1 Kingschapter 4
34 verses · Jeremiah, by tradition · 6th century BC · History
Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
Introduction
Jeremiah, by tradition, History, 1 Kings Overview.
This chapter comes from the royal archive, and the historian sets it in his book as the record of a kingdom at full strength. It reads as a register of officers and districts with a few lines of praise at its close. Its first hearers lived under the heavy demands of later kings and could measure their own days against these. Listen for what the lists count, from officials to provisions to horses. Notice the pictures of ordinary peace the chapter uses for the whole people. Its measure of the king's wisdom is the widest in the book.
Context
- Who
- Israelites living under a central administration their fathers had never known
- What
- A register of Solomon's chief officers and twelve district governors, the daily provision of his court, the reach of his rule and the fame of his wisdom.
- Where
- The court at Jerusalem and twelve districts of Israel, with a rule reaching from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt.
- When
- The reign of Solomon taken as a whole, about 970 to 931 BC.
- Why
- To show the kingdom ordered, fed and at peace under a wise king, and the promise to Abraham fulfilled in the size of the people and the land.
Historical context
The chapter is the crown's own record, a roster of officers and a roll of districts rather than a scene with people in it.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
The time is the reign taken as a whole, about 970 to 931 BC, which is why Zadok and Abiathar can stand in one list although Abiathar was removed in chapter 2. The places are the court at Jerusalem and twelve districts that mix old tribal territory with cities and regions redrawn under the crown.
The occasion is administrative, since each district supplied the king's household for one month of the year and the same officers carried barley and straw to the horses.
A first hearer knew several things the list assumes. A royal table of that size was fed by tribute from client kingdoms as well as by the districts. The title given to Zabud, the king's friend, was a court office rather than a description of a friendship.
A man sitting under his vine and his fig tree meant a household that kept what it grew, which is why the prophets later used the picture for a peace still to come. Dan and Beersheba were the far ends of the land, so naming them measured the kingdom at its widest. Counting horses by the thousand stood against the law of the king at Deuteronomy 17:16, and the register gives the number with no comment on it.
Significance
For the first hearers this was the reign at its height, with the borders reaching the span promised to Abraham at Genesis 15:18 and the people counted by the picture of the oath at Genesis 22:17.
Show the rest of the significance, 2 more paragraphs
It was also the reign at its most expensive. The register names an officer over forced labour and counts the stalls of horses, and the elders of the north name that service by memory when they meet Rehoboam at 12:4.
The wisdom of the king is measured here in the same words as the people, so the chapter weighs a nation and its ruler on one scale.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The synagogue reaches this chapter at its first verse only, and both rites read it there. The reading from the Prophets that follows the portion called Miketz begins in the chapter before, at Solomon's waking from the dream, and it closes here. A congregation hears the list of the officers open and stop. That the pairing was made for the dream and the judgment rather than for the administration is the writer's reading of src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, and it is marked as the writer's reading. This book has no weekly portion of its own, so the rest of the chapter is heard in the synagogue on no Sabbath of the year.
How it is read
The corpus follows the Hebrew chapter division of this book, and from here on that division parts from the English one. Its notes on this chapter stop at the twentieth verse, and its notes on what an English Bible prints as the rest of the chapter stand in the file for chapter 5. The drafted exposition in this repository runs this chapter to verse 34 at data/commentary/1-kings-4-exposition.json. Every ref below is copied from the corpus and carries the corpus numbering. A reader comparing a Jewish Bible with an English one from this chapter onward will find the verse numbers apart.
Rashi is quoted here from the Metsudah Tanach series of Lakewood, New Jersey, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. He reads the opening line as the settling of a question. Solomon was king over all Israel because they saw his wisdom and were glad of his reign, and the translation notes Radak with him, that no one opposed him (Rashi on I Kings 4:1:1). The offices are then read as working posts. The scribes wrote the king's chronicles (Rashi on I Kings 4:3:1). The recorder kept the order of the court, marking which case came first so that it would be judged first (Rashi on I Kings 4:3:2).
The twelve officers Rashi reads as a provisioning system, each in his month. They covered the meals of the king and his house, the food of the horses and the rest of his charges (Rashi on I Kings 4:5:1 and 4:7:1). He grounds the levy in the law rather than in the king's will. The right to take these things from the people was set out to Israel in Samuel before a king was anointed, and Rashi cites it twice (Rashi on I Kings 4:13:1). The tax commissioner is the officer of that levy, and Rashi points forward to the raising of it later in the book (Rashi on I Kings 4:6:1). On the district of Dor he gives the reading of Targum Jonathan (Rashi on I Kings 4:11:1).
