Holy Bible

So King Solomon was king over all Israel. 1 Kings 4:1-28 A kingdom unified Charles Albert, we are told, went to help the Milanese. The Austrians, vastly outnumbering, drove him back toward Turin, defeated him at Novara, swayed renewed sceptre over the revolted provinces. The king abdicated in favour of his son, Victor Emanuel. When the young king accepted the crown he pointed his sword toward the Austrian camp and said, "By the grace of God there shall be a united Italy." It seemed then but an empty boast. Yet his prophecy turned to fact. Marshal Radetjsky proposed to him the abolishment of the constitutional charter granted to the people by his father, and advised him to follow the Austrian policy of unbridled oppression. But the young king declared that, sooner than subscribe to such conditions, he was ready to renounce, not one crown, but a thousand. "The house of Savoy," he said, "knows the path of exile, but not the path of dishonour." Right noble answer! Better anything than disloyalty to a high ancestry, than falseness to the laws of the kingdom of which he had been made the leader. The Church triumphant J. Parker, D. D. Make these words bear their very highest meaning, and we begin to approach a true conception of the position of Jesus Christ as He sits enthroned above the riches of the universe, ruling an obedient creation, receiving the acclaims of the nations He has redeemed. Even this is prophesied. The prophets were bold men. They followed their logic to its conclusions; yea, even until it became poetry, and surprised themselves with unexpected music. We must not regard millennial glory and millennial music as representing only imagination, fancy, a vivid or overwrought dreaming faculty; all that is brightest, sweetest, most melodious, expresses an underlying solidity of fact, history, reality. The prophets said, Right shall reign; the day must come when men will see that right is better than wrong, justice better than injustice, and peace to be preferred above battle; and all this will be wrought out in connection with the name of Immanuel — God with us — whose name is the Prince of Peace. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) and 1 Kings 4:27-28 Solomon's feast J. Parker, D. D. This would seem to be part of the Parable of the Prodigal Son before its time. This typical feast of Solomon's has no reference to gluttony. We have read of Caligula, who would never eat bread unless it was gilded — had a coating of gold over the crust; but we are not commending such men in representing Solomon's feast as the feast of fat things and wine upon the lees well refined, as being part of the viands and provision of the table of God, which is so abundantly — yea, lavishly — spread. When did God give just enough? When was there less at the end than there was at the beginning? When He had five loaves and fed five thousand, how many basketfuls of fragments took ye up? Let God be judged by the fragments, whoever found the loaves; let God be judged by the harvest, whoever lent the seed out of which it sprang. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) Judah and Israel dwelt safely. 1 Kings 4:25 Prosperity under the reign of wisdom N. L. Frothingham. The text presents to us a perfect picture of a peaceful and prosperous commonwealth. It is painted with few touches, but they are all full of expression. We have before our eyes a fruitful land. Cities, of different but united tribes, shine at a distance. Quiet fields repose between. Families are grouped here and there under the shadow of the leaves and the wealth of the fruit. And over all spreads the rule of the prince, whose name has been but another name for wisdom over the eastern and western world. The text invites us to draw a parallel between the Hebrew commonwealth, at this highest point it ever reached of growth and refinement, and our own country. 1. First, then, it enjoyed the most perfect political independence. It was in itself an empire; compact at home, respected abroad. Its commerce spread its sail to all the winds, and extended its traffic as far as the Spanish coast and the pillars of Hercules. It was independent of the customs of others, as well as of their dictation; for it was a peculiar people. It was independent of the teaching of others; for it was Divinely instructed. 2. Though one, it was composed of several well-defined parts. It was a confederacy of states, owning a common chief. 3. The third particular that calls for our notice in this pleasant scene is the safety, the content, the enjoyment, of each individual citizen — protected in his rights, and surrounded with the bounties which his industry had gathered, or which fortune, without any effort of his own, had bequeathed to him. "Every man under his vine and fig-tree." Here, after all, is the test of a truly flourishing state: what is done for the private person, and what his opportunities are, in point of civilisation and enjoyment. For such persons is the state appointed, and not they for the state. The improvement and happiness of its members must be its leading aim. Such was the happy position of Jacob's united states during the reign of the third of their kings. Though hardly even the third who could be truly called so, he was the last that ruled over their associated people. Irreligion first made its inroads. The service of the Lord was neglected or defiled. The customs of the heathen were adopted. The nations that could not withstand their arms inflicted upon them their superstitions, and so were avenged for their overthrow. Then came the insolence of despotic sway. Oppression provoked resistance. Ten tribes revolted, and two adhered. The bond of political brotherhood was cut through by the sword, and Judah and Israel, so prosperous together, fell wretchedly apart, and became rivals and foes. Where was now their independence? They were intriguing at foreign courts, and seeking disastrous alliances — so unlike their own — with the North and the South. Where was their peace? It was sacrificed in civil strife — that most monstrous of iniquities, and mother of sorrows. Where was their glory? It was all extinguished, except that which burnt in the lamps of the sanctuary, and glowed upon the lips of prophets and holy men. Where was their abundance? It flowed away among their divisions and their sins. The fig ripened for the invader. The wine-press was dabbled with blood. ( N. L. Frothingham. ) National prosperity N. Emmons, D. D. I. THAT IT IS GOD WHO BESTOWS NATIONAL PEACE. This, God claims as His peculiar prerogative. "I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil. I the Lord do all these things." The voice of Scripture here concurs with the voice of reason. National peace is one of the links in the great chain of providence, and of consequence comes under the Divine direction. It belongs to God to determine when and where national peace shall be enjoyed. And it is easy to see how God can give this blessing to different nations, notwithstanding their native pride and selfishness. 1. God can make it the mutual interest of native and foreign nations to be at peace with each other. This was the ease in the days of Solomon. Just so God is able to unite the hearts of other nations, by uniting their interests. It has long been a maxim in politics, that national interest is the first principle of national policy. It is only for God, therefore, to make it the mutual interest of different nations to be at peace with each other, and they themselves will naturally seek and promote this agreeable object. 2. God is able to govern the hearts of nations, and in that way dispose them to mutual peace and harmony. It was a proverb in Israel, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will." There is a supreme power in every nation; and the men who possess that power, have the right of making war or peace. II. THAT NATIONAL PEACE IS A GREAT NATIONAL BLESSING, So long as Solomon had peace on all sides round about him, it diffused universal happiness through his widely extended kingdom. National peace is naturally productive of the greatest national prosperity. 