Because David had defeated all of Israel’s enemies and there was peace in the land, Solomon was now able to rule over all of Israel as king, 1 Kings 4:1. Although Israel were still one nation under Solomon, the kingdom was already divided into two kingdoms, Israel, in the north and Judah, in the south, 1 Kings 4:20.
Some of the officials mentioned here had already begun their service as administrators before Solomon became king, 1 Kings 3:15. Azariah, 1 Kings 4:2, was a priest who functioned as an advisor to the king.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Azariah, called here the ‘son,’ but really the ‘grandson,’ of Zadok, seems to have succeeded him in the priesthood, 1 Chronicles 6:10. His position as high priest at the time when this list was made out gives Azariah the foremost place in it.’
Elihoreph and Ahijah, 1 Kings 4:3, were secretaries who functioned as the correspondent for the king to the people and foreign nations, 1 Kings 12:10. Jehoshaphat, 1 Kings 4:3, was a recorder, he basically recorded the annuals of the kingdom, 2 Samuel 20:24.
Benaiah, 1 Kings 4:4, was in charge of Solomon’s army. Abiathar, 1 Kings 4:4 / 1 Chronicles 18:16 / 2 Samuel 20:25 / 2 Samuel 8:17, was exiled from the presence of Solomon, 1 Kings 2:27 / 1 Kings 2:35.
However, since the high priesthood was inherited, he still maintained his position, though not necessarily his function among the people, he was a high priest in name only.
Zadok, 1 Kings 4:4, was also a priest who functioned as an advisor to the king. Azariah, 1 Kings 4:5, was in charge of the district governors, 1 Kings 4:8-19. Nathan, 1 Kings 4:5, was David’s son, 2 Samuel 5:14.
Ahishar, 1 Kings 4:6, was the palace administrator, he was in charge of carrying out the administration of the king’s court, 2 Samuel 20:24 / Genesis 41:40. Adoniram, 1 Kings 4:6, was responsible for those who were in forced labour. The Adoniram, here is the same as the Adoram of the days of David, 2 Samuel 20:24.
Coffman says the following, concerning Ahishar and Adoniram.
‘One of the great weaknesses of Solomon’s administration was his insistence upon squeezing the least possible amount of money from the people and other help from his subjects. This policy brought about the division of his kingdom following his death, and Adoniram would play a most unhappy role on that occasion, 1 Kings 12:18’.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following, concerning 1 Kings 4:7.
‘The business of these twelve officers was to provide daily, each for a month, those provisions which were consumed in the king’s household, 1 Kings 4:22-23. And the task for such a daily provision was not an easy one.’
We don’t know anything about the names mentioned here, 1 Kings 4:8-19.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘They were the ones who extorted the enormous taxation that supported the bloated Solomonic government.’
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These men were responsible for providing for the needs of Solomon’s large household, including his courtiers, and for his thousands of horses, 1 Kings 4:28. Two were Solomon’s sons-in-law, 1 Kings 4:11 / 1 Kings 4:15. The district arrangement seems designed to move Israel away from tribal independence to cooperation under the new centralized government, though the district boundaries approximated the tribal boundaries. The writer did not include Judah and Jerusalem in this list of areas that Solomon taxed. This gave Judah a great advantage economically. Perhaps Solomon favored Judah because it was his tribe. This favouritism may have been a factor in the revolt of the northern tribes later, 1 Kings 12:4.’
Benson, in his commentary, says the following, concerning 1 Kings 4:8-10.
‘The son of Hur. This person and others of them are denominated from their fathers, because they were known and famous in their generation. In mount Ephraim And the territory belonging to it, which must be understood also of the rest of the places mentioned in the following verses. Elon-Beth-Hanan or, Elon, the house, or dwelling- place of Hanan. For Hanan may be a man’s name, and this place may be thus distinguished from other Elons, or, as the word Elon signifies a plain, the meaning may be, the plain of Beth-Hanan. Sokoh. There were two places of this name, but near each other, Joshua 15:35-38. Hepher in Judah, 1 Chronicles 4:6.’
Benson, continues in his commentary and says the following, concerning 1 Kings 4:11-13.
‘The region of Dor. In Manasseh, where also were Taanach, Megiddo, and Beth-Shean. Who had the daughter of Solomon to wife Solomon had no daughters marriageable when these officers were appointed but in process of time, this man and Ahimaaz, mentioned, 1 Kings 4:15, had behaved themselves so well in their offices, that Solomon did them the honour to give them two of his daughters to wife. In Ramoth-Gilead, that is, Ramoth in the land of Gilead, Deuteronomy 4:43, so called, to distinguish it from Ramoth in Issachar, 1 Chronicles 6:73. The towns of Jair In Manasseh beyond Jordan, Numbers 32:41. With walls and brazen bars This is added by way of distinction from those towns of Jair mentioned before. For, being beyond Jordan, they were liable to the attempts of their enemies.’
Benson, continues in his commentary and says the following, concerning 1 Kings 4:14-18.
‘The son of Iddo had Mahanaim. The city and territory of Mahanaim, Genesis 32:2 / Joshua 13:26. If this district seem of less extent than the rest, it must be observed, these portions were distributed into larger or lesser parts, according to their barrenness or fertility and this seems to have been a very fruitful place, 2 Samuel 17:27. Shimei, the son of Elah. This is added to distinguish him from the Shimei who cursed and insulted David.’
Benson, continues in his commentary and says the following, concerning 1 Kings 4:19.