The thirteenth officer is the one place the classical reading divides here. Rashi reports Rav and Samuel against each other. One holds that a single officer was set over all the twelve, and names him from the list above. The other holds that the thirteenth was appointed for the thirteenth month of a leap year, so that the extra month had its own provider (Rashi on I Kings 4:19:1). Fifteen further notes stand in the corpus without an English text and are cited and unquoted. Radak stands at Radak on I Kings 4:1:1, 4:2:1, 4:4:1, 4:5:1, 4:6:1, 4:7:1, 4:13:1, 4:16:1 and 4:20:1. Metzudat David stands at 4:2:1, 4:4:1, 4:8:1, 4:10:1, 4:12:1 and 4:15:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries thirty-three rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse it holds Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:1:6, and on the second Midrash Lekach Tov on Lamentations 1:1:3. The officers of the court draw three on the third verse. The corpus holds Sukkah 53a:5, Ein Yaakov, Sukkah 5:16 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sukkah 5:12. On the fifth it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:99, and on the seventh Ein Yaakov, Sanhedrin 1:22. On the thirteenth it holds a passage of the Introductions to Amoraic Literature on Bava Batra, at 245.
The thirteenth officer draws seven locators on the nineteenth verse, which is the weight the calendar question carries in the tradition. The corpus holds Sanhedrin 12a:8 and Sifrei Devarim 2:3. It holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 12:2:13 and Leviticus 23:1:1. It holds Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 12:20:8, Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 1:3:4 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 800:1.
The twentieth verse draws the longest run in the chapter, fifteen locators on Judah and Israel eating and drinking and glad. The corpus holds Bava Metzia 28a:17 and 86b:4, with Ein Yaakov, Bava Metzia 2:7 and 7:19 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Bava Metzia 7:22. It holds Zevachim 61b:9 with Ein Yaakov, Zevakhim 6:3. It holds Bamidbar Rabbah 2:17, Midrash Shmuel 32:2 and Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:16:3. It holds Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 9:3 and Midrash Yelamdenu, Selections from Yalkut Talmud Torah 147:1. It holds Pesikta DeRav Kahana 2:9 with Pesikta Rabbati 10:1 and 11:1.
Three locators in this chapter's file are anchored past the end of the Hebrew chapter, at the verses an English Bible numbers 4:21, 4:22 and 4:31. The corpus holds Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 11:14 and 39:12 and Midrash Tehillim 50:2 there. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and this site reports it as theirs. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on I Kings 4:1:1 to 4:19:1, the Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J, reported CC-BY; Radak, Radak on I Kings 4:1:1 to 4:20:1, cited by ref because Sefaria holds no English version; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on I Kings 4:2:1 to 4:15:1, cited by ref because Sefaria holds no English version; Targum Jonathan, cited by Rashi at Rashi on I Kings 4:11:1; The Sefaria corpus on disk, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/1-kings/4.json, fetched 2026-09-19, the thirty-three Midrash and Talmud locators cited above, 2026; MannaFest, data/commentary/1-kings-4-exposition.json, whose notes run to verse 34, and src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The princes of Solomon's court
1 Kings 4:1-6
So King Solomon ruled over Israel: The roster opens with the priesthood: “Azariah son of Zadok was the priest”, holding the office 1 Kings 2:35 set in Zadok's line. Verse 4 still names both men together: “Zadok and Abiathar were priests”. Zabud son of Nathan holds a title of his own, “adviser to the king”.
1 Kings 4:1
“Solomon, that is, was king over “all Israel” from the first; not like David, who for seven and a half years reigned over Judah only. This feature well introduces the glory of Solomon and the organisation of the court, of which the historian in this chapter intends to give us a general sketch. Solomon constitutes certain “princes” or officers of the first rank, deriving their station from him, and probably holding it during pleasure.”
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest: Azariah heads the list of Solomon's chief officials as the priest. Albert Barnes reads the title here as the high priest, though the same Hebrew word can name a civil official. Azariah was the grandson of Zadok through Ahimaaz, as John Gill counts the line.