1. National peace naturally tends to increase the numbers of a people. It is almost incredible how fast a people will increase in numbers, while they are free from public and wasting calamities. And the increase of numbers not only adds to the happiness of a people, but to the glory of their government. So Solomon thought, and so he said: "In the multitude of people, is the king's honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince. 2. National peace directly tends to promote national wealth. Wealth is a temporal favour to nations, as well as to individuals, though it be often perverted and abused by both. Solomon says, "The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it." Peace is the parent of wealth. For peace promotes industry, industry promotes commerce, and commerce promotes the wealth of any nation. 3. National peace has a happy influence upon every branch of human knowledge. Leisure and learning go together. 4. National peace affords a favourable opportunity for forming public designs and performing public works. Every rising nation finds that, in order to be happy as well as respectable, it must build cities, erect churches, endow colleges, open canals, make bridges, repair highways, remove public nuisances, and perform many other expensive works of general utility. To promote such national objects was highly reputable among the Romans in the zenith of their prosperity. Pliny congratulates one of his friends upon being appointed a surveyor of the highways; an office to which he, and even Caesar himself, had been promoted. It is only when nations are settled in peace that they can form and execute public designs. 5. It is the direct tendency of national peace to promote personal as well as public prosperity. There is no other national blessing so extensive in its kindly influence. 6. National peace is very friendly to the interests of religion. During the peaceful reign of Solomon, religion greatly flourished. III. IMPROVEMENT. 1. If peace be the greatest national blessing, then war is the greatest national calamity. War and peace are diametrically- opposite to each other in their nature and tendency. War tends to destroy all that prosperity which peace tends to produce. 2. If peace be the greatest of national blessings, then it is the wisdom of those who possess the supreme power in any nation, to promote and maintain this desirable and important object. 3. If it be the natural tendency of national peace to promote national prosperity, then it is the wisdom of a people to do all in their power to retain this invaluable blessing. A prosperous people are very prone to forget the source of their prosperity, and to become extremely stupid, avaricious, and revengeful 4. We learn, from what has been said, that we are under peculiar obligations to God for the bestowment and continuance of our national peace. ( N. Emmons, D. D. ) Largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. 1 Kings 4:29 Grains of sand H. Macmillan, D. D. The image is very expressive. On the coast both of Palestine and Egypt — the regions with which the Bible writers were most familiar — the sand is unusually abundant. All the way from the delta of the Nile to the most northern point of Syria, a vast sandy tract, penetrating inland here and there from the shore-line fringes the Mediterranean, and separates between the green cultivated fields and the blue waters of the sea. The floor of the desert, which encompasses the Holy Land on the south and east, although usually composed of other materials, has nevertheless in a few places large belts of deep sand. drifts, like those which may be seen on the western bank of the Nile. Let the traveller stand on the seashore near Gaza, where, far as the eye can reach north and south, the tawny sand-hills swell and shoal as if imitating the rolling of the waves. Let him take up a handful of the sand and try to count its grains as they trickle through his fingers, and he will give up the task in despair ere he has counted a twentieth part. Let him try to imagine how many handfuls there are in even one heap beside him, and his imagination will be speedily overpowered. And if he endeavours further to form some conception of the quantity that makes up the shore of a single bay, or the floor of a single desert, the mind utterly collapses under the unequal burden. In analysing it more closely, the image indicates not only the vast but also the varied range of Solomon's wisdom; not only the quantity but also the quality of the largeness of his heart. Nothing, at first sight, looks more uniform and monotonous than a heap of sand. It seems barren and uninteresting to the last degree; and yet examine carefully a small portion of the sand, and you will be struck with the immense variety which it contains. No two particles are the same in Size, shape, colour, or mineral character. No two grains have perhaps the same origin or the same history. A handful of sand is, in fact, a geological museum, composed of the remains of different rocks worn off or ground down by different agencies and at different periods. One grain has come from the granite rocks that almost throttle the Nile at the first cataract, out of which the earliest monuments of Egypt were carved — perhaps has itself formed part of some statue or obelisk that was old before history began. Another grain has been ground down from the marble hills of Greece that have yielded the precious material in which, by the sculptor's skill, the gods have come down to the earth in the likeness of men. A third has been disintegrated from the volcanic stone which the earliest builders of Italy have plied into their gigantic walls and massive tombs. Some of the particles have been washed down by streams from the precipices of the Alps or Apennines; others have been carried by the wind from the eruptions of Vesuvius and Etna; and others still have been ground from the dark northern headlands, those Sphinxes of the ocean against which the waves of the Atlantic — fugitives, all white and reeking, flying from some monster of the deep — hurl themselves with frantic fear. Frost and fire, glacier on mountain crest, and iceberg on Arctic shore, all these have been at work for untold ages to produce the individual grains of the handful of sand. We read in these sand-dunes, as distinctly as we see the tracks of ancient animals on the surface of sandstone slabs taken from the quarry, the evidence of many of the changes through which our earth has passed. We see in them the relics of old continents that have vanished completely — the sole memorials of ancient seas that seem mythical to all but the geologist. The earth is but a gigantic sand-glass for the computation of geological time, in which the sands are falling unremittingly; and which after long ages is turned upside down to expend what it has gained, and to gain what it has expended. Like this sand on the seashore, in its wonderful variety, was the largeness of heart which God bestowed upon Solomon; as a heap of sand, abundance of interest and enjoyment; a largeness of heart which would invest with its own charm the most desert place and the most familiar object — to which nothing that God had made would be common or unclean. Throughout the life of Solomon we see how richly he possessed this Divine gift; how wide was his culture — how deep was his interest in the world around him. God is willing to grant to every human being, in a degree proportioned to his nature and circumstances, what He bestowed upon Solomon. He has placed us in a large and wealthy place. He has given to us the whole creation for our inheritance, and made us the heirs of all the ages. The whole universe tends towards man as its centre and highest point. It finds in him its end and interpreter. Nature is translated in his mind into