1 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was A1 Chr 6:10the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were secretaries; A2 Sam 8:16Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 4 and A1 Kin 2:35Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and B1 Kin 2:27Abiathar were priests; 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over A1 Kin 4:7the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend; 6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.

7 Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who 1Lit nourishedprovided for the king and his household; each man had to 2Lit nourishprovide for a month in the year. 8 These are their names: Ben-hur, in the AJosh 24:33hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz and AJudg 1:35Shaalbim and BJosh 21:16Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (AJosh 15:35Socoh was his and all the land of BJosh 12:17Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all 1Or Naphoth-dorthe AJosh 11:1, 2height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in AJudg 5:19Taanach and Megiddo, and all BJosh 17:11Beth-shean which is beside CJosh 3:16Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to D1 Kin 19:16Abel-meholah as far as the other side of E1 Chr 6:68Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in A1 Kin 22:3-15Ramoth-gilead (BNum 32:41the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: CDeut 3:4the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in AJosh 13:26Mahanaim; 15 A2 Sam 15:27Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); 16 Baana the son of A2 Sam 15:32Hushai, in Asher and 1Or in AlothBealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 A1 Kin 1:8Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, ADeut 3:8-10the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.

20 AGen 22:17; 32:12; 1 Kin 3:8Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the 1Lit seaseashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

21 1Ch 5:1 in HebA2 Chr 9:26Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms BGen 15:18; Josh 1:4from the 2I.e. EuphratesRiver to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; C2 Sam 8:2, 6they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

22 Solomon’s 1Lit breadprovision for one day was thirty 2I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bukors of fine flour and sixty 2I.e. One kor equals approx 10 bukors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty 1Lit oxen of the pasturepasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over everything 1Lit beyondwest of the 2I.e. EuphratesRiver, from Tiphsah even to AJudg 1:18Gaza, BPs 72:11over all the kings 1Lit beyondwest of the 2I.e. EuphratesRiver; and C1 Chr 22:9he had peace on all sides around about him. 25 AJer 23:6; Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, B1 Sam 3:20from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 A1 Kin 10:26; 2 Chr 1:14Solomon had 1One ms reads 4000, cf 2 Chr 9:2540,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 Those deputies 1Or nourishedprovided for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and AEsth 8:10, 14; Mic 1:13swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to his charge.

29 Now A1 Kin 3:12God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of 1Lit heartmind, B1 Kin 4:20like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all AGen 29:1; Judg 6:33the sons of the east and BIs 19:11; Acts 7:22all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For A1 Kin 3:12he was wiser than all men, than B1 Chr 15:19; Ps 89: titleEthan the Ezrahite, Heman, C1 Chr 2:6Calcol and 1In 1 Chr 2:6, DaraDarda, the sons of Mahol; and his 2Lit namefame was known in all the surrounding nations. 32 AProv 1:1; 10:1; 25:1; Eccl 12:9; Song 1:1He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. 34 1Lit theyMen A1 Kin 10:1; 2 Chr 9:23came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.