1-6 Solomon's princes 7-19 His twelve officers for provision 20-21 The peace and largeness of his kingdom 22-25 His daily provision 26-28 His stable 29-34 His wisdom

over all Israel 1Ki 11:13,35,36 12:19,20 2Sa 5:5 1Ch 12:38 2Ch 9:30 Ec 1:12

2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest,

the princes That is, great, chief, or principal men; for none of them were princes, in the common acceptation of the word. Ex 18:21 2Sa 8:15-18 20:23-26 1Co 12:28

Azariah 1Ch 6:8-10 27:17

priest. or, chief officer

3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder.

Shisha 2Sa 20:25

Sheva 1Ch 18:6

Shavsha
scribes. or, secretaries
recorder. or, rembrancer 2Sa 8:16 20:24 1Ch 18:15 Isa 62:6

4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests:

Benaiah 1Ki 2:35

Zadok 1Ki 2:26,27,35

5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend:

son of Nathan 1Ki 1:10 2Sa 7:2 12:1-15,25

the officers 1Ki 4:7

the principal 2Sa 8:18 20:26

the king's 2Sa 15:37 16:16 19:37,38 1Ch 27:33 Pr 22:11 Joh 13:23 15:14,15 Jas 2:23

6 And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute.

Adoniram 1Ki 12:13 2Sa 20:24

Adoram
tribute. or, levy 1Ki 5:13,14 9:15

7 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.

officers These are doubtless to be considered as general receivers; for, as Sir John Chardin observes, `the revenues of the princes of the East are paid in the fruits and productions of the earth: there are no other taxes on the peasants.'

each man 1Ch 27:1-15

8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:

The son of Hur. or, Ben-hur Jud 17:1 19:1

9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan:

The son of Dekar. or, Ben-dekar
Shaalbim Jos 19:42

Shaalabbin
Beth-shemesh 1Sa 6:12,20

10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:

The son of Hesed. or, Ben-hesed
Sochoh Jos 15:35

Hepher Jos 12:17 17:2

11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

The son of Abinadab. or, Ben-abinadab
Dor Jos 12:23 17:11 Jud 1:27

12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam:

Taanach Jos 17:11 Jud 5:19

Megiddo 2Ki 23:29,30

Beth-shean 1Sa 31:10,12

Zartanah 1Ki 7:46

Zarthan Jos 3:16

Zaretan
Jezreel 1Ki 18:46

Abel-meholah 1Ki 19:16

13 The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars:

The son of Geber. or, Ben-geber
Ramoth-gilead 1Ki 22:3 De 4:43 Jos 20:8 21:38 2Ki 9:1,14

the towns Nu 32:41 De 3:14

Argob De 3:4,8,13,14 Ps 22:12 68:15

threescore great cities These were the fortified cities; their gates and bars being covered with plates of brass.

14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim:

Mahanaim. or, to Mahanaim Ge 32:2 2Sa 2:8 17:24,27

15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife:

Naphtali Jos 19:32-39

the daughter 1Ki 4:11 1Sa 18:18

16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth:

Asher Jos 19:24-31

17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

Issachar Jos 19:17-23

18 Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:

Shimei 1Ki 1:8 Zec 12:13

Benjamin Jos 18:20-28

19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land.

the country of Sihon Nu 21:21-35 De 2:26-37 3:1-17 Jos 13:9-12

20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

as the sand 1Ki 3:8 Ge 13:16 15:5 22:17 Pr 14:28

eating 1Sa 30:16 1Ch 12:39 Job 1:18 Ps 72:3-7 Ec 2:24 Isa 22:13 Mic 4:4 Zec 3:10 9:15 Ac 2:46

21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Solomon 1Ki 4:24 Ge 15:18 Ex 23:31 De 11:24 Jos 1:4 2Ch 9:26 Ezr 4:20 Ps 72:8-11

brought 1Sa 10:27 2Ki 17:3 2Ch 17:5 32:23 Ps 68:29 72:10,11 7:11

22 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,

provision [heb] bread
measures [heb] cors.

23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.

Ten fat Ne 5:17,18

harts Dr. Shaw understands {ayil} as the name of the genu, including all the species of the deer kind, whether they are distinguished by round horns, as the stag, or by flat ones, as the fallow deer, or by the smallness of the branches, as the roe.

roe-bucks [See note on De 15:22]
fallow-deer. {Yachmur} rendered bubalus by the Vulgate, probably the Buffalo; and though `the flesh of a Buffalo does not seem so well tasted as beef, being harder and more coarse,' yet in our times,`persons of distinction, as well as the common people, and even the European merchants, eat a great deal of it, in the countries where the animal abounds.' Niebuhr, Descrip. de l'Arab p. 146.

24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

Azzah Ge 10:19 Jud 16:1

Gaza
all the kings 1Ki 4:21 Ps 72:8,11

had peace 1Ki 5:4 1Ch 22:9 Ps 72:3,7 Isa 9:7 Lu 2:14 Heb 7:1,2

25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.

safely [heb] confidently Isa 60:18 Jer 23:5,6 33:15,16 Eze 38:11

every man 2Ki 18:31 Mic 4:4 Zec 3:10

from Dan Jud 20:1 2Sa 17:11 24:15

26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

forty thousand 1Ki 10:25,26 De 17:16 2Sa 8:4 2Ch 1:14 9:25 Ps 20:7

27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.

those officers 1Ki 4:7-19

28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge.

dromedaries. or, mules, or swift beasts. Es 8:10,14 Mic 1:13

29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

God 1Ki 3:12,28 10:23,24 2Ch 1:10-12 Ps 119:34 Pr 2:6 Ec 1:16 2:26 Jas 1:5,17 3:17

largeness Isa 60:5

as the sand 1Ki 4:20 Ge 41:49 Jud 7:12 Jer 33:22 Hab 1:9

30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

the children Ge 25:6 Job 1:3 Da 1:20 4:7 5:11,12 Mt 2:1,16

the wisdom of Egypt Isa 19:11,12 Ac 7:22

31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.

wiser 1Ki 3:12 Mt 12:42 Lu 11:31 Col 2:3

Ethan 1Ch 15:19 Ps 89:1

Heman 1Ch 2:6 6:33 15:17 Ps 88:1

his fame 1Ki 5:7 10:1,6 2Ch 9:23 Mt 4:24

32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

he spake Pr 1:1-33 Ec 12:9 Mt 13:35

songs So 1:1

33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

the cedar tree The word {airez}, whence the Cahldee and Syriac {azro}, and the Arabic and Ethiopic {arz} and Spanish {alerze}, unquestionably denotes the {cedar}; it is thus rendered by the LXX. and other versions, (), and by the Vulgate {cedrus}; and the inhabitants of mount lebanon still call it {ars}. The cedar is a large and nobel evergreen tree, and grows on the most elevated part of the mountain, is taller than the pine, and so thick that five men together could scarcely fathom one. It shoots out its branches at ten or twelve feet from the ground; they are large and distant from each other, and are perpetually green. The wood is of a brown colour, very solid and incorruptible, if preserved from wet. The tree bears a small cone, like that of the pine. Nu 24:6 2Ki 19:23 Ps 92:12

the hyssop Ex 12:22 Nu 19:18 Ps 51:7 Heb 9:19

of beasts Ge 1:20-25

34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

1Ki 10:1 2Ch 9:1,23 Isa 2:2 Zec 8:23