1 Reis 4

BLIVRE · Chapter 4/22

1Foi, pois, o rei Salomão rei sobre todo Israel.

2E estes foram os príncipes que teve: Azarias filho de Zadoque, sacerdote;

3Eliorefe e Aías, filhos de Sisa, escribas; Josafá filho de Ailude, chanceler;

4Benaia filho de Joiada era sobre o exército; e Zadoque e Abiatar eram os sacerdotes;

5Azarias filho de Natã era sobre os governadores; Zabude filho de Natã era principal oficial, amigo do rei;

6E Aisar era mordomo; e Adonirão filho de Abda era sobre o tributo.

7E tinha Salomão doze governadores sobre todo Israel, os quais mantinham ao rei e à sua casa. Cada um deles estava obrigado a abastecer por um mês no ano.

8E estes são os nomes deles: Ben-Hur no monte de Efraim;

9Ben-Dequer, em Macaz, e em Saalbim, e em Bete-Semes, e em Elom-Bete-Hanã;

10Ben-Hesede, em Arubote; este tinha também a Socó e toda a terra de Hefer.

11Ben-Abinadabe, em toda a região de Dor: este tinha por mulher a Tafate filha de Salomão;

12Baana filho de Ailude, em Taanaque e Megido, e em toda Bete-Seã, que é próxima de Zaretã, por abaixo de Jezreel, desde Bete-Seã até Abel-Meolá, e até a outra parte de Jocmeão;

13Ben-Geber, em Ramote de Gileade; este tinha também as cidades de Jair filho de Manassés, as quais estavam em Gileade; tinha também a província de Argobe, que era em Basã, sessenta grandes cidades com muro e fechaduras de bronze;

14Ainadabe filho de Ido, em Maanaim;

15Aimaás em Naftali; este tomou também por mulher a Basemate filha de Salomão.

16Baaná filho de Husai, em Aser e em Alote;

17Josafá filho de Parua, em Issacar;

18Simei filho de Elá, em Benjamim;

19Geber filho de Uri, na terra de Gileade, a terra de Seom rei dos amorreus, e de Ogue rei de Basã; este era o único governador naquela terra.

20Judá e Israel eram muitos, como a areia que está junto ao mar em multidão, comendo e bebendo e alegrando-se.

21E Salomão dominava sobre todos os reinos, desde o rio até a terra dos filisteus, e até o termo do Egito; e traziam tributos, e serviram a Salomão todos os dias em que viveu.

22E a provisão de Salomão era, cada dia, trinta coros de farinha refinada, e sessenta coros de farinha comum;

23dez bois engordados, e vinte bois de pasto, e cem ovelhas; sem os cervos, cabras, búfalos, e aves engordadas.

24Porque ele dominava em toda a região que estava da outra parte do rio, desde Tifsa até Gaza, sobre todos os reis da outra parte do rio; e teve paz por todos os lados em derredor seu.

25E Judá e Israel viviam seguros, cada um debaixo de sua parreira e debaixo de sua figueira, desde Dã até Berseba, todos os dias de Salomão.

26Além disso, Salomão tinha quarenta mil cavalos em seus estábulos para suas carruagens, e doze mil cavaleiros.

27E estes governadores mantinham ao rei Salomão, e a todos os que vinham à mesa do rei Salomão, a cada mês; e faziam que nada faltasse.

28Faziam também trazer cevada e palha para os cavalos e para os animais de carga, ao lugar de onde ele estava, cada um conforme ao cargo que tinha.

29E deu Deus a Salomão sabedoria, e prudência muito grande, e largura de coração como a areia que está à beira do mar.

30Que foi maior a sabedoria de Salomão que a de todos os orientais, e que toda a sabedoria dos egípcios.

31E ainda foi mais sábio que todos os homens; mais que Etã ezraíta, e que Hemã e Calcol e Darda, filhos de Maol: e foi nomeado entre todas as nações de ao redor.

32E propôs três mil parábolas; e seus versos foram mil e cinco.

33Também descreveu as árvores, desde o cedro do Líbano até o hissopo que nasce na parede. Também descreveu os animais, as aves, os répteis, e os peixes.

34E vinham de todos os povos a ouvir a sabedoria de Salomão, e de todos os reis da terra, de onde havia chegado a fama de 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.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.