1 Kings 4:2
“And these were the princes which he had,.... That were in office about him, in the highest posts of honour and trust: Azariah the son of Zadok the priest: or rather his grandson, since Ahimaaz was the son of Zadok, and Azariah the son of Ahimaaz, 1Ch 6:8; though another Zadok may be meant, and his son not a priest but a prince, as the word may be rendered, and was Solomon's prime minister of state, and the rather, since he is mentioned first.”
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder: The secretaries wrote the king's edicts and letters, and the recorder kept the annals of the court, as Albert Barnes explains. Shisha had been David's scribe, and Solomon kept both of his sons in the office. Matthew Henry sees a son honouring his father's trusted men.
1 Kings 4:3
“Shisha, or Shavsha 1Ch 18:16, seems also to have been called Sheva 2Sa 20:25, and Seraiah 2Sa 8:17. The “scribes” were probably royal “secretaries” (margin), who drew up the king’s edicts, wrote his letters, and perhaps managed his finances 1Ki 12:10. They were among his most influential councillors. By “recorder” or “remembrancer” (margin), we must understand “court annalist” (marginal reference “a”).”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:3
“Scribes - That is, secretaries of state. He chose two, whereas David had but one: either, because he observed some inconveniences in trusting all those matters in one hand: or, because he had now much more employment than David had, this being a time of great peace and prosperity, and his empire enlarged.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Benaiah son of Jehoiada: had commanded David's guard, and Solomon gave him Joab's place over the army. Zadok and Abiathar both stand as priests, and John Gill records Ben Gersom's view that Abiathar kept the title and served when needed. Kimchi took this Abiathar for another man.
1 Kings 4:4
“And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host,.... General of the army in the room of Joab, 1Ki 2:35; and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests; so they were when Solomon came to the throne; but Abiathar was deposed by him after some time, though he might retain the name afterwards, and be employed, as Ben Gersom thinks, in case of necessity, in the room of Zadok, or, however, be employed as a common priest at Jerusalem, upon a reconciliation with Solomon; though Kimchi thinks another Abiathar is meant, which is not so likely.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:4
“It is curious to find Abiathar in this list of princes, after what has been said of his disgrace 1Ki 2:27, 1Ki 2:35. Some have supposed that after a while Solomon pardoned him. Perhaps the true explanation is that the historian here enumerates all those who were accounted “princes” in any part of Solomon’s reign.”
Azariah son of Nathan: oversaw the twelve governors who provided food for the king and his household, as Adam Clarke reads it. Albert Barnes leaves open whether this Nathan was the prophet or a son of David. Matthew Henry took him for the prophet.
1 Kings 4:5
“The son of Nathan - It is uncertain whether the Nathan of this verse is the prophet or the son of David 2Sa 5:14. While on the one hand the position of “king’s friend” is more likely to have been held by a contemporary, which the prophet’s son would have been, than by one so much younger as the son of a younger brother; on the other hand the title “cohen” seems to point to a member of the royal family. (See the next note.)”
Adoniram son of Abda: Ahishar was in charge of the king's palace and household, the office Isaiah 22:15 gives to Shebna. Albert Barnes reads the forced labor as the levy for Solomon's building at 5:13-14, and Adam Clarke took Adoniram's charge for the treasury of tribute. Adoniram had served David in the same post.
1 Kings 4:6
“Ahishar was over the household--steward or chamberlain of the palace. Adoniram--or Adoram (2Sa 20:24; 1Ki 12:18), or Hadoram (2Ch 10:18), was over the tribute--not the collection of money or goods, but the levy of compulsory laborers (compare 1Ki 5:13, 14).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Twelve officers, twelve months of bread
1 Kings 4:7-19
twelve governors over all Israel: Solomon has “twelve governors over all Israel”, each to “arrange provisions for one month”. The districts mix tribal territory with cities and regions redrawn under the crown. Verse 19 gives Geber the land of Gilead, “including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan”.
1 Kings 4:7
“The requirement of a portion of their produce from subjects, in addition to money payments, is a common practice of Oriental monarchs. It obtained in ancient, and it still obtains in modern, Persia.”
Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim: Ben-hur means son of Hur, and five of the governors are named only by their fathers. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that rural Syria and Arabia still named men as the sons of their fathers. Albert Barnes matches this district to Ephraim.
