1 Kings 4:17-34
Evangelical Heritage Version
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar,
18 Shimei son of Ela in Benjamin,
19 Geber son of Uri in the land of Gilead (this included the land of both
Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, but there was
only one governor for that land).
The Glory of Solomon’s Rule
20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea. They were eating, drinking, and rejoicing. 21 Solomon was ruling all the kingdoms from the River[a] to the land of the Philistines, up to the border of Egypt. They sent tribute and workers to Solomon all the days of his life.[b] 22 Solomon’s provisions for one day were one hundred eighty bushels[c] of fine flour and three hundred sixty bushels[d] of plain flour, 23 ten stall-fed cattle, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep, not to mention deer, gazelle, roebucks, and fattened poultry.
24 Since Solomon was ruling over everything west of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kingdoms west of the River, he had peace on all sides. 25 Judah and Israel lived in safety, with every man sitting under his own vine and fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, throughout Solomon’s days. 26 Solomon had four thousand[e] teams[f] of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand charioteers.
27 His governors supplied provisions for King Solomon and for all those who gathered at King Solomon’s table. Each governor was responsible for one month, so the court lacked nothing. 28 They brought the barley and straw for the horses and steeds[g] to the location assigned to each one of them.
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and breadth of knowledge[h] like the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than all the wisdom of the men of the East and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any man, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, Kalkol, or Darda, the sons of Mahol. His name was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered one thousand and five. 33 He spoke about trees, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He also spoke about animals, birds, reptiles and other crawling things, and fish. 34 From all the peoples and from all the kings of the earth who heard about Solomon’s wisdom, people came to listen to his wisdom.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Kings 4:21 That is, the Euphrates
- 1 Kings 4:21 The chapter division is different in the Hebrew text. English 4:21-34 equals Hebrew 5:1-14. English 5:1-18 equals Hebrew 5:15-32.
- 1 Kings 4:22 Literally thirty cors. The sizes of the cor and other ancient measures of volume are uncertain. Thirty cors may be about five tons.
- 1 Kings 4:22 Literally sixty cors
- 1 Kings 4:26 Four thousand is the reading of some manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament and the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 9:25. The Hebrew text reads forty thousand. Four thousand chariots correlates well with twelve thousand charioteers, at three riders per chariot.
- 1 Kings 4:26 Or stalls
- 1 Kings 4:28 The text has the common word for horses followed by a second name for another type of horse. The precise meaning of the second term is uncertain.
- 1 Kings 4:29 Literally breadth of heart
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.