1 Reis 4

ARC · Chapter 4/22

1Assim foi Salomão rei sobre todo o Israel.

2E estes eram os principes que tinha: Azarias, filho de Zadok, sacerdote;

3Elihoreph e Ahia, filhos de Sisa, secretarios; Josaphat, filho de Ahilud, chanceller;

4Benaia, filho de Joiada, sobre o exercito; e Zadok e Abiathar eram sacerdotes;

5E Azarias, filho de Nathan, sobre os provedores; e Zabud, filho de Nathan, official-mór, amigo do rei;

6E Ahisar, mordomo; Adoniram, filho d'Abda, sobre o tributo.

7E tinha Salomão doze provedores sobre todo o Israel, que proviam ao rei e á sua casa: e cada um tinha a prover um mez no anno.

8E estes são os seus nomes: Ben-hur, nas montanhas de Ephraim;

9Ben-deker em Makas, e em Saalbim, e em Beth-semes, e em Elon, e em Bethanan:

10Ben-hesed em Arubboth; tambem este tinha a Sochó e a toda a terra de Hepher;

11Ben-abinadab em todo o termo de Dor: tinha este a Taphath, filha de Salomão, por mulher;

12Baana, filho d'Ahilud, tinha a Tanach, e a Megiddo, e a toda a Beth-sean, que está junto a Zartana, abaixo de Jezreel, desde Beth-sean até Abel-meola, até d'além de Jokneam;

13O filho de Geber em Ramoth-gilead; tinha este as aldeias de Jair, filho de Manassés, as quaes estão em Gilead; tambem tinha o termo de Argob, o qual está em Basan, sessenta grandes cidades com muros e ferrolhos de cobre;

14Ahinadab, filho d'Iddo, em Mahanaim;

15Ahimaas em Nafthali; tambem este tomou a Basmath, filha de Salomão, por mulher;

16Baana, filho de Husai, em Aser e em Aloth;

17Josaphat, filho de Paruah, em Issacar;

18Simei, filho de Ela, em Benjamin;

19Geber, filho de Uri, na terra de Gilead, a terra de Sihon, rei dos amorrheos, e de Og, rei de Basan; e só uma guarnição havia n'aquella terra.

20Eram pois os de Judah e Israel muitos, como a areia que está ao pé do mar em multidão, comendo, e bebendo, e alegrando-se.

21E dominava Salomão sobre todos os reinos desde o rio até á terra dos philisteos, e até ao termo do Egypto; os quaes traziam presentes, e serviram a Salomão todos os dias da sua vida

22Era pois o provimento de Salomão, cada dia, trinta coros de flor de farinha, e sessenta coros de farinha:

23Dez vaccas gordas, e vinte vaccas de pasto, e cem carneiros; afóra os veados e as cabras montezes, e os corços, e aves cevadas.

24Porque dominava sobre tudo quanto havia da banda de cá do rio de Tiphsah até Gaza, sobre todos os reis da banda de cá do rio: e tinha paz de todas a bandas em roda d'elle.

25E Judah e Israel habitavam seguros, cada um debaixo da sua videira, e debaixo da sua figueira, desde Dan até Berseba, todos os dias de Salomão.

26Tinha tambem Salomão quarenta mil estrebarias de cavallos para os seus carros, e doze mil cavalleiros.

27Proviam pois estes provedores, cada um no seu mez, ao rei Salomão e a todos quantos se chegavam á mesa do rei Salomão: coisa nenhuma deixavam faltar.

28E traziam a cevada e a palha para os cavallos e para os ginetes, para o logar onde estava, cada um segundo o seu cargo.

29E deu Deus a Salomão sabedoria, e muitissimo entendimento, e largueza de coração, como a areia que está na praia do mar

30E era a sabedoria de Salomão maior do que a sabedoria de todos os do oriente e do que toda a sabedoria dos egypcios.

31E era elle ainda mais sabio do que todos os homens, e do que Ethan, ezrahita, e Heman, e Calcal, e Darda, filho de Mahol: e correu o seu nome por todas as nações em redor.

32E disse tres mil proverbios, e foram os seus canticos mil e cinco.

33Tambem fallou das arvores, desde o cedro que está no Libano até ao hyssopo que nasce na parede: tambem fallou dos animaes e das aves, e dos reptis e dos peixes.

34E vinham de todos os povos a ouvir a sabedoria de Salomão, e de todos os reis da terra que tinham ouvido da sua sabedoria.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The chapter lists the chief officials of Solomon's government and the twelve regional governors responsible for supplying the royal court. It describes the prosperity, peace, and international fame of Solomon's wisdom, which surpassed that of all the wise men of the East.

Explanation

This is an administrative summary showing how Solomon organized the kingdom systematically, dividing Israel into administrative districts independent of the traditional tribal borders — a decision that centralizes royal power but also creates regional resentments that would explode after his death (1 Kings 12). The phrase 'each man under his own vine and fig tree' describes an ideal of peace and domestic prosperity that the prophets later revisit as an image of the messianic kingdom. It is the material peak of the united kingdom of Israel's history.