1 Kings 4:8
“And these are their names,.... Or rather the names of their fathers; for of many of them not their own names but their fathers' names are given, as being well known: the son of Hur, in Mount Ephraim; a fruitful country in the tribe of Ephraim, from whence this officer was to furnish the king with provisions for one month in the year.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:8
“In this arrangement of the territory into twelve portions, the divisions of the tribes seem to have been adopted as far as could be managed without unfairness. The prefecture of Ben-Hur corresponded nearly to the territory of Ephraim; that of Ben-Dekar to Dan; that of Ben-Hesed to Judah; those of Ben-Abinadab and Baana to Cis-Jordanic Manasseh; that of Ben-Geber to Manasseh beyond Jordan; of Abinadab to Gad; of Ahimaaz to Naphtali; of Baanah to Asher; of Jehoshaphat to Issachar; of Shimei to Benjamin; and of Geber to Reuben.”
Ben-deker in Makaz: Ben-deker's district lay in the tribe of Dan, and John Gill places Makaz, Shaalbim and the other towns along its border. Several appear in Dan's allotment at Joshua 19:41-43. Beth-shemesh received the returning ark in 1 Samuel 6.
1 Kings 4:9
“The son of Dekar in Makaz,.... A place in the tribe of Dan, on the borders of it: and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan; all in the same tribe, see Jos 19:41.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:9
“For some of the names, see Jos 19:41-43.”
Ben-hesed in Arubboth: Albert Barnes matches Ben-hesed's district to the land of Judah, which bears on the question of a governor for Judah at verse 19. Socoh is a town of Judah's lowland at Joshua 15:35. Hepher was a clan of Manasseh.
(Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife): John Gill places Naphath-dor, the district of Dor, in Manasseh west of the Jordan. Albert Barnes reads the marriage as the royal practice of binding officials to the king, and takes Ben-abinadab for Solomon's cousin through David's brother Abinadab. Gill dates the wedding to later years of good service.
1 Kings 4:11
“The son of Abinadab in all the region of Dor,.... The same with Dor and her towns, belonged to the half tribe of Manasseh, on this side Jordan, Jos 17:11; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife; not when he was first put into this office, when, in all probability, Solomon had not a daughter marriageable; but behaving well in it, in process of time he bestowed a daughter of his on him.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:11
“Dor - See Jos 11:2 note. It has always been a practice among Oriental potentates to attach to themselves the more important of their officers by giving them for wives princesses of the royal house. Hence, the union here between Ben-Abinadab (probably Solomon’s first cousin, compare 1Sa 16:8) and Taphath. Compare 1Ki 4:15.”
Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach: Taanach, Megiddo and Beth-shean were cities of Manasseh, and John Gill carries the district past Jokmeam into Zebulun. The district held the plain below Jezreel. Baana shares his father's name, Ahilud, with Jehoshaphat the recorder of verse 3.
1 Kings 4:12
“Baana the son of Ahilud, to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean,.... All which were places in the tribe of Manasseh, Jos 17:11; which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel; so described, to distinguish it, as is thought, from Zaretan in Jos 3:16; and the country this officer presided over reached also from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam; the two first of these were in the tribe of Manasseh, and the last in the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:11.”
the region of Argob in Bashan: Ramoth-gilead was a city of refuge, and the sixty walled cities of Argob were taken in the conquest of Bashan at Deuteronomy 3:4. Adam Clarke reads the bronze bars as plated gate bars. Albert Barnes explains the five governors named only by their fathers as damage to the list.
1 Kings 4:13
“The son of Geber in Ramothgilead,.... A city in the tribe of Gad, and was a city of refuge, Jos 20:8; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; of which see Num 32:41; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls, and brasen bars; called by Josephus (s) Ragaba, beyond Jordan; See Gill on Deu 3:4. (s) Antiqu. l. 13. c. 15. sect. 5.”
Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim: Mahanaim lay east of the Jordan. Jacob named it at Genesis 32:2, Ishbosheth ruled from it in 2 Samuel 2:8, and David stayed there when he fled from Absalom. John Gill infers rich land from the month of provision it owed the king.
(he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon): Ahimaaz is the second governor married to a daughter of Solomon, after Ben-abinadab in verse 11. Matthew Henry commends the matches, for the princesses married Israelite officers of their father's court and stayed clear of foreign princes outside the covenant. Ahimaaz alone carries no father's name.