thought. All the sciences are only the humanising of the things of earth. We name and classify and study plants, and animals, and stones, and thus give our own life to them, and raise them by this association into fit companions for ourselves. The uses of the objects of nature are only their human relations. And all this is because God made the earth to be co-ordinate with man, and in its own degree humane. And just as He feeds our bodies with the treasures of every land and every sea, that we may have a wide and vigorous life, participant of all variety; so He wishes to feed our souls with intellectual food derived from all the objects which He has made, that we may interpret the mute symbolism of earth and sea and sky, and offer in rational conscious form, as the prests of creation, the silent, unconscious worship of nature. As the sand is formed on the seashore, so is the enlargement of heart, which is said to resemble it, acquired. Not in the quiet sheltered waters of the bay, by gentle process, is the sand deposited. It speaks of storm, of waste, and change. Its gain has come through loss. The sorrow or suffering that seems so useless and vain, contending with the hard rocky cause of it, fretting and fuming among the trying restraints of life is, as it were, removing from them lessons of faith, and patience, and love, which afterwards, when the sorrow has subsided and the suffering has become tranquil, will enrich and beautify the whole life. So is it with all enlargements both in the natural and human worlds; the increase in one direction is the result of decrease in a another, as the seashore acquires its sand by a process of continental disintegration. God's chastisements, which seem to limit our joys and to make our life poorer and meaner, are in reality designed to enlarge our hearts and to widen the bounds of our being. And so, throughout the history of Christendom, we find that communities tempted selfishly to confine to themselves their special blessings have been compelled, by external shocks and internal sufferings, to enlarge their bounds and make others partakers with them of their privileges. New ages of larger liberty, of wider vision, of purer faith, of more just and loving relationships between man and man, have been ushered in through periods of terror and pain! The hearts of men everywhere have been enlarged through their fears; and the storms and strifes of the world have been the pains of progress — the birth-pangs of grander liberties. The framework of Society, like the framework of Nature, is broken up from time to time, that out of the wreck may be formed the shore-line that limits the encroachments of evil, and the dry land of truth that lifts the level of life nearer heaven. The sand on the seashore is composed of small particles. It is vast in the aggregate, but the grains are individually minute; and so the largeness of heart, which resembles it, is made up of the fulfilment of little duties and the adorning of little occasions as they arise. The largeness of the Christian's heart is shown, not only by the comprehensiveness of its range of regard, but also by the minuteness of its interests and sympathies. His piety is proved, not by his conduct on great and exciting occasions, but by his conduct in ordinary circumstances. It requires less grace in reality to be a martyr for Christ on a public stage than to be kind and considerate in the familiar intercourse of domestic life, or to maintain a guileless integrity in the ordinary transactions of business. The Christianity that is faithful in that which is least is a more difficult Christianity than that which glows and triumphs on grand occasions. Little love can perform great actions; but it requires great love to present like little children small offerings — and to devote every moment and task of our life to God. A largeness of heart which thus attends to the smallest details of piety — to the little things in which love most powerfully shows itself, which recognises God habitually, and seeks constant opportunities to please Him, will never be oppressed with listlessness and ennui. Without this enlargement of heart we cannot appreciate the broad wide world of God s salvation. Without an enlargement of heart to place us, as it were, on higher ground, from whence our view can take in more and more of God's universe, our life will be centred in the mere spark that animates the body. We need that the grace of God should do for our hearts what the microscope does for our eyes — enlarging our vision so as to see new beauty and wonder in the most familiar objects. We have had moments when we obtained fleeting glimpses of this joy. ( H. Macmillan, D. D. ) Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country. 1 Kings 4:30-34 The aloneness of Jesus Christ Alex. Maclaren, D. D. Christ towers up above the history of the world and the process of revelation, like Mount Everest among the Himalayas. To that great peak all the country on the one side runs upwards, and from it all the valleys on the other descend; and the springs are born there which carry verdure and life over the world. ( Alex. Maclaren, D. D. ) And he spake of trees... he spake also of beasts. 1 Kings 4:33 Plant-life Homiletic Quarterly. The wise man had a genuine delight in plants, herbs, flowers, and trees. Read the Book of Canticles, and from its pages is caught the very fragrance of spring. He speaks with enthusiasm of the "rose of Sharon," of "the lily among thorns," of the "apple-trees and orchards of pomegranates with pleasant fruits," of the "garden of nuts," and the "smell of Lebanon." He rejoices when "the winter is past, the rain over and gone," when "the flowers appear on the earth," when "the time of the singing of birds " comes, when the "voice of the turtle is heard in the land," "when the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell!" Such expressions indicate a fervent delight in Nature and an accurate observation of her phases. Jesus also, the greater than Solomon, directed His disciples to "consider the lilies," and to notice the way in which God "clothes the grass of the field." I. GOD'S DELIGHT IN VARIED BEAUTY. From the "cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop," what a range! What an almost infinite number of species! What variety of colouring and form! All are the expression of God's thought of beauty. What a God of glory we serve In Society and in the Church, many varieties of men and systems, God is working through all and delights in all. What a painful thing would be a uniform colour or shape for plants. II. HOW BEAUTY MAY SPRING OUT OF CORRUPTION. God has arranged this. It is 'His plan throughout. Plants flourish best on the mould full of decayed vegetable or animal life. Striking their roots deep down into this reign of decay and death they gather life therefrom. Death supports life. So if only we are enlightened we shall find that out of our natures so sinful, so imperfect, these passions so overmastering, we may, under the influence of the forgiving love of Christ and of God's Spirit renewing our hearts and lives, bring that which shall be beautiful, good, noble, pure, and approved of God. III. GROWTH IS A GREAT MYSTERY. True, the plants draw nourishment from the moist earth, but what power or principle is it that set all its ducts and roots at work? We may call it "life," "attraction," "assimilation," or what we like, we are as far off as ever. God is the Author of their life. But the mystery remains. So in our spiritual life. How our receiving as true the fact that Christ died and rose again, should, be as new life to our souls, we cannot explain. IV. THE WAY GROWTH SHOULD TEND. Upwards. Higher, higher, is echoed by every flower and every tree. Heavenward should be the constant aim of the Christian, nearer to God. Stretching forth our hands in prayer we should grow. See how the palm-tree shoots upward, surmounted by a graceful tuft of foliage that seems like a symbol of the