Chapter Four

1–19. The courtiers and high officials of Solomon’s administration. 21–34 (Hebrew 5:1–14). The provisions of Solomon’s court: his extraordinary wisdom.

1 Kings 4:1. And Solomon was king over all Israel. An introductory remark to the list of Solomon’s servants (compare 2 Sam 8:15).

1 Kings 4:2. And these were his officials: Azariah, son of Zadok the priest; In the accepted LXX text (Αζαρίας υἱὸς Σαδώκ) there is no word “priest” (ἱερεύς, Hebrew: kohen); the Hebrew often designates the high priest (Exod 29:30; Lev 21:10 and others); but in many LXX texts (44, 92, 106, 120, 123, 134, 144, 236, 242, 244, 247 in Holmes), in the Complutensian, Aldine, and according to Aquila and Symmachus, the Vulgate and Slavic-Russian translation, this word is present: according to the Hebrew text, Greek codices, and Slavic sources, Azariah himself was a priest (or high priest); according to the Vulgate and Russian, he was only the son of Zadok (the priest or high priest). From (1 Chr 6:9; Hebrew 5:35), Azariah was the grandson, not the son, of the high priest Zadok. It is possible that in v. 2 of this chapter, Zadok is not identical with the high priest of that name: the latter name was not uncommon (2 Kgs 15:33; Neh 3:4).

1 Kings 4:3. Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, secretaries; Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, the recorder; “Secretaries” (Hebrew: soferim, Greek: γραμματεῖς, Latin: scribae) oversaw all the written affairs of the court — correspondence, writing, decrees, and diplomatic communications. “The recorder” (Hebrew: mazkir, Greek: ἀναμιμνήσκων, Latin: a commentariis, Slavic: “reminder”), probably a reporter or chancellor. Together with the “secretaries” he oversaw the state archive.

1 Kings 4:4. Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, commander of the army; Zadok and Abiathar — priests; Benaiah, compare 1 Kgs 2:35. Abiathar, removed by Solomon (1 Kgs 2:26-27), is mentioned as if he were a high priest or because at the beginning of Solomon’s reign he was one (Philippson), or because “Solomon removed the high priesthood (ἀρχὴ) from Abiathar, but did not deprive him of the priesthood (῾Ιερωσὐνη), because the office of priesthood was held not by ordination, but by hereditary succession” (the blessed Theodoret, question 15); the supposition of Clericus and others that Abiathar was pardoned by Solomon is improbable.

1 Kings 4:5. Azariah, son of Nathan, chief of the district officers; and Zabud, son of Nathan the priest — the king’s friend; Azariah and Zabud were the sons not of the prophet Nathan, but of Nathan, son of David (2 Sam 5:14), consequently nephews of Solomon (The accepted LXX text: Ορνία; but in codices 11, 44, 55, 56, 64, 71–74, 106, 119, 121, 131, 134, 144, 158, 245, 246, 247, and in the Complutensian: ῾Αζαρίας). The first was chief of the provincial “district officers” (below, vv. 7–19); the second (called in the Hebrew text kohen, “priest,” probably in that broad sense in which this title was sometimes used: (2 Sam 8:17)), held the title “the king’s friend,” which in David’s time was held by Hushai (2 Sam 15:37).

1 Kings 4:6. Ahishar — chief of the household; and Adoniram, son of Abda — over the forced labor. “Ahishar — chief of the household”: such an office, so to speak, of minister of the court, did not exist under David (compare 2 Sam 8:16-18); the complicated household administration of Solomon and later kings (compare 1 Kgs 18:3; 2 Kgs 18:18) necessitated the establishment of this office. Further, the LXX and the Slavic text have an addition not found in the Hebrew: ῾Ελιάβ ὐιος Σαφ (ατ) ῾επὶ τῆς πατρίας, Slavic “Eliab, son of Saphath, over the patrimony,” perhaps the commander of the bodyguard. The overseer of the forced labor and public works is mentioned earlier — under David (2 Sam 20:24), and later — under Rehoboam ((1 Kgs 12:18): Adoram, as also in (2 Sam 20:24); compare (2 Chr 10:18): Adoniram); it is not known whether the same person is meant in all three instances.

