1 Kings 4
1 And so it came to pass, that, King Solomon, was king, over all Israel.
Solomon was the king who ruled all of Israel,
2 Now, these, were his chief officers of state, —Azariah son of Zadok, the priest;
and these were his most important officials: Zadok’s son Azariah was the priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha, scribes, —Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud, the recorder;
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 And Benaiah 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 And Azariah son of Nathan, over the governors, —and Zabud son of Nathan, minister, king’s friend;
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, over the household, —and Adoniram 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 governors over all Israel, who used to sustain the king and his household, —for a month in the year, was it appointed unto each one, to find sustenance.
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, Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;
Their names were: Ben-Hur, for the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim.
9 Ben-deker, in Makaz and in Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh, —and Elon-beth-hanan;
Ben-Deker, for Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Bethhanan [cities];
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth, —to him, pertaineth Socoh, and all the land of Hepher;
Ben-Hesed, for Arubboth and Socoh [towns] and the area near Hepher [town];
11 Ben-abinadab, all the height of Dor, —Taphath daughter of Solomon, had he to wife;
Ben-Abinadab, who was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath, for all the Dor district;
12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, and Megiddo, —and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean as far as Abel-meholah, as far as over against 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 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead, —to him, belonged the towns of Jair, son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, his, was the region of Argob which is in Bashan, sixty great cities, with walls and with bars of bronze;
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 son of Iddo, towards Mahanaim;
Iddo’s son Ahinadab, for Mahanaim [city east of the Jordan River];
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali, —moreover, he, took Basemath daughter of Solomon, to wife;
Ahimaaz, who had married Solomon’s daughter Basemath, for [the territory of the tribe of] Naphtali;
16 Banna son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth;
Hushai’s son Baana, for [the territory of the tribe of] Asher and for Aloth [town];
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar;
Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat, for [the territory of the tribe of] Issachar;
18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin;
Ela’s son Shimei, for [the territory of the tribe of] Benjamin;
19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, —the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, being, the one governor, that was in the 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 many, as the sand that is by the sea, for 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 And, Solomon, became ruler over all the kingdoms, from the River [even unto] the land of the Philistines, and as far as the boundary of Egypt, —and these were bringing presents, and serving Solomon, 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 it came to pass, that Solomon’s provision for one day was, —thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures 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 fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, —besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl.
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 dominion over all on this side the River, from Tiphsah even as far as Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River, —and he had, peace, on all sides of him, round about.
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 Judah and Israel dwelt securely, every man under his own vine, and under his own fig-tree, from Dan even unto Beer-sheba, —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 it came to pass that, Solomon, had forty thousand stalls of horses, for his chariots, —and twelve thousand horsemen.
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 these governors provided sustenance for King Solomon, and for all that drew near unto the table of King Solomon, every man in his month, —they let, nought, be lacking.
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 Barley also and crushed straw, for the horses and for the swift beasts, brought they in unto the place where it should be, every man according to his charge.
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 unto Solomon, and discernment, and very great largeness of heart, —like the sand that 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 so that, the wisdom of Solomon, excelled, the wisdom of all the sons of the East, —and all the wisdom of the Egyptians,
He was wiser than all the wise men in Arabia and Mesopotamia and all the wise men in Egypt.
31 so that he was wiser than any man—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman and Calcol and Darda, sons of Mahol, —and it came to pass that, his name, was throughout all the nations round about.
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 And he spake three thousand proverbs, —and it came to pass that, his songs, were a thousand and five.
He composed/wrote 3,000 (proverbs/wise sayings) and more than 1,000 songs.
33 And he discoursed of trees—from the cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop, that springeth out in the wall, —and he discoursed of beasts and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
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 there came in, of all the peoples, to hear the wisdom of Solomon—of all the kings of the earth, who heard 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].