crown which shall hereafter grace the Christian's brow when he has reached the heaven of his joy. V. UPWARD GROWTH MUST BE BY THE AID OF THAT WHICH COMES FROM OUTSIDE AND ABOVE. The willow grows by the water of the dark and lazy stream, but the flowers of the field rejoice when the rain cometh down to water the earth. Notice how the one droops downward in reverence, while the others spread their leaves or lift their branches so as to welcome the bounty of God. So we point to Him who came from above, who revealed the Father, who died for sin, and who has been ready to give to every thirsty spirit the water of life, who has brought life and immortality to light; and whose Spirit alone can nourish us that we may grow. VI. EVERY PLANT IN ITS PLACE. Each clump of moss, bunch of ferns, hyssop, flower or tree has its habitat. In the myriad plants of a dense tropical forest, there is not one that is not fulfilling some purpose. The hyssop or fern may help to soften rugged edges of rock or wall. The tree may be for shade to man or shelter to birds, and the cedar may be for timber for the temple, The tall palm standing near a well intimates to the far-off and famishing traveller of the desert that there is relief at hand. The flowers may bloom or die, but they fulfil the end of existence. Let us learn to do so. VII. PLANTS teach us also to MAKE THE BEST OF CIRCUMSTANCES. Winter cuts down the flowers, withers the leaves, bares the trees. Its winds sweep through the branches, its keen frosts nip the buds and early blossoms. Yet they went through all, and in time are reclothed with beauty. VIII. HINTS GIVEN OF A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION. Well, indeed, for us that we should so live that we can look forward to the spring-time of heaven as a further step in the stage of being, and revelation of the glory of God. We shall sleep in the dust of death and rise in the glory of springtide. ( Homiletic Quarterly. ) A royal horticulturist When Lysander brought presents to Cyrus, the prince conducted his illustrious guest through his gardens. Lysander, struck with so fine a prospect, praised the manner in which the grounds were laid out, the neatness of the walks, the abundance of trees planted with an art which knew how to combine the useful with the agreeable; the beauty and the glowing variety of flowers exhaling odours throughout the delightful scene. "Everything charms and transports me in this place," said Lysander to Cyrus; "but what strikes me most is the exquisite taste of the person who drew the plan of these gardens." Cyrus replied, "I drew the plan and entirely marked it out. Many of the trees which you see were planted by my own hands." "What!" exclaimed Lysander with astonishment, "is it possible that those purple robes and splendid vestments, those strings of jewels and bracelets of gold, those buskins so richly embroidered — is it possible that you could play the gardener, and employ your royal hands in planting trees?" "Does that surprise you?" said Cyrus. "I assure you that when my health permits I never sit down to my table without having fatigued myself either in military exercise, rural labour, or some other toilsome employment, to which I apply myself with pleasure." The study of Nature Quiver. It is said of Wordsworth that a stranger having on one occasion asked to see his study, the maid said, "This is master's room, but he studies in the fields." In doing so the poet followed a venerable example. We read that Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide, where in the margin "to pray" is put for "to meditate." Nor could there be a better place either for prayer or for study than the fields. The Word of God is written very clearly for His seers in the green book of Nature. Wordsworth's study is one that we can all use, however small our house may be. ( Quiver. ) The world is worth seeing Sunday Circle. Men must not live under a bushel. A gentleman once met a French priest on board an Atlantic liner. They entered into conversation, and the priest said that months ago he had a dream. He dreamt that he was dead, and that God asked him how much of the world he had seem His answer was that he had seen only a very little of it, for he had been so long in preparing for death, and in helping other people to die, that he had no time to see the world. He saw that God was displeased, and on awakening he resolved to see as much of this beautiful world as he could. It was a wise resolve. The earth is the Lord's and not the devil's, and we have no right to ignore it. Nature is a temple of God, and we must ever walk through it in a sacramental mood. ( Sunday Circle. ).

Benson Commentary 1 Kings 4:1 So king Solomon was king over all Israel. 1 Kings 4:1 . Over all Israel — Reigned over all the tribes, and with the full consent of them all. This is spoken with respect to his successors, who were kings only over a part, and that the smallest part of Israel. Or in reference to the times of division and rebellion under David, when part only went after David, and part after Ish-bosheth, Absalom, Sheba, or Adonijah. 1 Kings 4:2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest, 1 Kings 4:2 . These were the princes which he had — The principal officers employed under him. Azariah the son — Or the grandson; of Zadok — 1 Chronicles 6:8-9 . The priest — The second priest, or the priest that attended upon Solomon’s person, in holy offices and administrations. Or, as the Hebrew word here rendered priest may be, and is often, translated prince, in Scripture, this Azariah might be the highest officer of the state, next to the king; or the chief minister of state, by whom the great affairs of the kingdom were managed and prepared for the king’s consideration. 1 Kings 4:3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder. 1 Kings 4:3-4 . Scribes — That is, secretaries of state. He chose two, whereas David had but one, either because he observed some inconveniences in trusting all the important matters of his government in one band; or because he had now more employment than David had, this being a time of great peace and prosperity, and his empire being enlarged, and his correspondences with foreign princes more frequent. Zadok and Abiathar were the priests — That is, the high-priests, namely, successively, first Abiathar, and then Zadok. 1 Kings 4:4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests: 1 Kings 4:5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend: 1 Kings 4:5-6 . The son of Nathan was over the officers — Over those twelve officers named 1 Kings 4:7 , &c., who were all to give up their accounts to him. The Hebrew word, ????? nitsabim, here, and 1 Kings 4:7 , rendered officers, signifies any governors, or commanders of the higher sort. See 2 Chronicles 8:10 . Zabud the son of Nathan — The prophet, who had been so highly instrumental in establishing Solomon on the throne; was principal officer — Possibly president of the king’s council. The Hebrew word is ??? , cohen, which, 1 Kings 4:2 , and generally, is rendered priest, although, as we have observed there, it may also be translated prince. And the king’s friend — His confidant, with whom he used to communicate his most secret counsels. Ahishar was over the household — Steward of the king’s house. Over the tribute — The personal tribute, or levy of men, as appears by comparing this with 1 Kings 5:13-14 ; it being very fit that there should be some one person to whom the chief conduct or inspection of that great business should be committed. 1 Kings 4:6 And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute. 1 Kings 4:7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision. 