1 Kings 10:8
in 1 Kings 10How blessed are your men! How blessed are these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, that stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
KJV
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
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This verse in 1 Kings 10
Commentary
5 notes on this verseNote, It is a great advantage to be in good families, and to have opportunity of frequent converse with those that are wise, and good, and communicative. Many have this happiness who know not how to value it. With much more reason may we say this of Christ's servants, Blessed are those that dwell in his house, they will be still praising him.
This site's exposition
stand continually before thee
on 1 Kings 10:8-10
The queen praises Solomon's own household staff as happy men before she blesses the Lord who set him on Israel's throne, and her confession at verse 9 names covenant love, because the Lord loved Israel for ever, as the reason for Solomon's kingship, not dynastic succession alone. Her gift of a hundred and twenty talents of gold with spices in great store is itself unmatched; the narrator says no such abundance of spices came again. A foreign queen becomes the text's clearest outside witness to Israel's God, blessing him by name in a scene the Chronicler retells at 2 Chr 9 without changing its substance.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
We entrust our case to the most prudent person we can find and ask advice from him more readily than we do from others. However, the faithful counsel of a just person stands first and often has more weight than the great abilities of the wisest of people: "For better are the wounds of a friend than the kisses of others." And just because it is the judgment of a just person, it is also the conclusion of a wise one: in the one lies the result of the matter in dispute, in the other readiness of invention.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Happy are thy men,.... The men of Israel, that had a king over them so wise, so great, so good: happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom; who were now present, and to whom she pointed, and may respect not his nobles and courtiers only, but his menial servants, who had an opportunity of often hearing the wise sayings which dropped from his lips; and which no doubt were means of greatly improving their knowledge and understanding in things natural and divine.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Happy are thy men - All these are very natural expressions from a person in her state of mind.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַשְׁרֵ֣י | ʾashrei | how blessed! | H835 → | |
| אֲנָשֶׁ֔יךָ | ʾanasheikha | [are] people your | H582 → | 566 times |
| אַשְׁרֵ֖י | ʾashrei | how blessed! | H835 → | |
| עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ | ʾavadeikha | [are] servants your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֵ֑לֶּה | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| הָֽעֹמְדִ֤ים | haomedim | who stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ | lefaneikha | <to> before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| תָּמִ֔יד | tamid | continually | H8548 → | |
| הַשֹּׁמְעִ֖ים | hashomeim | who hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חָכְמָתֶֽךָ׃ | chakhematekha | wisdom your | H2451 → | 153 times |
אַשְׁרֵ֣יhow blessed!
ʾashreiH835 →
אֲנָשֶׁ֔יךָ[are] people your
ʾanasheikhaH582 →566 times
אַשְׁרֵ֖יhow blessed!
ʾashreiH835 →
עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ[are] servants your
ʾavadeikhaH5650 →799 times
אֵ֑לֶּהthese
ʾelehH428 →746 times
הָֽעֹמְדִ֤יםwho stand
haomedimH5975 →521 times
לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙<to> before you
lefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times
תָּמִ֔ידcontinually
tamidH8548 →
הַשֹּׁמְעִ֖יםwho hear
hashomeimH8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חָכְמָתֶֽךָ׃wisdom your
chakhematekhaH2451 →153 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 13:20He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:33–34
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Proverbs 15:31
He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
- Proverbs 9:6
Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–18
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- 1 Corinthians 15:33–34
Through
Luke 11:28But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
it leads to
- Luke 6:47–48
I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:
- Luke 8:21
But He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out.”
- Psalms 112:1
Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.
- James 1:21–25
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.
- Luke 6:47–48
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 2.10.50-53; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.