1 KINGS LESSON 6


     We will begin this lesson in I Kings 4:1 "So king Solomon was
king over all Israel."

     Solomon ruled over all twelve tribes. After his reign, the twelve
tribes will be broken into the ten tribes and two tribes. The ten will
be spoken of as Israel, and the two as Judah.

     I Kings 4:2 "And these [were] the princes which he had; Azariah
the son of Zadok the priest,"

     Princes, in this instance, probably, are speaking of the men in
authority in the government of Solomon. They were his subordinates
but, over the people. In this particular instance, Azariah is actually
the grand-son of Zadok. Azariah was a fairly common name of the
priests who were in the lineage of Eleazar. "Eleazar" and "Azariah"
both mean helped by Jehovah. This could, possibly, mean that Azariah
was priest to Solomon. If he is not priest, possibly, a spiritual
adviser. We can assume that he was high priest, because his name is
the first one on the list given here.

     I Kings 4:3 "Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes;
Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder."

     This listing is showing who did what job in the service of
Solomon. The scribes wrote letters and proclamations from the king.
They kept accounts, as well.  Jehoshaphat had done this same job for
David. He wrote down the things the king had said. He kept records for
the king, himself, and kept records of all that was done.

     I Kings 4:4 "And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over the host:
and Zadok and Abiathar [were] the priests:"

     We remember that Benaiah became the commander of the army, when
he killed Joab. Zadok and Abiathar had served David. Abiathar was sent
away, and removed from serving as priest. This just means that during
the reign of Solomon {the beginning}, he acted as priest. Zadok had
served David, and was now getting old. This is, perhaps, the reason
for naming Azariah priest.

     I 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:"

     It is obvious this Azariah is not the same one, mentioned in
verse 2. This was a very common name. All we know for sure about this
Azariah, is just what we read here. He was the captain of Solomon's
guards. Zabud, had the honor of being called the king's friend.

     I Kings 4:6 "And Ahishar [was] over the household: and Adoniram
the son of Abda [was] over the tribute."

     Abishar was the steward, or keeper, of the household help. He was
over the entire working staff of the palace, or household. Adoniram
was in charge of forced labor and collecting the tribute.

     I 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."

     These twelve were like superintendents, who took care of the need
for food for this mass of people. Each of these men took a month, that
they were responsible for the food.

     I Kings 4:8 "And these [are] their names: The son of Hur, in
mount Ephraim:"

     This is the beginning of the list of those who provided the
provision for the king's table. Mount Ephraim is a very fertile land.

     I Kings 4:9 "The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and
Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan:" I Kings 4:10 "The son of Hesed, in
Aruboth; to him [pertained] Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher:"
I Kings 4:11 "The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had
Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife:"

     In verse 11, above, we see that the son of Abinidab married the
daughter of Solomon. This tells us that this was later on in Solomon's
life.

     I Kings 4:12 "Baana the son of Ahilud; [to him pertained] Taanach
and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which [is] by Zartanah beneath
Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, [even] unto [the place that
is] beyond Jokneam:" I Kings 4:13 "The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead;
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:"

     This is speaking of the area, where the provisions came from. It
included 60 cities. All of these cities were walled cities.

     I Kings 4:14 "Ahinadab the son of Iddo [had] Mahanaim:" I Kings
4:15 "Ahimaaz [was] in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of
Solomon to wife:"

     We have not seen a list of the children of Solomon. We know of
two daughters, he had from this lesson. Basmath is the second daughter
of Solomon. Ahimaaz married her.

     I Kings 4:16 "Baanah the son of Hushai [was] in Asher and in
Aloth:"  I Kings 4:17 "Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:"

     We are seeing, in these Scriptures, the names of the people, who
served Solomon in a place of importance. We are, also, seeing that
they did not all live in Jerusalem.

     I Kings 4:18 "Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin:" I 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."

     Shimei was a Benjamite name. Gilead, mentioned here, is on the
eastern side of the Jordan River. The land, spoken of in the verse
above, is east of the Jordan.

     I Kings 4:20  "Judah and Israel [were] many, as the sand which
[is] by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry."

     There was peace and great prosperity during the time Solomon
reigned. Israel and Judah made up the twelve tribes. The prosperity
was felt by all of the Hebrews, not just Solomon's family. It truly
was a time to eat, and drink, and be merry.

     I 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."