1 Kings 4:7. And Solomon had twelve district officers over all Israel, and they provided food for the king and his household; each one had to provide food for one month in the year. To maintain the king and his numerous court required placing a natural tax burden on the population of the country, the most customary in the East (for instance, in Persia). These duties were overseen by special “district officers” (Hebrew: nitztzavim, Greek: καθεσταμἐνοι, Latin: praefecti, in Josephus ήγεμόνες καὶ στατηγοί). It is not clear whether they were actually regional governors, so that supplying the king and his court with food was only one of their functions, or whether their role had a narrower scope. What is certain is that the division of the country into districts, at the head of which they stood, did not coincide with the tribal division, but was purely administrative, determined by the fertility of certain regions. The districts and their chiefs are enumerated (vv. 8–19), probably in the order of the time they supplied provisions to the court, rather than in the geographical order of the regions. There were twelve governors in all, as there were districts — one for each month of the year: each performed his service in his appointed month. Of the governors, five are named not by their personal names, but by their patronymic: a custom later, common among the Arabs, was not foreign to the Hebrews (“son of Jesse” — David (1 Sam 20:27); “son of Timaeus” — Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46)). The Vulgate and Russian translation leave the Hebrew ben (Greek υἱός, “son”) untranslated. From the fact that two of the governors — Ben-Abinadab (v. 11) and Ahimaaz (v. 15) were Solomon’s sons-in-law — married to his daughters — we conclude that this list belongs to the middle of Solomon’s reign.

1 Kings 4:8. These are their names: Ben-Hur — on the hill country of Ephraim; “The hill country of Ephraim” (Josh 17:15; Judg 7:24) — one of the most fertile regions of western Palestine, lying almost in the middle of it (Jer 50:19). In the LXX and Slavic texts at the end of the verse there is an addition: εἴς, “one.”

1 Kings 4:9. Ben-Deker — in Makaz and Shaalbim, in Beth-shemesh and in Elon and in Beth-hanan; Shaalbim and the other places mentioned here lay in the tribe of Dan (Josh 19:42-43). (See Onomasticon, 663). Beth-shemesh — a Levitical city in the tribe of Judah (Josh 15:10), near the Philistine border (1 Sam 6:9-12), now Ain-Sems.

1 Kings 4:10. Ben-Hesed — in Arubboth; to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher; Arubboth — nowhere else mentioned in the Bible, but probably, like Socoh (Josh 15:48-49) and Hepher (Josh 12:17), Ὄφερ, Epher, Slavic “land of Ophir” — in the south of the tribe of Judah.

1 Kings 4:11. Ben-Abinadab — over all Naphath-dor; Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, was his wife; Naphath-dor (Josh 11:2), assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (Josh 17:11), but not occupied by it (ibid. 12), on the Mediterranean Sea, near Mount Carmel, nine Roman miles from Caesarea on the way to Tyre (Onomasticon, 397), during the struggle of the Jews with the Ptolemies a strong fortress (1 Macc 15:11-14), later strengthened even more by the Romans (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XV, 5, 3).

1 Kings 4:12. Baana, son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo and in all Beth-shan, which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shan to Abel-meholah, and even beyond Jokmeam; The fifth district forms the valley of Jezreel with its continuation — the valley of Beth-shan. Taanach — formerly the capital of one of the Canaanite kings (Josh 12:21), now Táanak, lying to the south (one and one-quarter hours’ journey) from the village Leggun (probably the ancient Megiddo, which Taanach is almost always mentioned with in the Bible), (Judg 1:27; Josh 17:11; 1 Chr 7:29). Megiddo (LXX: Μαγεδδώ (ν)), in the tribe of Issachar, was fortified even in ancient times, and together with Taanach commanded the valley, the main road to the Jordan (Onomasticon, 657); Solomon further strengthened Megiddo (1 Kgs 9:15). According to the Tell-Amarna letters, Pharaoh Thutmose conquered the Canaanites near Megiddo (Egyptian: Makida). Beth-shean — in the tribe of Manasseh (Josh 17:11; Judg 1:27; 1 Sam 31:10), Greek Σκυθόπολις (Scythopolis) or Νύσσα — at the junction of Jezreel with the valley of the Jordan, near the main road from Damascus to Egypt (see (Jdt 3:10; 2 Macc 12:29); Jewish War II, 18, 1,3,4). In the Jordan valley also lay Zarethan and Abel-meholah (Judg 7:22), the native place of the prophet Elisha (1 Kgs 19:16), as well as Jokmeam (1 Chr 6:68) — according to the LXX: Μαεβέρ–Λουκὰμ, Slavic “Maefer Lukam.”

