UNROLL
Early morning over the hill country of Israel: terraced olives and vines, a quiet walled village of flat-roofed stone houses, a threshing floor heaped with grain and a flock on a far hillside, under a clear sky.

The Book of

1 Kings 4

Officials, governors, a king’s table, twelve thousand horses. And under it all, families resting under their own vines.

34 verses≈ 5 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–2Solomon's throneThe kingdom made secure
  2. 3–4WisdomA discerning heartChapter 4
  3. 5–8The templeA house for the LORD's Name
  4. 9–11Glory and fallSolomon's heart turns
  5. 12–16Two kingdomsThe kingdom torn
  6. 17–19ElijahThe LORD, He is God
  7. 20–22AhabNaboth and Micaiah

Solomon’s Princes

In a cedar-beamed room of David’s house, King Solomon sits at the head of a long plain table with his officials: the priest Zadok, two scribes with closed scroll cases, Benaiah the commander and a steward with keys at his belt.

The king’s officials

Solomon’s chief officials

  1. Priest

    Azariah son of Zadok

    So King Solomon ruled over Israel, and these were his chief officials:

    Azariah son of Zadok was the priest;

  2. Scribes and records

    Elihoreph, Ahijah, Jehoshaphat

    Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries;

    Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;

  3. Army and priests

    Benaiah; Zadok and Abiathar

    Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army;

    Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

  4. Governors, adviser

    Azariah and Zabud, sons of Nathan

    Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors;

    Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king;

  5. Palace, forced labor

    Ahishar; Adoniram

    Ahishar was in charge of the palace;

    and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

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Solomon’s Twelve Officers

Late afternoon on a hill road winding up to the City of David: a governor’s train of loaded donkeys with sacks of grain and jars of oil, herdsmen driving fat oxen and sheep, men carrying cages of fowl.

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,

The king’s governors

The twelve districts, 1 to 6

  1. Ben-hur: hill country of Ephraim

    and these were their names:

    Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim;

  2. Ben-deker: Makaz to Beth-shemesh

    Ben-deker in Makaz, in Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon-beth-hanan;

  3. Ben-hesed: Arubboth and Hepher

    Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);

  4. Solomon’s son-in-law

    Ben-abinadab: Naphath-dor

    Ben-abinadab in Naphath-dor (Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, was his wife);

  5. The Jezreel Valley

    Baana: Megiddo and Beth-shean

    Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach, in Megiddo, and in all of Beth-shean next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah and on past Jokmeam;

  6. Sixty walled cities

    Ben-geber: Ramoth-gilead

    Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead belonged to him, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

EphraimNaphtaliAsherIssacharBenjaminBeth-shemeshDorMegiddoRamoth in Gilead (site uncertain)Mahanaim

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Solomon’s twelve districts

Twelve governors, each feeding the king’s household for a month: in the hill country of Ephraim, around Beth-shemesh, at Dor on the coast, at Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley, at Ramoth-gilead and Mahanaim across the Jordan, and in Naphtali, Asher, Issachar and Benjamin. Ben-hesed’s district (Arubboth, Socoh and Hepher) lay in the Sharon plain; its sites are uncertain. Geber’s district took in “the land of Gilead,” the old lands of Sihon and Og east of the Jordan, and one more governor served in Judah.

The king’s governors

The twelve districts, 7 to 12

  1. Ahinadab: Mahanaim

    Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

  2. Solomon’s son-in-law

    Ahimaaz: Naphtali

    Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he had married Basemath, a daughter of Solomon);

  3. Baana son of Hushai: Asher, Aloth

    Baana son of Hushai in Asher and in Aloth;

  4. Jehoshaphat: Issachar

    Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;

  5. Shimei son of Ela: Benjamin

    Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin;

  6. Sihon and Og’s land

    Geber: the land of Gilead

    Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead, including the territories of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan.

  7. Judah

    One governor in Judah

    There was also one governor in the land of Judah.

Question

Quick question

Solomon set twelve governors over all Israel to supply the king’s table.

How long did each of Solomon’s twelve governors provide food for the king’s household?

Solomon’s Prosperity

Evening at harvest in an Israelite village: families gathered in a lamplit courtyard and spilling into the lane, eating bread, olives and grapes, children running, an old man laughing, a lyre and a frame drum.

The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

0:06

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

For a single day

One day’s provisions

  1. 30 and 60 cors

    Fine flour and meal

    Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,

  2. 130 head and game

    Oxen, sheep, deer and fowl

    ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides.

Beside a stone village house, a grandfather rests in the shade of a grapevine on a wooden trellis heavy with dark grapes, a broad fig tree beside it, while a young mother hands him figs and children play.

Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.

each man under his own vine and his own fig tree

1 Kings 4:25

A long stable of dressed stone in one of Solomon’s chariot towns: rows of square stone pillars with stone troughs between them, chariot horses tethered in a line, grooms carrying barley and straw, and one light open chariot standing unhitched in the yard.

Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.

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. Each one also brought to the required place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and other horses.

Reflect

Under his own vine

In Solomon’s best days ordinary families were “eating and drinking and rejoicing,” each one “under his own vine and his own fig tree.” Where has God given you rest and enough? Write down three of His good gifts this week, and one way you could share them with someone who has less.

Solomon’s Wisdom

And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.

1 Kings 4:29

Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all men—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations.

men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom

1 Kings 4:34

Pray

Wisdom from God

“God gave Solomon wisdom,” and men of all nations came to hear it. Thank God for the peace and daily bread He gives, and for the wisdom He shares with all who ask. Lord, give me a heart that asks You for wisdom and a life that makes others want to listen to what You have taught me. Teach me to be grateful for my table and my rest, and generous with both. Amen.

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1 Kings 4

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A verse to carry with you

And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.

1 Kings 4:29

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