1 Kings 4

1 Now king Solomon was reigning over all of Israel.

Solomon was the king who ruled all of Israel,

2 And these were the leaders that he had: Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest;

and these were his most important officials: Zadok’s son Azariah was the priest.

3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, the scribes; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, the keeper of records;

Shisha’s sons Elihoreph and Ahijah were the [official] secretaries. Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was the one who announced to the people the king’s decisions.

4 Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, over the army; and Zadok, and Abiathar, priests;

Benaiah was the commander of the army. Zadok and Abiathar were also priests.

5 Azariah, the son of Nathan, over those who were assisting the king; Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the friend of the king;

Nathan’s son Azariah was the administrator of the governors. Another of Nathan’s sons, Zabud, was a priest and the king’s chief advisor.

6 and Ahishar, first ruler of the house; and Adoniram, the son of Abda, over the tribute.

Ahishar supervised the servants who worked in the palace. Abda’s son Adoniram supervised the men who were forced to do work [for the government].

7 And Solomon had twelve commanders over all of Israel, who offered yearly provisions for the king and his house. For each was ministering the necessities, by each month of the year.

Solomon appointed twelve men, one to govern [each of the regions] in Israel. They also were required to provide food for the king and all the others who lived and worked in the palace. Each man was required to provide from his own region the food for one month each year.

8 And these are their names: Benhur, on mount Ephraim;

Their names were: Ben-Hur, for the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim.

9 Bendeker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and in Beth-shemesh, and in Elon, and in Beth-hanan;

Ben-Deker, for Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Bethhanan [cities];

10 Benhesed, in Arubboth: his was Socoh and the entire land of Hepher;

Ben-Hesed, for Arubboth and Socoh [towns] and the area near Hepher [town];

11 Benabinadab, to whom was all of Naphath-Dor, who had Taphath, the daughter of Solomon, as wife;

Ben-Abinadab, who was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath, for all the Dor district;

12 Baana, the son of Ahilud, who was reigning in Taanach, and Megiddo, and all of Bethshean, which is beside Zarethan and below Jezreel, from Bethshean as far as Abelmeholah, opposite Jokmeam;

Ahilud’s son Baana, for Taanach and Megiddo [towns], and all the region near Zarethan [city], and from Beth-Shan [city] south of Jezreel as far as Abel-Meholah [town] and Jokmeam [city];

13 Bengeber, in Ramoth Gilead, who had the town of Jair, the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; the same was first in the entire region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls that had bronze bars;

Ben-Geber, for Ramoth [city] in [the] Gilead [region], and for the villages in Gilead that belonged to Jair, who was a descendant of Manasseh, and the Argob area in [the] Bashan [region]. There were 60 large towns in that region altogether, each town with a wall around it and bronze bars across the gates.

14 Ahinadab, the son of Iddo, who was first in Mahanaim;

Iddo’s son Ahinadab, for Mahanaim [city east of the Jordan River];

15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali, and he also had Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, in marriage;

Ahimaaz, who had married Solomon’s daughter Basemath, for [the territory of the tribe of] Naphtali;

16 Baana, the son of Hushai, in Asher and in Bealoth;

Hushai’s son Baana, for [the territory of the tribe of] Asher and for Aloth [town];

17 Jehoshaphat, the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat, for [the territory of the tribe of] Issachar;

18 Shimei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

Ela’s son Shimei, for [the territory of the tribe of] Benjamin;

19 Geber, the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and of Og, king of Bashan, over all who were in that land.

Uri’s son Geber, for the Gilead region, the land that Sihon the king of the Amor people-group [formerly ruled], and the Bashan [area], which was the area that Og [formerly ruled]. [In addition to all those], Solomon appointed one governor for the [territory of the] tribe of Judah.

20 Judah and Israel were innumerable, like the sand of the sea in multitude: eating and drinking, and rejoicing.

There were as many people in Judah and Israel as there are grains of sand [HYP] on the seashore. They [had plenty to] eat and drink and they were happy.

21 Now Solomon had, in his dominion, all the kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt. And they offered gifts to him, and they served him all the days of his life.

Solomon’s kingdom extended from the Euphrates [River in the northeast] to the Philistia area [in the west] and to the border of Egypt [in the south]. The [conquered] people in those areas paid taxes and were under Solomon’s control for the rest of his life.

22 And the provisions of Solomon, for each day, were thirty cor of fine wheat flour, and sixty cor of meal,

[To feed the people in his palace and his guests] Solomon needed people to bring to him every day 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of wheat,

23 ten fattened oxen, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred rams, aside from the venison of stags, roe deer, and gazelles, and fattened poultry.

ten cattle that were kept in stalls/barns, 20 cattle that were kept in pastures, 100 sheep, and (deer and gazelles and roebucks/three kinds of deer), and poultry.

24 For he had obtained the entire region which was beyond the river, from Tiphsah as far as Gaza, and all the kings of those regions. And he had peace on every side all around.

Solomon ruled over all the area west of the Euphrates [River], from Tiphsah [city in the northeast] to Gaza [city in the southwest]. He ruled over all the kings in that area. And there was peace between his [government] and the [governments of] nearby countries.

25 And so, Judah and Israel were living without any fear, each one under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, during all the days of Solomon.

All during the years that Solomon ruled, the people of Judah and Israel lived safely. Each family had its own grapevines and fig trees.

26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand riding horses.

Solomon had 4,000 stalls for the horses [that pulled] his chariots and 12,000 men who rode on horses (OR, in the chariots).

27 And the above-stated commanders of the king nourished these. And they also offered the necessities for the table of king Solomon, with immense diligence, each in his time.

His twelve governors supplied the food that King Solomon needed for himself and for all those who ate in the palace. Each governor supplied food for one month each year. They provided everything [LIT] that Solomon required.

28 Also, they brought barley and straw for the horses and beasts of burden, to the place where the king was, just as it was appointed to them.

They also brought [stalks of] barley and wheat for the fast horses [that pulled the chariots] and for the [other work] horses. They brought it to the places where the horses were kept.

29 And God gave wisdom to Solomon, and an exceedingly great prudence, and a spacious heart, like the sand which is on the shore of the sea.

God enabled Solomon to be extremely wise and to have great insight/understanding. He understood about more things than the number of grains of sand on the seashore [HYP].

30 And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the East, and of the Egyptians.

He was wiser than all the wise men in Arabia and Mesopotamia and all the wise men in Egypt.

31 And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And he was renowned in all the nations on every side.

Ethan from Ezrah and Heman and Calcol and Darda and the sons of Mahol were [considered to be] very wise, but Solomon was wiser than all of them. People in all the nearby countries heard about Solomon.

32 Solomon also spoke three thousand parables. And his verses were one thousand and five.

He composed/wrote 3,000 (proverbs/wise sayings) and more than 1,000 songs.

33 And he discoursed about trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon, to the hyssop which grows out from the wall. And he explained about beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and fish.

He talked about various kinds of plants, from the [huge] cedar trees in Lebanon to the [tiny] hyssop plants that grow in cracks in walls. He also talked about wild animals and birds and reptiles and fish.

34 And they came from all the peoples in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who were hearing about his wisdom.

People came from all over the world to hear the wise things that Solomon said. Many kings sent men to listen to him [and then return and tell them what Solomon said].