1 Kings 4:13. Ben-Geber — in Ramoth-gilead; he had the settlements of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; he also had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars; The sixth district — in the Transjordania; its center — the city Ramoth-gilead or Mizpah (Josh 13:26; Judg 10:17) — a Levitical city beyond the Jordan in the tribe of Gad, now es-Salt. Bashan — one of the most fertile regions of Palestine, alongside Carmel, Lebanon, the valley of Sharon (Isa 2:13; Jer 50:19; Nah 1:4), later Batanea (Onomasticon, 224). Argob in Bashan, see (Deut 4:43; Josh 13:30; 2 Kgs 10:33; Mic 7:14).

1 Kings 4:14. Ahinadab, son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; The center of the seventh, also east-of-Jordan district — the city Mahanaim (Gen 32:2; Josh 13:26; 2 Sam 17:24), is identified with the present Birket-Mahne.

1 Kings 4:15. Ahimaaz — in the land of Naphtali; he took as his wife Basemath, the daughter of Solomon; The eighth district again on the west side of the Jordan, west of the Lake of Gennesaret (compare 2 Sam 15).

1 Kings 4:16. Baana, son of Hushai, in the land of Asher and in Aloth; The ninth district in the tribe of Asher, north of the tribe of Issachar (Deut 33:24); Hushai, perhaps the same person as David’s friend Hushai (2 Sam 15:32).

1 Kings 4:17. Jehoshaphat, son of Paruah, in the land of Issachar; The tenth district — in the land of Issachar, between the tribe of Zebulun on the north and Manasseh on the south (Josh 19:17), between the Sea of Tiberias and the valley of Jezreel.

1 Kings 4:18. Shimei, son of Ela, in the land of Benjamin; The eleventh district in the tribe of Benjamin, between Ephraim on the north and Judah on the south.

1 Kings 4:19. Geber, son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan. He was the only governor in that land. The twelfth district, like the sixth and seventh, lay on the east side of the Jordan — in Gilead; Gilead — in the broad sense (as in (Num 32:29; Josh 22:9; Judg 10:8; 2 Sam 24:6) and others), with the exception of the cities mentioned in vv. 13–14. (In the accepted LXX text: Γάδ, but in many codices: Γαλαάδ). Regarding the conquest by the Hebrews of the lands of Sihon the Amorite and Og the Bashan see (Num 21:21-35; Deut 2:30-35).

1 Kings 4:20. Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea, eating and drinking and rejoicing. The image for hyperbole of Israel’s multitude occurs also in (Gen 22:17); the depiction of the Hebrews’ happiness under Solomon resembles the corresponding expression (Deut 14:26).

