Solomon’s Officials and a Prosperous Nation. Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and fig tree [in peace and prosperity], from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], during all the days of Solomon. 1Ki 4:25
National Development under the Monarchy
INTRODUCTION
Originally Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were regarded as one series, and called the Books of Kings. In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament, made during the period between the Testaments), each of these books was divided into two parts; and what we term First Kings was called the Third Book of Kings.
It is impossible to fix accurately either the date when this book was compiled, or the name of the writer. From the fact that the last chapter of II Kings records the release of Jehoiachin from captivity, which took place B.C. 562, but makes no mention of the decree of Cyrus, B.C. 538, with which the return of the Jews from captivity began, it is concluded that the book was compiled sometime between these dates.
The sources from which the compiler drew were three: the Book of the Acts of Solomon, 1Ki_11:41; the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, 1Ki_14:29, etc.; and the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, 1Ki_14:19. The Chronicles here referred to are not the books called Chronicles in the Bible, but separate works which are now lost.
The history of the nation is recorded from the close of the reign of David to the middle of the reign of Ahaziah. In its highest glory under Solomon, the kingdom foreshadows the millennial kingdom of our Lord. The prosperity of the nation rises or falls according to the character of the ruler and his people, illustrating for us the important truth that obedience is the condition of blessing.
I .THE UNITED KINGDOM, I Kings 1-11
2. Solomon’s Establishment in Power Wealth and Wisdom, 1Ki_2:1-46; 1Ki_3:1-28; 1Ki_4:1-34
11. What is said of Solomon’s wealth and dominion?
SOLOMON’S OFFICIALS AND A PROSPEROUS NATION
King Solomon was king over all [the people of] Israel.
These were his [chief] officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the high priest;
Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha, were scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder [of important events];
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;
Azariah the son of Nathan was in charge of the deputies; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and was the king’s friend [and trusted advisor];
Ahishar was in charge of the household (palace); and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.
Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who secured provisions for the king and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year.
These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of [the tribe of] Ephraim;
Ben-deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elon-beth-hanan;
Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher);
Ben-abinadab, in all the hills of Dor (Taphath, Solomon’s daughter, was his wife);
Baana the 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 beyond Jokmeam;
Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead belonged to him, also the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);
Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
Ahimaaz, in [the tribe of] Naphtali (he also married Basemath, Solomon’s daughter);
Baana the son of Hushai, in [the tribe of] Asher and Bealoth;
Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in [the tribe of] Issachar;
Shimei the son of Ela, in [the tribe of] Benjamin;
Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer who was in the land.
SOLOMON’S WEALTH AND WISDOM
[The people of] Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is in abundance by the sea; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
Now Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the [Euphrates] River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute (money) and served Solomon all the days of his life.
Solomon’s food [for the royal household] for one day was thirty kors of finely milled flour, sixty kors of wheat flour,
ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep not counting fallow deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.
For he was ruling over everything west of the [Euphrates] River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the [Euphrates] River; and he had peace on all sides around him.
Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and fig tree [in peace and prosperity], from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south], during all the days of Solomon. [Mic_4:3-4]
Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
Those deputies provided food for King Solomon and for all [the staff] who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they let nothing be lacking.
They also brought the barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds (warhorses, chargers) to the place where it was needed, each man according to his assignment.
Now God gave Solomon [exceptional] wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand of the seashore.
Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.
For he was wiser than all [other] men, [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. His fame was known in all the surrounding nations.
He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.
He spoke of trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon to the hyssop [vine] that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and fish.
People came from all the peoples (nations) to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
SOLOMON’S OFFICIALS AND A PROSPEROUS NATION
What a picture is here given of national contentment and prosperity! We can almost hear the gladsome voice of the myriad-peopled land, teeming with young life and laden with golden harvests. It was the summer of their national existence. The sacred scribe enumerates first the high officials of the court, then the daily provision of the king, his studies, and his fame. Abundant proof was yielded by all these circumstances to the manner in which God kept the pledges which had been made to David, his father.
Here is Solomon “in all his glory,” but as we turn from him to the lowly Carpenter of Nazareth, who had nowhere to lay His head; who found His friends among the poor; and who ultimately laid down His life a ransom for many, we realize that, even apart from His divine nature, His was the nobler ideal and the richer existence. “A greater than Solomon is here.” Who can measure His empire or resources? What tongue can recount His wisdom? Happy and safe are they that sit at His table, hear His words, and are joint-heirs with Him in His Kingdom! Rom_8:17.
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