31 For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about.
The sons of Zerah: Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara; five of them in all.
So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [were appointed] with cymbals of brass to sound aloud;
These are those who waited, and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,
> I will sing of the loving kindness of Yahweh forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. I indeed declare, "Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them." "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant, 'I will establish your seed forever, And build up your throne to all generations.'" Selah. The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh, A very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, To be feared above all those who are around him? Yahweh, God of hosts, who is a mighty one, like you? Yah, your faithfulness is around you. You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up, you calm them. You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain. You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. The heavens are yours. The earth also is yours; The world and its fullness. You have founded them. The north and the south, you have created them. Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name. You have a mighty arm. Your hand is strong, and your right hand is exalted. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face. Blessed are the people who learn to acclaim you. They walk in the light of your presence, Yahweh. In your name they rejoice all day. In your righteousness, they are exalted. For you are the glory of their strength. In your favor, our horn will be exalted. For our shield belongs to Yahweh; Our king to the Holy One of Israel. Then you spoke in vision to your saints, And said, "I have bestowed strength on the warrior. I have exalted a young man from the people. I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil, With whom my hand shall be established. My arm will also strengthen him. No enemy will tax him. No wicked man will oppress him. I will beat down his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him. But my faithfulness and my loving kindness will be with him. In my name, his horn will be exalted. I will set his hand also on the sea, And his right hand on the rivers. He will call to me, 'You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation!' I will also appoint him my firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. I will keep my loving kindness for him forevermore. My covenant will stand firm with him. I will also make his seed endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, And don't walk in my ordinances; If they break my statutes, And don't keep my commandments; Then I will punish their sin with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes. But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, Nor allow my faithfulness to fail. I will not break my covenant, Nor alter what my lips have uttered. Once have I sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David. His seed will endure forever, His throne like the sun before me. It will be established forever like the moon, The faithful witness in the sky." Selah. But you have rejected and spurned. You have been angry with your anointed. You have renounced the covenant of your servant. You have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken down all his hedges. You have brought his strongholds to ruin. All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors. You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries. You have made all of his enemies rejoice. Yes, you turn back the edge of his sword, And haven't supported him in battle. You have ended his splendor, And thrown his throne down to the ground. You have shortened the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame. Selah. How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is! For what vanity have you created all the children of men! What man is he who shall live and not see death, Who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. Lord, where are your former loving kindnesses, Which you swore to David in your faithfulness? Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servants, How I bear in my heart the taunts of all the mighty peoples, With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh, With which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one. Blessed be Yahweh forevermore. Amen, and Amen.
The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.
It happened, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Yahweh this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.
She said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom.
So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
> Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you.
The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 4
Commentary on 1 Kings 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
1Ki 4:1-6. Solomon's Princes.
1. So King Solomon was king over all Israel—This chapter contains a general description of the state and glory of the Hebrew kingdom during the more flourishing or later years of his reign.
2. these were the princes—or chief officers, as is evident from two of them marrying Solomon's daughters.
Azariah the son of Zadok the priest—rather, "the prince," as the Hebrew word frequently signifies (Ge 41:45; Ex 2:16; 2Sa 8:18); so that from the precedency given to his person in the list, he seems to have been prime minister, the highest in office next the king.
3. scribes—that is, secretaries of state. Under David, there had been only one [2Sa 8:17; 20:25]. The employment of three functionaries in this department indicates either improved regulations by the division of labor, or a great increase of business, occasioned by the growing prosperity of the kingdom, or a more extensive correspondence with foreign countries.
recorder—that is, historiographer, or annalist—an office of great importance in Oriental courts, and the duties of which consisted in chronicling the occurrences of every day.
4. Benaiah … was over the host—formerly captain of the guard. He had succeeded Joab as commander of the forces.
Zadok and Abiathar were the priests—Only the first discharged the sacred functions; the latter had been banished to his country seat and retained nothing more than the name of high priest.