1 Kings 4:21. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. 1 Kings 4:22. And Solomon’s daily provisions were: thirty measures of fine flour and sixty measures of meal, 1 Kings 4:23. ten fattened cattle and twenty cattle from the pastures, a hundred sheep, besides deer and gazelles and roebucks and fattened fowl; 1 Kings 4:24. for he ruled over all the region west of the River, from Tipsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River, and he had peace on all sides around him. Verses 21–34 in the Hebrew Bible form the first half of the already fifth chapter. In contrast, the LXX, Vulgate, and Slavic translations place these verses as a continuation of the account of Solomon’s courtiers and governors, and the fifth chapter in these translations appears as a complete and finished narrative about Solomon’s preparations for building the Temple. The LXX division has obvious advantages over the Hebrew Masoretic: vv. 21–24 (Hebrew 5:1–4). “River,” generally in the Old Testament, especially when indicating the borders of Palestine, usually means the Euphrates (Gen 31:21; Exod 23:31; Num 22:5; Josh 24:2; Ps 71:8; Mic 7:12). The land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt form the other, southwestern border of Palestine, as the Euphrates forms the northeast border. “Tipsah,” LXX: Φάψα, Slavic: “Fapsa” (Hebrew word for crossing), — a great city on the west bank of the Euphrates, serving as a station for caravans. “Gaza,” Hebrew: Azzah, Assyrian: Hazzatu, in Herodotus Καδύτις (II, 59; III, 6) — one of the five cities of the Philistine coast (Judg 16:1; 1 Sam 6:17; 2 Kgs 18 and others). — The expression (1 Kgs 4:24) (Hebrew 5:4) “eber hannahar,” LXX: πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ, Vulgate: trans flumen, Slavic: “beyond the river,” — from the perspective of inhabitants of Palestine, which lay west of the Euphrates, usually means the eastern countries beyond the Euphrates (Josh 24:2; 2 Sam 10:16; 1 Kgs 14:15; Isa 7:20), but here the designation applies to west-of-Euphrates countries (western Syria, Palestine, Philistia). From this some scholars concluded that the writer of 3 Kings lived in Babylonia, beyond the Euphrates (in the same sense the mentioned expression is used in (Ezra 6:6; Neh 2:7; 1 Macc 7:8)). It is possible, however, that this expression, which began in the exile, was subsequently used without strict geographical accuracy. The enormous amount of food for Solomon’s court, astonishing at first sight, becomes understandable in view of the extraordinary size of Solomon’s court retinue (according to some data, ten thousand people, compare the blessed Theodoret, question 16). Similar figures are encountered in descriptions of the table of Cyrus and Alexander the Great, and in our time — the Turkish sultan (Philippson, 510–511). “Cor” (LXX: κόρος, Vulgate: “corus”) otherwise “homer” — the largest ancient Hebrew measure for dry commodities, of ten ephahs (Isa 5:10; Hos 3:2; Lev 27:16; Num 11:32 and others); according to Josephus (Jewish Antiquities, XV, 9, 2) it equals ten Attic medimni. In our measure — about a quarter or eight four-peck measures (see D. Prozorovskij, Biblical Metrology, “Strannik,” 1863, April, p. 13. According to Professor Gulyaev, p. 203, about eighteen four-peck measures). “Fattened fowl” (Hebrew: barbur’im arusim): commentators understand pheasants, geese or ducks, finally, quail.

1 Kings 4:25. And Judah and Israel lived in safety, each man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. V. 25 (Hebrew 5:5). The poetic depiction of the peaceful life of the Hebrews under Solomon (compare 2 Kgs 18:31) has basis in the actual arrangement of the Eastern house, in the yard of which there were usually trees, grapevines, and fig trees; however, this idyll does not prove that Israel remained a nation of farmers even under Solomon: on the contrary, it was precisely now that commerce began among the Hebrews (1 Kgs 9:28). “From Dan to Beersheba” — from the north of Palestine to its southern boundary (Judg 20:1; 1 Sam 3:20; 2 Sam 3:10). Of course, from this picture of the people’s contentment the prophets borrowed features for describing the messianic kingdom (Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10).

1 Kings 4:26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. Forty thousand stalls for horses (Hebrew: urot susim, Latin: “praesipia equorum”; LXX and Slavic otherwise: τοκάδες, “mares”), probably an erroneous figure: according to (1 Kgs 10:26) — 1400 chariots, consequently there were about that many stalls.

1 Kings 4:27. And these governors provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to Solomon’s table, each one in his month; and they let nothing be lacking. 1 Kings 4:28. Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was needed, each one according to his task. More is said about what the “governors” (v. 7) supplied to Solomon’s court. “To the place where it was needed”: the Hebrew text does not have this last word, inserted by the LXX, Vulgate, and Slavic-Russian translation. The insertion has no basis: one cannot assume that the king in his travels about the country transported with him both the whole court retinue and all the cavalry; according to (1 Kgs 10:26) and Josephus (Jewish Antiquities, VIII, 2, 3), the cavalry was distributed among separate cities. Solomon’s multiplication of horses and chariots was evidently contrary to the explicit prohibition of the Law (Deut 17:16).