1 Kings 4:15
“Ahimaaz was in Naphtali,.... Out of that tribe he made a monthly provision annually: he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife; another daughter of Solomon's, in course of time; See Gill on 1Ki 4:11.”
Baana son of Hushai in Asher: Baana son of Hushai governed Asher and Aloth. John Gill takes him for a son of Hushai the Archite, David's friend, and reads Aloth as the heights near the Ladder of Tyre. Asher was rich in oil.
1 Kings 4:16
“Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher,.... In the tribe of Asher; a very plentiful tribe, particularly for oil; this officer was perhaps the son of Hushai, the Archite, David's friend, and, it may be, promoted for his sake: and in Aloth; which signifies ascensions, mountains went upon by steps; near to this place was an high mountain, called the ladder of Tyre (t); perhaps that and the parts adjacent may be meant here. (t) Vid. Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 10. sect. 2.”
Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar: Issachar formed one district under one governor. John Gill notes that Asher before it and Benjamin after it were whole tribes in the same way, feeding the king's table for a month. This Jehoshaphat is a different man from Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud, the recorder of verse 3.
1 Kings 4:17
“Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar. In the tribe of Issachar; he had the whole tribe at his command to make a monthly provision out of for the king once a year, as had the preceding officer and the following one.”
Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin: Shimei son of Ela governed Benjamin, the tribe of Saul. John Gill notes his father's name marks this Shimei apart from the Shimei of Benjamin who cursed David and was put to death at 2:46.
1 Kings 4:18
“Shimei the son of Elah in Benjamin. So described, to distinguish him from that Shimei that cursed David, who was of the same tribe; See Gill on 2Sa 16:5.”
one governor in the land of Judah: Sihon and Og were the two Amorite kings Israel defeated east of the Jordan in Numbers 21, and their lands fell to one governor. John Wesley and Albert Barnes read the closing clause as a note on Geber's wide charge. The Berean text gives Judah a governor of its own.
1 Kings 4:19
The meaning of the last clause is somewhat doubtful. On the whole, our King James Version may well stand as nearly correct. The writer has assigned to Geber a wide stretch of territory; and, anticipating surprise, assures his readers ” (there was but) one officer who (purveyed) in this land.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:19
“Country of Gilead - That is, in the remaining part of that land of Gilead, which was mentioned above. The only officer - In all Gilead, excepting the parcels mentioned before, in all the territories of Sihon and Og; which because they were of large extent, and yet all committed to this one man, it is here noted concerning him as his privilege above the rest.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Every man under his vine and under his fig-tree
as numerous as the sand on the seashore: The people of Judah and Israel are “as numerous as the sand on the seashore”, the promise the LORD swore to Abraham at Genesis 22:17. For one generation under Solomon the oath reads as present fact. The verse pairs it with contentment, for they “were eating and drinking and rejoicing”.
1 Kings 4:20
“Eating and drinking, and making merry - They were very comfortable, very rich, very merry, and very corrupt. And this full feeding and dissipation led to a total corruption of manners.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Kings 4:21-24
from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines: Solomon reigns “from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt”, the span promised at Genesis 15:18. The daily provision of “thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal” feeds a court served by kingdoms that “offered tribute and served Solomon”.
1 Kings 4:21
“Solomon’s empire, like all the great empires of Asia down to the time of the Persians, consisted of a congeries of small kingdoms, all ruled by their own kings 1Ki 4:24, who admitted the suzerainty of the Jewish monarch, and paid him “presents,” i. e., an annual tribute (see 1Ki 10:25). Unto the land of the Philistines - There is no word corresponding to “unto” in the Hebrew.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:21
“The river - Euphrates: for so far David, having conquered the Syrians, extended his empire, which Solomon also maintained in that extent. And so God's promise concerning the giving the whole land, as far as Euphrates, to the Israelites, was fulfilled.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
thirty cors of fine flour: A cor was the same measure as the homer, and Albert Barnes sets it at 86 gallons by Josephus or 44 by the rabbis. Adam Clarke gives nearly seventy-six. Barnes records the estimate that some fourteen thousand people ate at the king's table from this flour.
deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry: The ten fat oxen were stall-fed and the twenty range oxen came from pasture, as Adam Clarke sets out the list. Albert Barnes calls the wild animals uncertain and suggests wild goats, gazelles and wild oxen from the wilder parts of Syria. Assyrian sculptures show game at royal feasts.