Fun facts

  • According to this chapter, Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs — a literary output of which only a fraction has survived in the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and possibly some Psalms.
  • The mention that Solomon 'spoke of trees... of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish' suggests an encyclopedic interest in nature, almost like an ancient natural science.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Reis 4:1The chapter opens confirming what was already known: Solomon is firmly reigning over all Israel.
  2. 1 Reis 4:2The list of officials shows a government machine already organized: priests, secretaries, a recorder, an army commander, and someone in charge of tribute. This office of tax collection reappears later as the direct target of the revolt against Solomon’s son.
  3. 1 Reis 4:3Among Solomon’s officials are two secretaries, Elihoreph and Ahiah, and Jehoshaphat, in charge of the kingdom’s records.
  4. 1 Reis 4:4Benaiah commands the army, while Zadok and Abiathar are listed as priests within the structure of government.
  5. 1 Reis 4:5Azariah is in charge of the regional governors, and Zabud is a priest and the king’s personal friend — a position of direct trust.
  6. 1 Reis 4:6Ahishar administers the royal household, and Adoniram is in charge of forced labor and tribute.
  7. 1 Reis 4:7Solomon divided the country into twelve supply districts, each responsible for sustaining the court for one month of the year. It was a rotating tax system paid in kind — food, mainly — at a time when minted coinage did not yet exist.
  8. 1 Reis 4:8This is one of Solomon’s twelve governors, responsible for the hill country of Ephraim.
  9. 1 Reis 4:9Another governor oversees Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-bethhanan — territory that helps sustain the royal court.
  10. 1 Reis 4:10This one administers Aruboth, including Sochoh and all the land of Hepher, within the system of twelve districts that took turns supplying the king.
  11. 1 Reis 4:11This one governs the whole region of Dor and is also the king’s son-in-law: he married Taphath, Solomon’s daughter.
  12. 1 Reis 4:12This one controls a strategic strip — Taanach, Megiddo, and the whole region of Beth-shean near Jezreel, all the way to Abel-meholah and Jokneam.
  13. 1 Reis 4:13This one administers Ramoth-gilead, including the villages of Jair and the region of Argob, with sixty fortified cities with walls and bronze bars.
  14. 1 Reis 4:14This one is in charge of Mahanaim, one more of the twelve territories that guaranteed the court’s monthly supply.
  15. 1 Reis 4:15This one administers Naphtali and is also the king’s son-in-law, married to Basmath, Solomon’s daughter.
  16. 1 Reis 4:16This one is in charge of Asher and Aloth, another piece of the twelve-district system.
  17. 1 Reis 4:17This one administers Issachar, fulfilling his month of supply to the king like the other eleven.
  18. 1 Reis 4:18This one is in charge of Benjamin within the same administrative division.
  19. 1 Reis 4:19This one governs the old land of the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, in the region of Gilead, and was the only governor responsible for that whole area.
  20. 1 Reis 4:20Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand of the sea, eating, drinking, and rejoicing — the picture of a prosperous people under Solomon’s reign.
  21. 1 Reis 4:21Solomon’s dominion stretched from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and the border of Egypt; those peoples paid tribute and served him all his life.
  22. 1 Reis 4:22Thirty measures of fine flour and sixty of meal a day, plus dozens of oxen and sheep, give a sense of the size of the court that had to be fed daily. A measure held well over fifty gallons, so these numbers work more as a sign of splendor than as a literal menu.
  23. 1 Reis 4:23The court’s daily consumption included ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep, plus deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl — a picture of the reign’s luxury.
  24. 1 Reis 4:24Solomon ruled over the whole region west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings of that area, and lived at peace on every side.
  25. 1 Reis 4:25Judah and Israel lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon’s reign — the classic biblical symbol of peace and abundance.
  26. 1 Reis 4:26The number of stalls here is much higher than the one given in the book of Chronicles for that same period, which speaks of four thousand. Scholars think it is an old copying error, since numbers in Hebrew were written with letters that are easy to confuse.
  27. 1 Reis 4:27Each of the twelve governors, in his own month, provided food for Solomon and for everyone who sat at the king’s table, without letting anything be lacking.
  28. 1 Reis 4:28They also supplied barley and straw for the horses and other animals, each one doing his part in the system.
  29. 1 Reis 4:29God gave Solomon wisdom, immense understanding, and a mind as broad as the sand on the seashore.
  30. 1 Reis 4:30Solomon’s wisdom surpassed that of all the wise men of the east and of all Egypt, the standards of knowledge in that age.
  31. 1 Reis 4:31He was wiser than any man, even wiser than famous sages like Ethan, Heman, Chalcol, and Darda; his fame spread through all the surrounding nations.
  32. 1 Reis 4:32Solomon is described not only as wise in the law, but as a kind of natural scientist of his time, able to speak about plants, animals, and poetic compositions. This kind of encyclopedic knowledge gave international prestige to an ancient court.
  33. 1 Reis 4:33Solomon spoke about trees, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on the wall, and also about beasts, birds, reptiles, and fish — an encyclopedic knowledge of nature.
  34. 1 Reis 4:34People from every nation, including kings who heard about him, came just to listen to Solomon’s wisdom.

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