1 Kings 4

1 And king Solomon is king over all Israel,

Solomon was the king who ruled all of Israel,

2 and these [are] the heads whom he hath: Azariah son of Zadok [is] the priest;

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

3 Elihoreph and Ahiah sons of Shisha [are] scribes; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud [is] remembrancer;

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 [is] over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar [are] priests;

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

5 and Azariah son of Nathan [is] over the officers; and Zabud son of Nathan [is] minister, 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 [is] over the household, and Adoniram son of Abda [is] 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 hath twelve officers over all Israel, and they have sustained the king and his household — a month in the year is on each one for 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-Dekar in Makaz, and Shaalbim, and Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Beth-Hanan.

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

10 Ben-Hesed [is] in Aruboth, hath Sochoh and all the land of Hepher;

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

11 Ben-Abinadab [hath] all the elevation of Dor, Taphath daughter of Solomon became his wife.

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

12 Baana Ben-Ahilud [hath] Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-Shean, which [is] by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-Shean unto Abel-Meholah, unto beyond Jokneam.

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, hath the small towns of Jair son of Manasseh, which [are] in Gilead; he hath a portion of Argob that [is] in Bashan, sixty great cities [with] wall and brazen bar.

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 [hath] Mahanaim.

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

15 Ahimaaz [is] in Naphtali; he also hath taken Basemath daughter of Solomon for a wife.

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

16 Baanah Ben-Hushai [is] in Asher, and in Aloth.

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

17 Jehoshaphat Ben-Paruah [is] in Issachar.

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

18 Shimei Ben-Elah [is] in Benjamin.

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

19 Geber Ben-Uri [is] in the land of Gilead, the land of Sihon king of the Amorite, and of Og king of Bashan: and one officer who [is] 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 [are] 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 hath been ruling over all the kingdoms, from the River [to] the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt: they are bringing nigh a present, and serving Solomon, all 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 provision of Solomon for one day is thirty cors of flour, and sixty cors 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 feeding oxen, and a hundred sheep, apart from hart, and roe, and fallow-deer, and fatted beasts of the stalls,

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 is ruling over all beyond the river, from Tiphsah and unto Gaza, over all the kings beyond the river, and he hath peace from all his servants 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 dwelleth — and Israel — in confidence, each under his vine, and under his 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 Solomon hath 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 officers have sustained king Solomon and every one drawing near unto the table of king Solomon, each [in] his month; they let nothing 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 And the barley and the straw, for horses and for dromedaries, they bring in unto the place where they are, each according to his ordinance.

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 giveth wisdom to Solomon, and understanding, very much, and breadth of heart, as the sand that [is] on the edge 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 is greater than the wisdom of any of the sons of the east, and than all the wisdom of Egypt;

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

31 and he is wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol, and his name is in 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 speaketh three thousand similes, and his songs [are] five, and the chief one;

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

33 and he speaketh concerning the trees, from the cedar that [is] in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that is coming out in the wall, and he speaketh concerning the cattle, and concerning the fowl, and concerning the creeping things, and concerning the 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 come out of all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who have heard of 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].