July 3, 2025

1 Kings 4 (HCSB)
Solomon’s Officials
4 King Solomon ruled over Israel, 2 and these were
his officials: Azariah son of Zadok, priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha,
secretaries;
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud, court historian;
4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, in charge of the army;
Zadok and Abiathar, priests;
5 Azariah son of Nathan, in charge of the deputies;
Zabud son of Nathan, a priest and adviser to the
king;
6 Ahishar, in charge of the palace;
and Adoniram son of Abda, in charge of forced labor.
7 Solomon had 12 deputies for all Israel. They
provided food for the king and his household; each
one made provision for one month out of the year. 8
These were their names:
Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;
9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and
Elon-beth-hanan;
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (he had Socoh and the
whole land of Hepher);
11 Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (Taphath
daughter of Solomon was his wife);
12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all
Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel,
from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the
other side of Jokmeam;
13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages
of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he
had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, 60 great
cities with walls and bronze bars);
14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also had married a
daughter of Solomon—Basemath);
16 Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin;
19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country
of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of
Bashan. There was one deputy in the land of Judah.
Solomon’s Provisions
20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by
the sea; they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing. 21
Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the
Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as
far as the border of Egypt. They offered tribute and
served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 Solomon’s provisions for one day were 150
bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of meal, 23 10
fattened oxen, 20 range oxen, and 100 sheep,
besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and pen-fed
poultry, 24 for he had dominion over everything west
of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza and over all
the kings west of the Euphrates. He had peace on all
his surrounding borders. 25 Throughout Solomon’s
reign, Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan to
Beer-sheba, each man under his own vine and his
own fig tree. 26 Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses
for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
27 Each of those deputies for a month in turn
provided food for King Solomon and for everyone
who came to King Solomon’s table. They neglected
nothing. 28 Each man brought the barley and the
straw for the chariot teams and the other horses to
the required place according to his assignment.
Solomon’s Wisdom and Literary Gifts
29 God gave Solomon wisdom, very great insight,
and understanding as vast as the sand on the
seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the
wisdom of all the people of the East, greater than all
the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone—
wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol,
and Darda, sons of Mahol. His reputation extended
to all the surrounding nations.
32 Solomon composed 3,000 proverbs, and his
songs numbered 1,005. 33 He described trees, from
the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of
the wall. He also taught about animals, birds,
reptiles, and fish. 34 People came from everywhere,
sent by every king on earth who had heard of his
wisdom, to listen to Solomon’s wisdom.

Don Steele
In this chapter, we see how God fulfilled His promise,
not just to Solomon, but also to David and all of Israel.
David was at war for nearly all of his kingship, and now,
under Solomon, God provided a golden age for His
people. They lived in peace and prosperity with plenty
for everyone. They lived in unity with everyone doing
their part. I pray this for our church. That we are unified
in all we do. There is nothing that Satan wants more
than to divide us and put us against each other. Verse
28 says each man gave according to his assignment.
We need to ask God what our assignment is and do our
part so that we can live in safety (vs 25) and be happy
(vs 21). Sounds easy enough. As for Solomon, “from all
nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom,
sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his
wisdom” (NIV). I wish it would have said that they came
to hear about his God instead of his wisdom. Now that
would have been life changing!.