1 Kings 4:8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim: 1 Kings 4:8-10 . The son of Hur — This person and others of them are denominated from their fathers, because they were known and famous in their generation. In mount Ephraim — And the territory belonging to it, which must be understood also of the rest of the places mentioned in the following verses. Elon-beth-hanan — Or, Elon, the house, or dwelling- place of Hanan. For Hanan may be a man’s name, and this place may be thus distinguished from other Elons. Or, as the word Elon signifies a plain, the meaning may be, the plain of Beth-hanan. Sochoh — There were two places of this name, but near each other, Joshua 15:35-38 . Hepher — ln Judah, 1 Chronicles 4:6 . 1 Kings 4:9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan: 1 Kings 4:10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher: 1 Kings 4:11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 1 Kings 4:11-13 . The region of Dor — In Manasseh, where also were Taanach, Megiddo, and Beth-shean. Who had the daughter of Solomon to wife — Solomon had no daughters marriageable when these officers were appointed; but in process of time, this man and Ahimaaz, mentioned 1 Kings 4:15 , had behaved themselves so well in their offices, that Solomon did them the honour to give them two of his daughters to wife. In Ramoth-Gilead — That is, Ramoth in the land of Gilead, Deuteronomy 4:43 ; so called, to distinguish it from Ramoth in Issachar, 1 Chronicles 6:73 . The towns of Jair — In Manasseh beyond Jordan, Numbers 32:41 . With walls and brazen bars — This is added by way of distinction from those towns of Jair mentioned before. For, being beyond Jordan, they were liable to the attempts of their enemies. 1 Kings 4:12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam: 1 Kings 4:13 The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars: 1 Kings 4:14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim: 1 Kings 4:14-18 . The son of Iddo had Mahanaim — The city and territory of Mahanaim, Genesis 32:2 ; Joshua 13:26 . If this district seem of less extent than the rest, it must be observed, these portions were distributed into larger or lesser parts, according to their barrenness or fertility; and this seems to have been a very fruitful place, 2 Samuel 17:27 . Shimei, the son of Elah — This is added to distinguish him from the Shimei who cursed and insulted David. 1 Kings 4:15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 1 Kings 4:16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth: 1 Kings 4:17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar: 1 Kings 4:18 Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin: 1 Kings 4:19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land. 1 Kings 4:19 . In the country of Gilead — That is, in the remaining part of that land of Gilead which was mentioned above. The only officer in the land — Or rather, in that land; namely, in all Gilead, excepting the parcels mentioned before, the only one in all the territories of Sihon and Og. These were of large extent, and yet all committed to this one man, which is here noticed as a peculiar privilege which he had above the other officers, whose jurisdictions were of narrower extent. 1 Kings 4:20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. 1 Kings 4:20 . As the sand which is on the sea-shore — An hyperbolical expression to signify a vast number. Eating and drinking, &c. — In perfect security, and highly satisfied. Jeshurun now began to wax fat, as Moses foresaw would be the case, and soon kicked; soon forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation, Deuteronomy 32:15 . This even Solomon himself did. What individual, or what nation, can bear continual prosperity and plenty? 1 Kings 4:21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. 1 Kings 4:21 . From the river — Euphrates; for so far David, having conquered the Syrians, extended his empire, which Solomon also maintained in that extent. And so God’s promise concerning the giving the whole land, as far as Euphrates, to the Israelites, was fulfilled. And if the Israelites had multiplied so much that the land of Canaan would not have sufficed them, having God’s grant of all the land as far as Euphrates, they might have seized upon it whensoever occasion required. The land of the Philistines — Which is to be understood inclusively; for the Philistines were within Solomon’s dominion. The border of Egypt — Unto the river Sihor, which was the border between Egypt and Canaan. And served — By tribute, or other ways, as he needed and required. 1 Kings 4:22 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, 1 Kings 4:22-23 . Thirty measures of fine flour — Hebrew, cors; each of which contained ten ephahs. So this provision was sufficient for near three thousand persons. Meal — Of a coarser sort for common use. Ten fat oxen — Fatted in stalls. Out of pastures — Well fleshed, tender, and good, though not so fat as the former. 1 Kings 4:23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl. 1 Kings 4:24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. 1 Kings 4:24 . From Tiphsah even to Azzah — Either that Tiphsah ( 2 Kings 15:16 ) which was in the kingdom of Israel within Jordan; or, rather, another place of that name upon the Euphrates, even that eminent city which is mentioned by Ptolemy, and Strabo, and Pliny, called Thapsarum. And this best agrees with the following Azzah, which was the border of Canaan in the south and west, as Tiphsah was in the north and east. And so his dominion is described by both its borders. Over all kings — Who owned subjection, and payed tribute to him. 1 Kings 4:25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:25 . Under his vine — Enjoying the fruit of his own labour with safety and comfort. Under these two trees, which were most used and cultivated by the Israelites, he understands all other fruit-bearing trees, and all other comforts. And they are brought in as sitting or dwelling under these trees, partly for recreation or delight in the shade, and partly for the comfort or advantage of the fruit; and withal, to signify their great security, not only in their strong cities, but even in the country, where the vines and fig-trees grew, which was most open to the incursions of their enemies. 1 Kings 4:26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 1 Kings 4:26 . Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for chariots — In 2 Chronicles 9:25 , it is said, he had but four thousand. And Bochart thinks that the Hebrew word here used should be rendered four, not forty, or that some error has crept into the text in regard to the number here mentioned. It is justly observed, however, by Poole, that the Hebrew word translated stalls here, is not exactly the same word which is used, and so translated, in Chronicles; and that, therefore, there may well be allowed some difference in the signification; the one signifying, properly, stables; of such there were four thousand; the other stalls, or partitions for each horse, which were forty thousand. For his chariots — Both for his military chariots, which seem to be those fourteen hundred, 1 Kings 10:26 , and for divers other uses, as respecting his great and various buildings, and merchandises, and other occasions, which might require some thousands of other chariots. And twelve thousand horsemen — Appointed partly for the defence of his people in peace, and partly for attendance upon his person, and for the splendour of his government. 1 Kings 4:27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. 1 Kings 4:27-28 . Those officers — Named above, 1 Kings 4:7 . They lacked nothing — Or, rather, they suffered nothing to be lacking to any man that came to Solomon’s table, but plentifully provided all things necessary. This is repeated to show their diligence, exactness, and care, which was remarkable; especially since they took care of his stables as well as of his house, as it follows in the next verse. Barley also and straw — Barley was anciently horse-corn, as appears by many places in Homer. For the horses and dromedaries — The Hebrew word, rechesh, signifies swift horses, as Abarbinel thinks; see Esther 8:14 ; but others take them for mules. Where the officers were — Or, rather, Where the beasts were; for there is no word for officers in the Hebrew. Every man according to his charge — Which lasted for a month every year. 1 Kings 4:28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. 