1 Kings 4:22
in 1 Kings 4Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
KJV
And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
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This verse in 1 Kings 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseSolomon’s provision for one day: - Of fine flour 30 measures, or cors. Of meal 60 ditto. Stall-fed oxen 10 Ditto from the pasture 20 Sheep 100; with harts, roebucks, fallow deer, and fat fowls. The כר cor was the same as the homer, and contained nearly seventy-six gallons, wine measure, according to Bishop Cumberland. Sheep - צאן tson, comprehending both sheep and goats. Harts - מאיל meaiyal, the deer. Roebucks - צבי tsebi, the gazal, antelope, or wild goat. Fallow deer - יחמור yachmur, the buffalo. See the notes on Deu 12:15; Deu 14:
This site's exposition
from the river unto the land of the Philistines
on 1 Kings 4:21-24
Solomon's dominion runs from the river to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt, the span promised to Abraham at Genesis 15:18, unto the great river, the river Euphrates, and for these years the border reaches the promise's own edge. The daily provision, thirty measures of fine flour and threescore of meal beside the oxen, sheep and game, feeds a court gathered from client kingdoms that brought presents and served him, and the peace on every side is what makes such a table possible. Farrar and the older commentators read this abundance as the high point later prophets look back toward when they picture the kingdom restored.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
We will read a few verses first, and at the close of them you will find the text. The last words are the text for this occasion. From the whole passage you will see that the kingdom of Israel under the sway of Solomon was a fair type of the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps it most exactly describes His future dominion, in the long-expected Glory of the latter days. The present state of the Church may be compared to the reign of David, splendid with victories, but disturbed with battles. But there are better days to come, days in which the kingdom shall be extended and become more manifest—and then the Lord Jesus Christ shall be even more conspicuously seen as the Solomon of the kingdom, "who shall have dominion from sea to sea." Yet even now, as "we that have believed do enter into rest," so do we also enter into the richest provision which is made in the Covenant of Grace, even at this present time. And I may say of all who have come under the sway of Christ, that we dwell in a region of peace, seated, every man, under his vine and fig tree and none making us afraid. "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," and, "therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." "The peace of God which passes all understanding" does keep our heart and mind by Jesus Christ. Israel under Solomon had abundance as well as peace. What says the historian? They were "as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry." It is said that there was such plenty in the land in Solomon's time that gold was of no more value than silver and silver became of little more value than iron! And as for the other metals, they were little accounted of.
We will read a few verses first, and at the close of them you will find the text. The last words are the text for this occasion. From the whole passage you will see that the kingdom of Israel under the sway of Solomon was a fair type of the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps it most exactly describes His future dominion, in the long-expected Glory of the latter days. The present state of the Church may be compared to the reign of David, splendid with victories, but disturbed with battles.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thirty measures - (margin, cors) The cor, which was the same measure as the homer, is computed, on the authority of Josephus, at 86 English gallons, on the authority of the rabbinical writers at 44. Thirty cors, even at the lower estimate, would equal 1,320 gallons, or 33 of our “sacks;” and the 90 cors of fine and coarse flour would altogether equal 99 sacks. From the quantity of flour consumed, it has been conjectured that the number of those who fed at the royal board was 14,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֥י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לֶֽחֶם־ | lechem- | [the] food of | H3899 → | 298 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹ֖ה | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| לְי֣וֹם | leyom | for a day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֶחָ֑ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים | sheloshim | thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| כֹּר֙ | kor | cor[s] of | H3734 → | 9 times |
| סֹ֔לֶת | solet | fine flour | H5560 → | |
| וְשִׁשִּׁ֥ים | veshishim | and sixty | H8346 → | 59 times |
| כֹּ֖ר | kor | cor[s] of | H3734 → | 9 times |
| קָֽמַח׃ | kamach | flour | H7058 → | 14 times |
וַיְהִ֥יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
לֶֽחֶם־[the] food of
lechem-H3899 →298 times
שְׁלֹמֹ֖הSolomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
לְי֣וֹםfor a day
leyomH3117 →2304 times
אֶחָ֑דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
שְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםthirty
sheloshimH7970 →172 times
כֹּר֙cor[s] of
korH3734 →9 times
סֹ֔לֶתfine flour
soletH5560 →
וְשִׁשִּׁ֥יםand sixty
veshishimH8346 →59 times
כֹּ֖רcor[s] of
korH3734 →9 times
קָֽמַח׃flour
kamachH7058 →14 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1504: “The Swift Camels” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil, The Books of the Kings.