, belonged to him; and the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars, belonged to him);

Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife);

Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.

Solomon’s Prosperity

Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.

Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors(a) of fine flour, sixty measures of meal,

ten head of fat cattle, twenty head of cattle out of the pastures, and one hundred sheep, in addition to deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.

For he had dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River; and he had peace on all sides around him.

Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

Those officers provided food for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, every man in his month. They let nothing be lacking.

They also brought barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where the officers were, each man according to his duty.

Solomon’s Wisdom

God gave Solomon abundant wisdom, understanding, and breadth of mind like the sand that is on the seashore.

Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.

For he was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the nations all around.

He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand five.

He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he also spoke of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.

People of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sent by all kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Footnotes

(a)4:22 1 cor is the same as a homer, or about 55.9 U. S. gallons (liquid) or 211 liters or 6 bushels