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1 Kings 4:27

in 1 Kings 4

Each month the governors in turn provided food for King Solomon and all who came to his table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking.

KJV

And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

This verse in 1 Kings 4

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

This site's exposition

forty thousand stalls of horses

on 1 Kings 4:26-28

Forty thousand stalls of horses stands beside four thousand at 2 Chronicles 9:25, a number the bench treats as a copyist's difference between the Hebrew letters for forty and four rather than two separate counts, and the manuscripts divide on which figure is original. The horses are the first clause of the three the law of the king forbade at Deuteronomy 17:16, multiplying horses, and the narrator states the number here without comment, saving the sharper report of horses fetched from Egypt for chapter ten. The same twelve officers who supplied the king's table in verses 22 and 23 also carried barley and straw to every stall, one administration feeding both the court and the stud.

This site's exposition

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.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And these officers provided victuals for King Solomon,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

When goods increase those are increased that eat them; and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes, unless withal they have the satisfaction of doing good with them? Solomon's Distinguished Reputation. 29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

The Nineteenth Century2 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.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְכִלְכְּלוּ֩and they supplied

    vekhilkeluH355738 times

  • הַנִּצָּבִ֨יםthe overseers

    hanitzavimH532475 times

  • הָאֵ֜לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428746 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH44282525 times

  • שְׁלֹמֹ֗הSolomon

    shelomohH8010291 times

  • וְאֵ֧תand <obj.>

    veetH85310935 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H36055413 times

  • הַקָּרֵ֛ב<the> [person] approaching

    hakarevH7131

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • שֻׁלְחַ֥ן[the] table of

    shulchanH797971 times

  • הַמֶּֽלֶךְ־the king

    hamelekh-H44282525 times

  • שְׁלֹמֹ֖הSolomon

    shelomohH8010291 times

  • אִ֣ישׁeach

    ʾishH3761663 times

  • חָדְשׁ֑וֹmonth his

    chadeshoH2320284 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H38085168 times

  • יְעַדְּר֖וּthey left lacking

    yeaderuH5737

  • דָּבָֽר׃anything

    davarH16971440 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1504: “The Swift Camels” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.