‘In the country of Gilead, that is, in the remaining part of that land of Gilead which was mentioned above. The only officer in the land Or rather, in that land; namely, in all Gilead, excepting the parcels mentioned before, the only one in all the territories of Sihon and Og. These were of large extent, and yet all committed to this one man, which is here noticed as a peculiar privilege which he had above the other officers, whose jurisdictions were of narrower extent.’
When we read these verses, it becomes clear that Israel has now become a monarchy. The government is now centralised around Solomon as king, and he is now in Jerusalem which has become the capital of the kingdom.
Managing any kingdom affairs was done by designated officials who collected taxes, enlisted men into the army, and exercised administrative control over the affairs of the kingdom.
Government construction projects on roads and buildings were carried out by designated officials who received their orders from Jerusalem. Eventually, because of this of this monarchy system, the nation of Israel would divide into two kingdoms.
Because everything was centred around Judah, the northern tribes were going to cease tolerating such heavy control and taxes and make Jeroboam their king, 1 Kings 11:26-30.
Straight away we see that the kingdom has already begun to divide into two, ‘the people of Judah and the people of Israel’, 1 Kings 4:20. Together, they were as ‘numerous as the sand on the seashore’, 1 Kings 4:20 / 1 Kings 3:8, which is part of the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3 / Genesis 22:17 / Genesis 28:14.
When there is peace in the land, people eat, drink and are happy, 1 Kings 4:20. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt and it was these countries which brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life, 1 Kings 4:21.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Solomon’s empire, like all the great empires of Asia down to the time of the Persians, consisted of a congeries of small kingdoms, all ruled by their own kings. 1 Kings 4:24, who admitted the suzerainty of the Jewish monarch, and paid him ‘presents,’ i.e., an annual tribute, 1 Kings 10:25.’
The food for the king’s court for a single day was about thirty cors of fine flour, 1 Kings 4:22, that is roughly five and a half tons, and sixty cors of meal, that is roughly eleven tons. This amount of grain, plus the meat of the animals, 1 Kings 4:23, is in combination with what the people were also to provide for the Levites.
Because David had defeated all of Israel’s enemies, the peace he brought continued into the reign of his son Solomon. Solomon extended his kingdom by defeating those nations within Palestine, and those nations who were in subjection to him were made to pay a tribute, 1 Kings 4:24.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘In Philistia, small as it was, there were five kings, 1 Samuel 6:18. Syria was divided into numerous small states, as many as thirty-two kings being mentioned on one occasion, 1 Kings 20:1. The Hittites were ruled by a great number of chieftains or princes, 1 Kings 10:29 / 2 Kings 7:6, twelve are mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions.’
We are told that during Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree, 1 Kings 4:25.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘They were no longer obliged to dwell in fortified cities for fear of their enemies; they spread themselves over all the country, which they everywhere cultivated and had always the privilege of eating the fruits of their own labours. This is the meaning of the phrase.’
Notice the text says that ‘Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses’, 1 Kings 4:26.
Coffman makes an interesting point about the figures used here in 1 Kings 4:26.
‘The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 9:25, gives the number of Solomon’s horses at 4,000, a number favoured by many scholars, but our own opinion is that the number here is just as likely to be correct as of the other. The Philistines are reported to have brought 30,000 chariots into battle, 1 Samuel 13:5, and, allowing 2 horses to the chariot would indicate at least 70,000, and the Syrians boasted at least 40,000 horses, 2 Samuel 10:18. Also, the thesis of this whole section regarding Solomon is simply this, that no other king in that entire era approached the magnificence displayed by Solomon. Either number is proof of Solomon’s violation of God’s law in Deuteronomy 17:16.’
The district governors, each in his month, supplied provisions for Solomon and all who came to the king’s table and they saw to it that nothing was lacking, 1 Kings 4:27.
They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses, 1 Kings 4:28. Although we don’t know the exact number, some people believe there would have been as many as five-thousand people in the king’s court. We can only imagine the burden this tax would have been upon the people.
Solomon’s wisdom was great and he was wiser than anyone else because his wisdom came from God, 1 Kings 4:29 / 1 Kings 3:12. His wisdom was so great that his reputation for his wisdom extended to many nations in the East, 1 Kings 4:30, but his reputation didn’t stop there, he would become famous all the way to Africa, which in turn prompted a visit from the queen of Sheba, who wanted to see for herself, 1 Kings 10:1-10.
He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations, 1 Kings 4:31.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Ethan was probably the same as is mentioned in some of the Psalms, particularly Psalms 89:1, and among the singers in 1 Chronicles 6:42. There is a Heman mentioned in the title to Psalms 88:1. In 1 Chronicles 2:6, we have all the four names, but they are probably not the same persons, for they are there said to be the sons of Zerah, and he flourished long before Solomon’s time.’
Solomon ‘spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five’, 1 Kings 4:32. This is a huge number of proverbs and songs and we only have a few available today.
We have only a few proverbs which are recorded in the Book of Proverbs and we only have a few songs, which are recorded in the Song of Songs / Psalm 72 / Psalm 132 / Psalm 127.
It’s highly possible that all the other proverbs and songs were either destroyed or taken away by the Babylonians during the Babylonian captivity or it could be that they were simply not inspired by God, 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon, Psalms 104:16 / Song of Songs 5:15 / Ezekiel 31:3, to the hyssop, Exodus 12:22, that grows out of walls, 1 Kings 4:33.
He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish, 1 Kings 4:33 / Genesis 1:26 / Genesis 9:2 / Psalms 148:10. From all nations, people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom, 1 Kings 4:34.