Tiphsah is Thapsacus, a town at the lowest ford of the Euphrates, and Albert Barnes derives its name from pasach, to pass over. Gaza stood at the southwest edge. Barnes adds that holding the ford served Solomon's trade by land.
1 Kings 4:24
“For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river,.... Or beyond the river Euphrates, in the sense before given, 1Ki 4:21; which accounts for the plenty of provisions he had, and the revenue with which he supported such a table he kept: from Tiphsah even to Azzah; or Gaza, one of the five principalities of the Philistines.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:24
“Tiphsah - Either that Tiphsah, 2 Kings xv, 16, which was in the kingdom of Israel within Jordan; or, rather, another place of that name upon Euphrates, even that eminent city which is mentioned by Ptolemy, and Strabo, and Pliny, called Thapsarum.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
each man under his own vine and his own fig tree: Judah and Israel dwell “securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree”. The prophets reach back to this one clear fulfillment for the peace still to come. Micah pictures the messianic age in the same words, and Zechariah promises the same rest.
1 Kings 4:25
“Under his vine ... - This phrase seems to have been common among the Jews, and even among neighboring nations 2Ki 18:31, to express a time of quiet and security. It is used by the prophets in descriptions of the Messianic kingdom (marginal references).”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:25
“Those that had vines and fig-trees ate the fruit of them themselves; and so great was the peace of the country that they might, if they pleased, dwell as safely under the shadow of them as within the walls of a city. Or, because it was usual to have vines by the sides of their houses ( Ps. cxxviii. 3 ), they are said to dwell under their vines.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Kings 4:26-28
stalls for his chariot horses: The count reads “4,000 stalls for his chariot horses”, the figure of 2 Chronicles 9:25, and the manuscripts divide between forty thousand and four thousand. Deuteronomy 17:16 forbade the king to multiply horses. The narrator states the number without comment, saving the report of horses from Egypt for chapter 10.
1 Kings 4:26
“But it is not exactly the same Hebrew word which is here and there, though we translate both stalls; and therefore there may well be allowed some difference in the signification, the one signifying properly stables, of which there were four thousand, the other stalls or partitions for each horse, which were forty thousand.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
They saw to it that nothing was lacking: Matthew Henry reads the monthly turns of the governors as good housekeeping for King Solomon's table, generous in spending and careful in providing. He sets beside it the word of Ecclesiastes that more goods bring more mouths. Each month had its supplier.
1 Kings 4:27
“Let great men learn hence good house-keeping, to be generous in spending according to their ability, but prudent in providing. It is the character of the virtuous woman that she bringeth her food from afar ( Prov. xxxi. 14 ), not far-fetched and dear-bought, but the contrary, every thing bought where it is cheapest.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
their quotas of barley and straw: Barley with chopped straw was common horse fodder. The Hebrew word rekesh behind the other horses meant swift coursers to Albert Barnes and Adam Clarke, and Clarke ties them to the king’s messages. Barnes reads the required place as the cities where the horses were kept.
1 Kings 4:28
“And dromedaries - The word רכש rechesh, which we translate thus, is rendered beasts, or beasts of burden, by the Vulgate; mares by the Syriac and Arabic; chariots by the Septuagint; and race-horses by the Chaldee. The original word seems to signify a very swift kind of horse, and race-horse or post-horse is probably its true meaning. To communicate with so many distant provinces, Solomon had need of many animals of this kind.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Wisdom like the sand: three thousand proverbs, and trees down to hyssop
1 Kings 4:29-31
God gave Solomon wisdom: “like the sand on the seashore”, the language verse 20 used of the nation. Ethan and Heman carry the names in the titles of Psalms 89 and 88, and whether these are the men Solomon surpasses is uncertain. His “fame spread throughout the surrounding nations”.
1 Kings 4:29
“He gives the powers of reason ( Job xxxviii. 36 ), preserves and improves them. The ordinary advances of them are owing to his providence, the sanctification of them to his grace, and this extraordinary pitch at which they arrived in Solomon to a special grant of his favour to him in answer to prayer.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:29
“Largeness of heart - What we call “great capacity.” The expression which follows is common in reference to numerical multitude 1Ki 4:20, but its use here to express mere amplitude or greatness is unique.”
all the men of the East: John Wesley reads the men of the East as Chaldeans, Persians and Arabians, and Albert Barnes as the Bene Kedem, tribes to whom Job belonged. Their wisdom ran to proverbs and nature, like Solomon's. Egypt's learning took in geometry, medicine, astronomy and magic.
