1 Kings 4:28
in 1 Kings 4Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
KJV
Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.
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This verse in 1 Kings 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd 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.
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
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 across distant provinces. Barnes reads the required place as the cities where the horses were kept.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
Barley also, and straw for the horses and dromedaries,....
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
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Barley . . . and straw--Straw is not used for litter, but barley mixed with chopped straw is the usual fodder of horses. dromedaries--one-humped camels, distinguished for their great fleetness.
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.
2 more voices on this verse
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Barley is to this day in the East the common food of horses. Dromedaries - Coursers. The animal intended is neither a camel nor a mule, but a swift horse. The place where the officers were - Rather, “places where the horses and coursers were,” i. e., to the different cities where they were lodged.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַשְּׂעֹרִ֣ים | vehaseorim | and the barley<s> | H8184 → | |
| וְהַתֶּ֔בֶן | vehateven | and the straw | H8401 → | |
| לַסּוּסִ֖ים | lasusim | for the horses | H5483 → | 140 times |
| וְלָרָ֑כֶשׁ | velarakhesh | and for the steed[s] | H7409 → | |
| יָבִ֗אוּ | yaviu | they brought | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּקוֹם֙ | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִֽהְיֶה־ | yihyeh- | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָּׁ֔ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כְּמִשְׁפָּטֽוֹ׃ ס | kemishpato | according to measure his | H4941 → | 422 times |
וְהַשְּׂעֹרִ֣יםand the barley<s>
vehaseorimH8184 →
וְהַתֶּ֔בֶןand the straw
vehatevenH8401 →
לַסּוּסִ֖יםfor the horses
lasusimH5483 →140 times
וְלָרָ֑כֶשׁand for the steed[s]
velarakheshH7409 →
יָבִ֗אוּthey brought
yaviuH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּקוֹם֙the place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִֽהְיֶה־it was
yihyeh-H1961 →3559 times
שָּׁ֔םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
אִ֖ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כְּמִשְׁפָּטֽוֹ׃ סaccording to measure his
kemishpatoH4941 →422 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
Micah 1:13Harness your chariot horses, O dweller of Lachish. You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:17
Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by…
- 2 Kings 18:17
Through
Esther 8:10Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.
it leads to
- Isaiah 60:6
Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
- Daniel 4:1
King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.
- Jeremiah 51:21
With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver.
- Ecclesiastes 8:4
For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
- Isaiah 66:20
And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the…
- Isaiah 60:6
Through
Esther 8:14The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.
it leads to
- Esther 3:15
The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was…
- Daniel 8:2
And in the vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal.
- Esther 3:15
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.