1 Kings 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 1 Kings 4:29-30 . God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much — Knowledge of a great variety of things, and prudence in the administration of the government. And largeness of heart — Vastness of understanding, or a very comprehensive mind, capable of receiving the knowledge of all things, both divine and human. As the sand that is on the sea-shore — As the sand there encloses a vast body of waters, so his mind contained an ocean of knowledge, as the Lord Bacon somewhere speaks. The wisdom of all the children of the east country — The Chaldeans, Persians, and Arabians, who all lay eastward from Canaan, and were famous in ancient times for their wisdom and learning, the Arabians especially, as appears from the book of Job. And, in after ages, Porphyry reports that Pythagoras travelled into this country to improve himself in learning. And all the wisdom of Egypt — Which country was celebrated for wisdom in Moses’s time, as appears from Acts 7:22 ; and, in after times, Macrobius calls Egypt the mother of arts. Indeed, such was their skill in arts and sciences, that they despised the Greeks as children in knowledge. 1 Kings 4:30 And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. 1 Kings 4:31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about. 1 Kings 4:31 . He was wiser than all men — Either of his nation, or of his time: or, of all times and nations, whether of the East, or any other country, excepting only the first and second Adam. Ethan, &c. — Israelites of eminent wisdom, probably the same mentioned 1 Chronicles 2:6 ; 1 Chronicles 15:19 ; 1 Chronicles 25:4 ; Psalms 88., title, and 89., title. Chalcol, &c. — Of whom see 1 Chronicles 2:6 . 1 Kings 4:32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. 1 Kings 4:32-33 . He spake three thousand proverbs — That is, short, deep, and useful sentences, whereof a great part are contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Songs — Whereof the most divine and chief are in the Canticles. And he spake of trees — That is, of all plants, of their nature and qualities. From the cedar-tree unto the hyssop — From the greatest to the least. That springeth out of the wall — Dr. Waterland renders the original here, Hyssop that runneth out to the wall: the wall of Jerusalem may be meant, which was encompassed with mountains that produced abundance of hyssop. He spake also of beasts and of fowl, &c. — This shows the vastness of his knowledge, which comprehended the history of animals as well as of plants, whose nature and qualities he also understood. All these discourses of Solomon are lost, without any impeachment of the perfection of the Holy Scriptures; which were not written to teach men philosophy or physic, but only to make them wise unto salvation. 1 Kings 4:33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. 1 Kings 4:34 And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:34 . From all kings of the earth — All the neighbouring kings; a restriction grounded upon the following words, where this is limited to such as heard of Solomon’s wisdom. Let those who magnify the modern learning above that of the ancients, produce such a treasury of learning, anywhere in these later ages, as that was which Solomon was master of. Yet this puts an honour upon human learning, that Solomon is praised for it, and recommends it to the great ones of the earth, as well worthy their diligent search. In all this Solomon was a type of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 1 Kings 4:1 So king Solomon was king over all Israel. SOLOMON’S COURT AND KINGDOM 1 Kings 4:1-34 . "But what more oft in nations grown corrupt And by their vices brought to servitude, Than to love bondage more than liberty, Bondage with ease than strenuous liberty?" -Samson Agonistes. WHEN David was dead, and Solomon was established on his throne, his first thoughts were turned to the consolidation of his kingdom. He was probably quite a youth. He was not, nor did he ever desire to be, a warlike prince; but he was compelled to make himself secure from two enemies-Hadad and Rezon-who began almost at once to threaten his frontiers. Of these, however, we shall speak later on, since it is only towards the close of Solomon’s reign that they seem to have given serious trouble. If the second psalm is by Solomon it may point to some early disturbances among heathen neighbors which he had successfully put down. The only actual expedition which Solomon ever made was one against a certain Hamath-Zobah, to which, however, very little importance can be attached. It is simply mentioned in one line in the Book of Chronicles, and it is hard to believe-considering that Rezon had possession of Damascus - that Solomon was master of the great Hamath. He made a material alteration in the military organization of his kingdom by establishing a standing army of fourteen hundred war chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he dispersed in various cities and barracks, keeping some of them at Jerusalem. {1Ki 10:26} In order to save his kingdom from attack Solomon expended vast sums on the fortification of frontier towns. In the north he fortified Hazor; in the northwest Megiddo. The passes to Jerusalem on the west were rendered safe by the fortresses at Upper and Nether Bethhoron. The southern districts were overawed by the building of Baalath and Tamar, "the palm-city," which is described as "in the wilderness in the land,"-perhaps in the desolate tract on the road from Hebron to Elath. Movers thinks that Hazezon-Tamar or Engedi is meant, as this town is called Tamar in Ezekiel 47:19 . As the king grew more and more in power he gave full reins to his innate love of magnificence. We can best estimate the sudden leap of the kingdom into luxurious civilization if we contrast the royalty of Saul with that of Solomon. Saul was little more than a peasant-prince, a local emir, and such state as he had was of the humblest description. But Solomon vied with the gorgeous secular dynasts of historic empires. His position had become much more splendid owing to his alliance with the King of Egypt-an alliance of which his humbler predecessors would scarcely have dreamed. We are not told the name of his Egyptian bride, but she must have been the daughter of one of the last kings of the twenty-first Tanite dynasty-either Psinaces, or Psusennes II The dynasty had been founded at Tanis (Zoan) about B.C. 1100 by an ambitious priest named Hit-hor. It only lasted for five generations. Whatever other dower Solomon received with this Egyptian princess, his father-in-law rendered him one signal service. He advanced from Egypt with an army against the Canaanite town of Gezer, which he conquered and destroyed. Solomon rebuilt it as an outpost of defense for Jerusalem. Further than this the Egyptian alliance did not prove to be of much use. The last king of this weak twenty-first dynasty was succeeded B.C. 990 by the founder of a new Bubastite dynasty, the great Shishak I (Shesonk), the protector of Jeroboam and the plunderer of Jerusalem and its Temple. Ker’amat, niece of the last king of the dynasty, married Shishak, the founder of the new dynasty, and was the mother of U-Sark-on I (Zerah the Ethiopian). It has been a matter of dispute among the Rabbis whether Solomon was commendable or blameworthy for contracting this foreign alliance. If we judge him simply from the secular standpoint, nothing could be more obviously politic than the course he took. Nor did he break any law in marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses had not forbidden the union with an Egyptian woman. Still, from the religious point of view, it was inevitable that such a connection