5. over the officers—that is, the provincial governors enumerated in 1Ki 4:17-19.
principal officer, and the king's friend—perhaps president of the privy council, and Solomon's confidential friend or favorite. This high functionary had probably been reared along with Solomon. That he should heap those honors on the sons of Nathan was most natural, considering the close intimacy of the father with the late king, and the deep obligations under which Solomon personally lay to the prophet.
6. Ahishar was over the household—steward or chamberlain of the palace.
Adoniram—or Adoram (2Sa 20:24; 1Ki 12:18), or Hadoram (2Ch 10:18),
was over the tribute—not the collection of money or goods, but the levy of compulsory laborers (compare 1Ki 5:13, 14).
1Ki 4:7-21. His Twelve Officers.
7. Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel—The royal revenues were raised according to the ancient, and still, in many parts, existing usage of the East, not in money payments, but in the produce of the soil. There would be always a considerable difficulty in the collection and transmission of these tithes (1Sa 8:15). Therefore, to facilitate the work, Solomon appointed twelve officers, who had each the charge of a tribe or particular district of country, from which, in monthly rotation, the supplies for the maintenance of the king's household were drawn, having first been deposited in "the store cities" which were erected for their reception (1Ki 9:19; 2Ch 8:4, 6).
8. The son of Hur—or, as the Margin has it, Benhur, Bendekar. In the rural parts of Syria, and among the Arabs, it is still common to designate persons not by their own names, but as the sons of their fathers.
21. Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river—All the petty kingdoms between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean were tributary to him. Similar is the statement in 1Ki 4:24.
22, 23. Solomon's provision for one day—not for the king's table only, but for all connected with the court, including, besides the royal establishment, those of his royal consorts, his principal officers, his bodyguards, his foreign visitors, &c. The quantity of fine floor used is estimated at two hundred forty bushels; that of meal or common flour at four hundred eighty. The number of cattle required for consumption, besides poultry and several kinds of game (which were abundant on the mountains) did not exceed in proportion what is needed in other courts of the East.
24. from Tiphsah—that is, Thapsacus, a large and flourishing town on the west bank of the Euphrates, the name of which was derived from a celebrated ford near it, the lowest on that river.
even to Azzah—that is, Gaza, on the southwestern extremity, not far from the Mediterranean.
25. every man under his vine and … fig tree—This is a common and beautiful metaphor for peace and security (Mic 4:4; Zec 3:10), founded on the practice, still common in modern Syria, of training these fruit trees up the walls and stairs of houses, so as to make a shady arbor, beneath which the people sit and relax.
26. forty thousand stalls—for the royal mews (see on 2Ch 9:25).
28. Barley … and straw—Straw is not used for litter, but barley mixed with chopped straw is the usual fodder of horses.
dromedaries—one-humped camels, distinguished for their great fleetness.
1Ki 4:29-34. His Wisdom.
29. God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart—that is, high powers of mind, great capacity for receieving, as well as aptitude for communicating knowledge.
30. Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country—that is, the Arabians, Chaldeans, and Persians (Ge 25:6).
all the wisdom of Egypt—Egypt was renowned as the seat of learning and sciences, and the existing monuments, which so clearly describe the ancient state of society and the arts, show the high culture of the Egyptian people.
31. wiser than all men—that is, all his contemporaries, either at home or abroad.
than Ethan—or Jeduthun, of the family of Merari (1Ch 6:44).
Heman—(1Ch 15:17-19)—the chief of the temple musicians and the king's seers (1Ch 25:5); the other two are not known.
the sons of Mahol—either another name for Zerah (1Ch 2:6); or taking it as a common noun, signifying a dance, a chorus, "the sons of Mahol" signify persons eminently skilled in poetry and music.
32. he spake three thousand proverbs—embodying his moral sentiments and sage observations on human life and character.
songs … a thousand and five—Psalm 72, 127, 132, and the Song of Songs are his.
33. he spake of trees, from the cedar … to the hyssop—all plants, from the greatest to the least. The Spirit of God has seen fit to preserve comparatively few memorials of the fruits of his gigantic mind. The greater part of those here ascribed to him have long since fallen a prey to the ravages of time, or perished in the Babylonish captivity, probably because they were not inspired.