1 Kings 4:30
“Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country--that is, the Arabians, Chaldeans, and Persians (Ge 25:6). all the wisdom of Egypt--Egypt was renowned as the seat of learning and sciences, and the existing monuments, which so clearly describe the ancient state of society and the arts, show the high culture of the Egyptian people.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:30
“If nature excels art, much more does grace. The knowledge which God gives by special favour goes beyond that which man gets by his own labour. Some wise men there were in Solomon's time, who were in great repute, particularly Heman, and others who were Levites, and employed by David in the temple-music, 1 Chron. xv.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: Adam Clarke takes Ethan, Heman and Calcol for older men named at 1 Chronicles 2:6. Albert Barnes reads them as Solomon’s contemporaries. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Mahol means dance, so the sons of Mahol may have been musicians.
1 Kings 4:31
“Heman-- (1Ch 15:17-19) --the chief of the temple musicians and the king's seers (1Ch 25:5); the other two are not known. the sons of Mahol--either another name for Zerah (1Ch 2:6); or taking it as a common noun, signifying a dance, a chorus, "the sons of Mahol" signify persons eminently skilled in poetry and music.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Kings 4:32-34
three thousand proverbs: Solomon's “three thousand proverbs” and songs numbering “a thousand and five” stand behind the wisdom books. Proverbs draws on part of this output, and the Song of Solomon is one song kept from the thousand and five. He spoke of trees “from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop”.
1 Kings 4:32
“Of his three thousand proverbs a single book is left, while all the others perished during the captivity. And of his one thousand and five songs we still possess a single one, that is the Song of Songs.”
Ishodad of Merv · written before 850 · Books of Sessions 1 Kings 4:32patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Kings 4:32
“He spake three thousand proverbs - The book of Proverbs, attributed to Solomon, contain only about nine hundred or nine hundred and twenty-three distinct proverbs; and if we grant with some that the first nine chapters are not the work of Solomon, then all that can be attributed to him is only about six hundred and fifty.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Kings 4:32
“Proverbs - That is, short, and deep, and useful sentences, whereof a great part are contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Songs - Whereof the chief and most divine are in the Canticles.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
the cedar in Lebanon: Solomon's subjects ran from the cedar in Lebanon, the grandest tree, to the hyssop, a small plant in the wall, the greatest to the least. His writings on trees, animals, birds and fish are lost. John Wesley held that Scripture stands whole without them.
1 Kings 4:33
“Trees - That is, of all plants, of their nature and qualities: all which discourses are lost, without any impeachment of the perfection of the holy scriptures; which were not written to teach men philosophy or physick, but only to make them wise unto salvation. From the cedar, &c. - That is, from the greatest to the least.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
sent by all the kings of the earth: Matthew Henry reads Solomon, whose wisdom drew men of all nations and the kings of the earth, as a type of Christ. A type pictures Christ ahead of time. All the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Christ, Henry writes, and hidden for use.
1 Kings 4:34
“There came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon - We learn from 1 Kings 10, that the queen of Sheba was one of those visitants, and perhaps the most remarkable, as we have the particulars of her visit, but not of the others. It is astonishing that of a person so renowned for wisdom, so little should be left to prove the truth of a fact of which all the civilized nations of the world have heard, and of which scarcely any man has ever doubted.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Kings 4:34
“But, Lastly, Solomon was, herein, a type of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and hidden for use; for he is made of God to us wisdom.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
How this psalm is built
The form: Regnal register, the officers of state, the twelve provisioning districts and the extent of the reign, as Barnes classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Like the sand on the seashore, said of a people and of a king | Verse 20 measures Judah and Israel by the sand and verse 29 measures the king's understanding by the same sand, counted in the Berean text in the store. The picture comes from the oath sworn to Abraham at Genesis 22:17, so the chapter reports a promise reaching its fullest point in the narrative and then uses it a second time for the gift given at Gibeon. Matthew Henry reads verse 20 as the oath standing as present fact for one generation.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on 1 Kings 4:20. | 1 Kings 4:20, 1 Kings 4:29 |