1 Kings 4:29. And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and a breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore. 1 Kings 4:30. And Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. 1 Kings 4:31. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 1 Kings 4:32. And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five; 1 Kings 4:33. and he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. 1 Kings 4:34. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. So far there has been discussion of the organs of Solomon’s government and the external features of his manner of life. Now it speaks of Solomon himself and his extraordinary wisdom — not only in the sense of practical wisdom, for instance, the wisdom of judicial judgment (compare 1 Kgs 3:16-28), but also in the sense of the religious wisdom of life (hokmah), keenness, penetration of understanding (tebunah), breadth of mental scope (roav-lev) — the capacity to embrace with the mind the most diverse subjects. In wisdom Solomon surpassed all the “people of the east” (Hebrew: bene-kedem, Latin: “orientalium”; LXX and Slavic: ἀρχαίων ἀνθρώπων, “ancient people”; so also Josephus, but the comparison of “ancient” to Egypt would be misplaced): the eastern tribes — Arabic, Syrian, Chaldean — were famous for their proverbial wisdom (Jer 49:7; Obad 1:8; Bar 3:22-23); Egypt was famous for natural science, and its wisdom in this respect became proverbial ((Isa 19:11; Acts 7:22); Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, VIII, 2, 5). From the people of the Hebrews themselves “there were at that time some famous for wisdom; the writer therefore mentioned them, naming them by name” (the blessed Theodoret, question 17), such as: “Ethan” (LXX: Γαιθάν, Slavic: “Gefan”), “Heman,” “Calcol,” and “Darda.” All these persons (with the addition of a certain Zimri) are named in (1 Chr 2:6) as sons of Zerah (Hebrew: Zerach, from which the designation Heman and Ethan — Ezrahites). Ethan and Heman were Levites — singers (1 Chr 15:17-19), and besides, the name of the first stands in the heading (Ps 88:1) (Hebrew 89), and that of the second — (Ps 87:1) (Hebrew 88). Probably singers and poets were Calcol and Darda as well. In correspondence with these three categories of sages stand the indications of Solomon’s works of wisdom: 1) proverbs, 2) songs, and 3) works on natural history. Proverb, Hebrew “mashal,” Greek παραβολὴ, παροιμία — a concise expressive saying, succinctly expressing a thought applicable to many life situations — a saying, most often with a didactic purpose (Prov 1:1-8; Eccl 12:9; Job 13:12). The round and definite number of Solomon’s three thousand proverbs shows they were recorded in a book, but the biblical book of Proverbs (Mishle) ascribed to Solomon can contain only an insignificant part of all Solomon’s proverbs (the book of Proverbs has in total 915 verses); consequently, the rest were not preserved. Even fewer of Solomon’s songs (Hebrew: shir, ὠδή, Latin: carmen) were preserved, of which there were 1005 (according to LXX and Slavic — 5000): the Song of Songs (shir-hashirim) presents Solomon as a character, not purely as a lyrical work of his inspiration; the authorship of the psalms ascribed to Solomon (Ps 71 and Ps 126) (Hebrew 72 and 127) is disputed on the grounds that the ascription indicates not Solomon’s authorship, but their dedication to him (in modern times commentators consider Solomon the author of songs (Ps 2 and Ps 131)). In any case, Solomon proved himself a creator in two basic types of ancient Hebrew poetry: didactic (mashal) and lyric (shir). But Solomon’s wisdom was expressed not only in spiritual, religious and instructive creativity, but also in natural science — knowledge of botany and zoology. In the former — “from the cedar... to the hyssop” (ezov, ὑσσώπος, compare (Exod 12:22; Lev 14:4; Num 19:6; Ps 50:9); in the passage in question, perhaps moss); in the latter — of all four categories of the animal kingdom recognized by ancient Hebrews: quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fish (see Gen 6:20). Thus, “Solomon described the properties and powers of herbs, trees, and even mute animals. From this very much was borrowed by those who wrote medical books, taking what Solomon had written as their first source” (the blessed Theodoret, question 18). Of course, the exact extent of Solomon’s knowledge of botany and zoology is unknown (compare Wis 7:17-20). The art ascribed by Josephus to Solomon (Jewish Antiquities, VIII, 2, 5) of communicating with demons for the benefit of men, as well as incantations and magical formulas in Solomon’s name (Jewish War, I, 32, 2; II, 6, 3; VII, 6, 3) belong already to the realm of mythology, which found full development in the Talmud (treatise “Gittin”) and later in the Quran (ch. 27, v. 15 seq.: according to the Quran, Solomon understood the languages of demons, beasts, birds, ants). All the mystical literature of the East generally placed itself in genetic connection with the name of Solomon. Solomon’s wisdom attracted to him not only his compatriots, but also foreigners, even kings, as the Queen of Sheba (v. 34; compare (1 Kgs 10:1)).