would involve consequences little in accordance with the theocratic ideal. The kings of Judah must not be judged as though they were ordinary sovereigns. They were meant to be something more than mere worldly potentates. The Egyptian alliance, instead of flattering the pride, only wounded the susceptibilities of the later Jews. The Rabbis had a fantastic notion that Shimei had been Solomon’s teacher, and that the king did not fall into the error of wedding an alien {See Deu 23:7-8} until Shimei had been driven from Jerusalem. That there was some sense of doubt in Solomon’s mind appears from the statement in 2 Chronicles 8:11 , that he deemed it unfit for his bride to have her residence on Mount Moriah, a spot hallowed by the presence of the Ark of God. That she became a proselytess has been suggested, hut it is most unlikely. Had this been the case it would have been mentioned in contrast with the heathenism of the fair idolatresses who in later years beguiled the king’s heart. On the other hand, the princess, who was his chief if not his earliest bride, does not seem to have asked for any shrine or chapel for the practice of her Egyptian rites. This is the more remarkable since Solomon, ashamed of the humble cedar house of David-which would look despicable to a lady who had lived in "the gigantic edifices, and labyrinthine palace of Egyptian kings" expended vast sums in building her a palace which should seem worthy of her royal race. From this time forward the story of Solomon becomes more the record of a passing pageant preserved for us in loosely arranged fragments. It can never be one tithe so interesting as the history of a human heart with its sufferings and passions. "Solomon in all his glory," that figure so unique, so lonely in its wearisome pomp, can never stir our sympathy or win our affection as does the natural, impetuous David, or even the fallen, unhappy Saul. "The low sun makes the color." The bright gleams and dark shadows of David’s life are more instructive than the dull monotony of Solomon’s magnificence. The large space of Scripture devoted to him in the Books of Kings and Chronicles is occupied almost exclusively with the details of architecture and display. It is only in the first and last sections of his story that we catch the least glimpse of the man himself. In the central section we see nothing of him, but are absorbed in measurements and descriptions which have a purely archaeological, or, at the best, a dimly symbolic significance. The man is lost in the monarch, the monarch in the appurtenances of his royal display. His annals degenerate into the record of a sumptuous parade. The fourth chapter of the Book of Kings gives us the constitution of his court as it was in the middle of his reign, when two of his daughters were already married. It need not detain us long. The highest officers of the kingdom were called Sarim , "princes," a title which in David’s reign had been borne almost alone by Joab, who was Sar-lia-zaba , or captain of the host. The son of Zadok is named first as "the priest." The two chief secretaries ( Sopherim ) were Elihoreph and Ahiah. They inherited the office of their father Shavsha, {1Ch 18:16} who had been the secretary of David. It was their duty to record decrees and draw up the documents of state. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, continued to hold the office of annalist or historiographer ( Mazkir ), the officer known as the Waka Nuwish in Persian courts. Azariah was over the twelve prefects ( Nitza-bim ), or farmers-general, who administered the revenues. His brother Zabud became "priest" and "king’s friend." Ahishar was "over the household" ( al-hab-Baith ); that is, he was the chamberlain, vizier, or mayor of the palace, wearing on his shoulder the key which was the symbol of his authority. {Isa 22:21} Adoniram or Adoram who had been tax-collector for David, still held that onerous and invidious office, {2Sa 20:24} which subsequently, in his advanced old age, cost him his life. Benaiah succeeded to the chief-captaincy of Joab. We hear nothing more of him, but the subsequent history shows that when David gathered around him this half alien and wholly mercenary force in a country which had no standing army, he turned the sovereignty into what the Greeks would have called a tyranny. As the only armed force in the kingdom the body-guard overawed opposition, and was wholly at the disposal of the king. These troops were to Solomon at Jerusalem what the Praetorians were to Tiberius at Rome. The chief points of interest presented by the list are these:- 1. First we mark the absence of any prophet. Neither Nathan nor Gad is even mentioned. The pure ray of Divine illumination is overpowered by the glitter of material prosperity. 2. Secondly, the priests are quite subordinate. They are only mentioned fifth in order, and Abia-thar is named with Zadok, though after his deposition he was living in enforced retirement. The sacerdotal authority was at this time quite overshadowed by the royal. In all the elaborate details of the pomp which attended the consecration of the Temple, Solomon is everything, the priests comparatively nothing. Zadok is not even mentioned as taking any part in the sacrifices in spite of his exalted rank. Solomon acts throughout as supreme head of the Church. Nor was this unnatural, since the two capital events in the history of the worship of Jehovah-the removal of the Ark to Mount Zion, and the suggestion, inception, and completion of the building of the Temple-were due to Solomon and David, not to Zadok or Ahiathar. The priests, throughout the monarchy, suggest nothing, inaugurate nothing. They are lost in functions and formal ceremonies. They are but obedient administrative servants, and, so far from protecting religion, they acquiesce with tame indifference in every innovation and every apostasy. History has few titles which form so poor a claim to distinction as that of Levitic priest. 3. Further, we have two curious and significant phenomena. The title "the priest" is given to Azariab, who is first mentioned among the court functionaries. Solomon had not the least intention to allow either the priestly or the much loftier prophetic functions to interfere with his autocracy. He did not choose that there should be any danger of a priest usurping an exorbitant influence, as Hir-hor had done in Egypt, or Ethbaal afterwards did in the court of Tyre, or Thomas 'a-Becket in the court of England, or Torquemada in that of Spain. He was too much a king to submit to priestly domination. He therefore appointed one who should be "the priest," for courtly and official purposes, and should stand in immediate subordination to himself. 4. The Nathan whose two sons, Azariah and Zabud, held such high positions, was in all probability not Nathan the Prophet, who is rarely introduced without his distinctive title, but Nathan, the younger brother of Solomon, in whose line the race of David was continued after the extinction of the elder branch in Jeconiah. Here again we note the union of civil with priestly functions. Zabud is called "a priest" though he is a layman, a prince of the tribe of Judah. Nor was this the first instance in which princes of the royal house had found maintenance, occupation, and high official rank by being in some sort engaged in the functions of the priesthood. Already in David’s reign we find the title "priests" ( Kohanim ) given to the sons of David in the list of court officials-"and David’s sons were priests." In this we trace the possible results of Phoenician influences. 