Read 1 Kings 4 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
4:1 {s} So King Solomon was king over all Israel
4:2 {s} And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest
4:3a {s} Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes
4:3b {s} Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder
4:4a {s} Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army
4:4b {s} Zadok and Abiathar, the priests
4:5a {s} Azariah the son of Nathan, over the officers
4:5b {s} Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister and the king’s friend
4:6a {s} Ahishar, over the household
4:6b {s} and Adoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force
4:7 {s} Solomon had twelve governors who provided food for the king’s household
4:8 {s} These are their names: Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim
4:9 {s} Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan
4:10 {s} Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher
4:11 {s} Ben-Abinadab, in the regions of Dor; he married Taphath the daughter of Solomon
4:12 {s} Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean
4:13 {s} Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead + the towns of Jair in Gilead + Argob in Bashan – 60 fortified cites
4:14 {s} Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim
4:15 {s} Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife
4:16 {s} Baanah the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth
4:17 {s} Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar
4:18 {s} Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin
4:19-21 {p} Geber in Gilead, over all the others/ Solomon ruled from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt
4:22-25 {s} Solomon’s daily provision / his dominion / Judah and Israel dwelt safely all his days
4:26-28 {s} Solomon’s 40,000 horses + 12,000 chariots/ his governors provided food with no lack
4:29-34 {s} God gave Solomon great wisdom, so that there was none wiser than he in all the earth
The Strong themes:
4:1-21 {sx22+p} Solomon was king over all Israel, and even from Egypt to the Euphrates/ his officials
1 Kin 3:3-4:34 Reverse Parallelism (and 1 Kin 3:3-4:34 expanded parallelism pdf):
In today’s chapter we see the first hint of a compromise which eventually leads to Solomon’s apostasy.
And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 1 Kin 4:26
In the Torah, in the chapter outlining regulations for Israel’s kings, it states:
“When you come to the land which YHVH your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom YHVH your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for YHVH has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this Law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear YHVH his God and be careful to observe all the words of this Law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.” Deu 17:14-20
Forty thousand horses is a multiplied amount. We know that Solomon loved YHVH (1 Kin 3:3), but this seemingly slight deviation from YHVH’s commandment for kings plants the first seed of compromise. We will see that 90% obedience to God is still disobedience with disastrous results.
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