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1 Kings 4:7

in 1 Kings 4

Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year.

KJV

And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision.

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This verse in 1 Kings 4

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 4:1 · Written before 373.

The officials elected by Solomon designate the order of the chosen ones whom Christ affirmed in his grace and appointed as rulers of his people. Indeed, twelve prefects were selected to administer the incomes of this king and his house, because just as many apostles …

This site's exposition

twelve officers over all Israel

on 1 Kings 4:7-19

Twelve officers divide the kingdom's provisioning by month rather than by the tribes' old boundaries, and the districts named mix tribal territory with cities and regions redrawn under the crown. Verse 19 closes the list with a line the bench reads two ways: some take it to mean Geber alone administered all of Gilead where two kings once ruled, others that Judah, the king's own tribe, received no separate officer and no month's charge, exempted rather than omitted by oversight. Either reading rests on the same silence, since the text names no twelfth district lying in Judah though it names every other tribe.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

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.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Twelve officers - The business of these twelve officers was to provide daily, each for a month, those provisions which were consumed in the king’s household; see 1Ki 4:22, 1Ki 4:23. And the task for such a daily provision was not an easy one.

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.

  • וְלִשְׁלֹמֹ֞הand [belonged] to Solomon

    velishlomohH8010 →291 times

  • שְׁנֵים־two [plus]

    sheneim-H8147 →768 times

  • עָשָׂ֤רten

    ʾasarH6240 →338 times

  • נִצָּבִים֙overseers

    nitzavimH5324 →75 times

  • עַל־over

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וְכִלְכְּל֥וּand they supplied

    vekhilkeluH3557 →38 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • בֵּית֑וֹhousehold his

    beitoH1004 →2046 times

  • חֹ֧דֶשׁa month

    chodeshH2320 →284 times

  • בַּשָּׁנָ֛הin the year

    bashanahH8141 →877 times

  • יִהְיֶ֥הit was

    yihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאֶחָ֖דthe one

    haechadH259 →971 times

  • לְכַלְכֵּֽל׃ סto supply

    lekhalkelH3557 →38 times

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

Related verses

5 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 12:4“Your father put a heavy yoke on us. But now you should lighten the burden of your father’s service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”6 works1 Chronicles 27:1–15This is the list of the Israelites—the heads of families, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in every matter concerning the divisions on rotating military duty each month throughout the year. There were 24,000 men in each division:2 works1 Chronicles 27:28Baal-hanan the Gederite was in charge of the olive and sycamore trees in the foothills. Joash was in charge of the stores of olive oil.2 works1 Kings 4:5Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;2 works1 Samuel 8:12He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, to make his weapons of war, and to equip his chariots.2 works

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 4 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 4:1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil, The Books of the Kings.

Read on in 1 Kings 4 →