5. Incidentally it is pleasing to find that, though Solomon put Adonijah to death, he stood in close and kindly relations with his other brothers, and gave high promotions to the sons of the brothers who stood nearest to him in age, in one of whom we see the destined ancestor of the future Messiah. {2Ki 18:18; Isa 22:15} 6. The growth of imposing officialism, and its accompanying gulf between the king and his people, is marked by the first appearance of "the chamberlain" as a new functionary. On him fell the arrangement of court pageants and court etiquette. The chamberlain in despotic Eastern courts becomes a personage of immense importance because he controls the right of admission into the royal presence. Such officers, even when chosen from the lowest rank of slaves-like Eutropius the eunuch-minister of Arcadius, or Olivier le Daim, the barber-minister of Louis XI-often absorb no mean part of the influence of the sovereign with whom they are brought into daily connection. In the court of Solomon the chamberlain stands only ninth in order; but three centuries later, in the days of Hezekiah, he has become the greatest of the officials, and "Eliakim who was over the household" is placed before Shebna, the influential scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder. {2Sa 20:24} He is not mentioned in 1 Chronicles 27:25-31 . 7. Last on the list stands the minister who has the ominous title of al-ham-Mas , or "over the tribute." The Mas means the "levy," corvee, or forced labor. In other words, Adoram was overseer of the soccagers. Saul had required an overseer of the flocks and David a guardian of the treasury, but Adoram is not mentioned till late in his reign. The gravamen of David’s numbering of the people seems to have lain in the intention to subject them to a poll tax, or to personal service, such as had become necessary to maintain the expenses of the court. It is obvious that, as royalty developed from the conception of the theocratic king to that of the Oriental despot, the stern warning of Samuel to the people of Israel was more and more fulfilled. They had said, "Nay, but we will have a king to reign over us, when Jehovah was their king"; and Samuel had told them how much less blessed was bondage with ease than their strenuous liberty. He had warned them that their king would take their sons for his runners and charioteers and reapers and soldiers and armorers, and their daughters for his perfumers and confectioners; and that he would seize their fields and vineyards for his courtiers, and claim the tithes of their possession, and use their asses, and put their oxen to his work. The word " Mas " representing soccage, serfdom, forced labor (corvee; Germ., Frohndienst ), first became odiously familiar in the days of Solomon. Solomon was an expensive king, and the Jewish kings had no private revenue from which the necessary resources could be supplied. In order to secure contributions for the maintenance of the royal establishment, Solomon appointed his twelve Prefects. The list of them is incorporated from a document so ancient that in several instances the names have dropped out, and only "son of" remains. The districts entirely and designedly ignored the old tribal limits, which Solomon probably wished to obliterate. Ben-Hur administered the hill country of Ephraim; Ben-Dekar had his headquarters in Dan; Ben-Hesed had the maritime plain; BenAbinadab the fertile region of Carmel, and he was wedded to Solomon’s daughter Taphath; Baana, son of Ahilud, managed the plain of Esdraelon; Ben-Geberthe mountainous country east of Jordan, including Gilead and Argob with its basaltic towns; Ahinadab, son of Iddo, was officer in Mahanaim; Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Basmath, and was perhaps the son of Zadok); Baanah, son of David’s faithful Hushai, was in Asher; Shimei, son of Elah, in Benjamin; Jehoshaphat in Issachar. Geber administered alone the ancient dominions of Sihon and Og. We see with surprise that Judah seems to have been exempted from the burdens imposed on the other districts, and if so the impolitic exemption was a main cause of the subsequent jealousies. The chief function of these officers was to furnish provisions for the immense numbers who were connected with the court. The curious list is given of the provision required for one day-thirty measures of fine flour, sixty of bread, ten fat oxen, twenty pasture oxen, and one hundred sheep, besides the delicacies of harts, gazelles, fallow-deer, and fatted guinea-hens or swans. Bunsen reckons that this would provide for about fifteen thousand persons. In this there is nothing extraordinary, though the number is disproportionate to the smallness of the kingdom. About the same number were daily supported by the kings of the great empire of Persia. We see how rapidly the state of royalty had developed when we compare Solomon’s superb surroundings with the humble palace of Ishbosheth less than fifty years earlier-a palace of which the only guard was a single sleepy woman, who had been sifting wheat in the noontide, and had fallen asleep over her task in the porch. {2Sa 4:6} Yet in the earlier years of the reign, while the people, dazzled by the novel sense of national importance, felt the stimulus given to trade and industry, the burden was not painfully felt. They multiplied in numbers, and lived under their vines and fig trees in peace and festivity. But much of their prosperity was hollow and short-lived. Wealth led to vice and corruption, and in place of the old mountain breezes of freedom which purified the air, the nation, like Issachar, became like an ass crouching between two burdens, and bowing its shoulders to the yoke in the hot valley of sensuous servitude. "Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates and men decay!" It is impossible to overlook the general drift of Jewish royalty towards pure materialism in the days of Solomon. We search in vain for the lofty spirituality which survived even in the rough epoch of the Judges and the rude simplicity of David’s earlier reign. The noble aspirations which throb in one Davidic psalm are worth all the gorgeous formalism of the Temple service. Amid the luxuries of plenty and the feasts of wine on the lees there seems to have been an ever-deepening famine of the Word of God. There was one innovation, which struck the imagination of Solomon’s contemporaries, but was looked on with entire disfavor by those who had been trained in the old pious days. Solomon had immense stables for his chariot horses ( susim ), and the swift riding horses of his couriers ( parashim ). It seems to have been Solomon’s ambition to equal or outshine "the chariots of Pharaoh," {Son 1:9} with which his Egyptian queen had been familiar at Tanis. This feature of his reign is dwelt upon in the Arabian legends, as well as in all the historical records of his greatness. But the maintenance of a cavalry force had always been discouraged by the religious teachers of Israel. The use of horses in war is forbidden in Deuteronomy. {Deu 17:16} Joshua had houghed the horses of the Canaanites, and burned their chariots at Misre-photh-maim. David had followed his example. Barak had defeated the iron chariots of Sisera, and David the splendid cavalry of Hadadezer with the simple infantry of Israel. {Jos 11:9; 1Sa 8:11-12; 2Sa 8:4} The spirit of the olden faithfulness spoke in such words as, "Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God." Solomon’s successors discovered that they had not gained in strength by adopting this branch of military service in their hilly and rocky land. They found that "a horse is but a vain thing to save a man, neither shall he deliver any man by his great strength." {Psa 33:17; Psa 76:6; Psa 147:10} For a time, however, Solomon’s strenuous centralization was successful. His dominion extended, at least nominally, from Tiphzah (Thapsacus), beside the ford on the west bank of the Euphrates, to the Mediterranean; over the whole domain of the Philistines; and from Damascus to "the river of Egypt," that is, the Rhinokolura or Wady el-Areesh. The names Jeroboam and Rehoboam imply that they were born in an epoch of prosperity. But the sequel proves that it was that sort of empire which, "Like expanded gold, Exchanges solid strength for feeble splendor." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.