| The eleven officers of state | Verses 2 to 6 list the court by office, the priest, the two secretaries, the recorder, the commander of the army, the two priests, the officer over the governors, the king's friend, the steward of the palace and the man over the forced labour. The list puts the priesthood before the sword. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the title given to Zabud, the king's friend, as an office this roster names nowhere else in Scripture.Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on 1 Kings 4:5. | 1 Kings 4:2, 1 Kings 4:3, 1 Kings 4:4, 1 Kings 4:5, 1 Kings 4:6 |
| Twelve districts, one month each | Verses 7 to 19 divide the kingdom into twelve provisioning districts, each responsible for the king's household for one month of the year. The districts mix old tribal territory with cities and regions redrawn under the crown, so the tribal map and the administrative map differ. Albert Barnes reads the arrangement as an administrative reform rather than a survival of the old boundaries.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on 1 Kings 4:7. | 1 Kings 4:7, 1 Kings 4:8, 1 Kings 4:13, 1 Kings 4:19 |
| Under his vine and his fig tree | Verse 25 states the peace of the reign in a formula the prophets later use for the age still to come, at Micah 4:4 and Zechariah 3:10, where every man sits under his vine and his fig tree. The verse measures the land by its two farthest towns, Dan in the north and Beersheba in the south. Matthew Henry reads the reign as the one plain fulfilment of the picture in the record, and the prophets reach back to it to say what has not yet lasted.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on 1 Kings 4:25. | 1 Kings 4:24, 1 Kings 4:25 |
| From the cedar to the hyssop | Verse 33 sets out the range of Solomon's subjects from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of a wall, then trees, animals, birds, creeping things and fish. The pairing of the largest and the smallest is a way of saying everything between them. John Gill reads the list as natural history and records that the works themselves were lost.John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament, 1748 to 1763, on 1 Kings 4:33. | 1 Kings 4:32, 1 Kings 4:33, 1 Kings 4:34 |
Where the chapter stands in the book
11 more paragraphs on the patterns
Chapter 4 closes the era the book page titles An Understanding Heart, which runs from 3:1 to 4:34. The chapter is the account of what the gift of chapter 3 produced, and it stands immediately before the treaty and the building account, so a reader meets the resources before the house they paid for.
The historical value
The district list of verses 7 to 19 is the fullest picture of an administrative geography of Israel anywhere in Scripture, and it names towns and regions that can be set on a map. The daily provision of verses 22 and 23 gives an order of magnitude for the court, and the client kingdoms bringing tribute at verse 21 explain how such a table was supplied. The borders of verse 21 run to the Euphrates and to the border of Egypt, which is the span promised to Abraham at Genesis 15:18.
The debated concept
Three points in the chapter are contested, and the site states each without ruling on it.
The first is verse 4, where Zadok and Abiathar are named together as priests although Abiathar was removed at 2:27. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the chapter as a summary covering the whole reign, so the name belongs to its earlier years. Others read it as a title left with a man who was barred from the function and never formally stripped of the name. The text gives the two names and no explanation.
The second is verse 19, which closes the district list. One reading takes it to say that Geber alone held all of Gilead where two kings had once ruled. Another takes it to say that Judah, the king's own tribe, received no separate officer and no month's charge. Both readings rest on the same silence, since the list names no twelfth district lying inside Judah.
The third is the count of stalls at verse 26, given as forty thousand here and as four thousand at 2 Chronicles 9:25. Adam Clarke and the older commentators treat the difference as a copying difference between the Hebrew letters for forty and four, and the manuscripts divide on which figure is original. A second reading holds that the two figures count different things. The dossier on the book carries this question with its holders, and the page states no verdict.
A fourth point is smaller. Ethan the Ezrahite and Heman at verse 31 carry the names that stand in the titles of Psalms 89 and 88. Albert Barnes weighs whether these are the same men and leaves the identification open, and the text names them without telling a reader who they were.
The prophets' use
Verse 25 is the verse the prophets took up. Micah 4:4 and Zechariah 3:10 both use the picture of a man sitting under his vine and his fig tree for the peace God will give, and this chapter is the place in the record where the picture is reported as a present fact. The reach of the reign at verse 21 is the fullest extent the land ever holds in the narrative, and the later prophets look back toward it when they describe a kingdom restored.
Keep studying
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on 1 Kings 4:1; Ephrem the Syrian, On the First Book of Kings, on 4:1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, on 1 Kings 4:4; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, on 1 Kings 4:32 and Origen of Alexandria, Commentary on the Song of Songs, prologue 3.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.