     The river, mentioned here, is the Euphrates. The Mediterranean
Sea was the western border of Solomon's kingdom. This is speaking of a
peaceful kingdom, where Solomon was highly thought of. The people
brought him presents. He was king over all the land, and they served
him willingly. This was a time of peace, that they had not known
before.

     I Kings 4:22 "And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty
measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal," I 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."

     We see from this, that the people who worked in and around the
household of Solomon, including his body guards and officers, would
have numbered well over 10,000. The food, mentioned above, would feed
somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 people abundantly.

     I 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."

     We see that a government, which was over as many subjects as
Solomon's was, would have to have a very large number of people
working directly for him. The food was just one expenditure that they
had.  We must remember, that there are millions of people under the
rule of Solomon at this time. Probably, a few thousand of the men he
fed, were his personal army that guarded Solomon. There was no war.
One reason for this was the power and authority that Solomon had.

     I Kings 4:25 "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under
his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the
days of Solomon."

     During the 40 year reign of Solomon, there was peace in the land.
The men could stay at home and work the vineyards and the fig trees,
because there was no war to fight.

     I Kings 4:26  "And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses
for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen."

     This huge number of horsemen, chariots, and horses just show the
tremendous wealth of Solomon. This could very well be the reason there
was peace in the land. He had plenty of war machinery to put down any
uprising. No one would dare come against Solomon in war.

     I 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."

     This is speaking of the officers, we have read of earlier in the
lesson. Of course, they had men under them, who took care of the
actual work. Providing provender for this large group would not be the
work of one man, but of large groups of people working under the
officer.

     I 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."

     This is, probably, speaking of barley and straw for the horses.
"Dromedaries" means a relay of animals on a post-route. These were
probably mules. This means there were officers posted in various
places, and they had fast animals, they used to run the post to bring
messages to the king.  The horses and men were stationed throughout
the land, and they were provided food, and food for the horses, at
their outposts.  Each provider had a place they served.

     I 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."

     In earlier verses, we learned that Solomon's wisdom and
understanding were placed in his heart in his inner-most being.
Solomon's wisdom from God had brought all of this together. God
blessed him in every way. He was wise and powerful, but had a
tremendously understanding heart, as well.

     I Kings 4:30 "And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the
children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt."

     The people from the east have always been thought of as wise. We
read of the wise men from the east, that came to see Jesus. Matthew
2:1 "Now when Jesus was born in Beth-lehem of Judaea in the days of
Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to
Jerusalem," The wisdom of Egypt was worldly in nature.  Some of the
schools in America today are still studying things that originated in
Egypt.  Geometry, astronomy, and much of medicine are some of the
things.  Embalming of the dead came from Egypt, as well.

     I 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."

     After studying these 4 people mentioned above, I would say they
were thought of as very wise people. A standard that was set for
wisdom in the land, until Solomon's wisdom far surpassed theirs. There
are many opinions of who they were. Some belive they are all
Ezrahites.  Some believe the name Mahol is speaking of them being
musicians and singers. "Mahol" means a dance. Two of the Psalms
{chapter 88 and 89} speak of Ezrahite in their title. The only part of
this, that pertains to out lesson, is the fact that they were thought
of as very wise, but not as wise as Solomon.

     I Kings 4:32 "And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs
were a thousand and five."

     This is an outstanding accomplishment by anyone's standards. The
book of Proverbs in the Bible is a tremendous example of the knowledge
and wisdom that was bestowed upon him.

     I 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."

     This is explaining to us, that his wisdom was not in just one
field of knowledge. He had been taught by one of the greatest song
writers ever, his father, king David. He had every advantage to
accumulate learning, that was available at that time. He was the son
of a king. A person can be filled with knowledge {accumulated
learning}, and still not be wise. Solomon had experienced the fact
first hand that wisdom is a gift from God. He had knowledge and wisdom
in abundance. He knew about nature and about created things. His
wisdom was a gift of the Spirit of God. He knew about the earth, sky
and the sea. He knew of God's creations in them all.

     I 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."

     His wisdom so far surpassed the normal man, that kings from all
over the known world came to partake of his wise sayings. Isn't it
strange, even today, people from all over the world study the Proverbs
penned by Solomon which originated from God? His wisdom was a gift
from God.







                        1 Kings 6 Questions


1.  King Solomon was king over all __________.
2.  Who are princes speaking of in verse 2?
3.  "Azariah" and ____________ both mean helped by Jehovah.
4.  Why can we assume that Azariah was high priest?
5.  What was the duty of the scribe?
6.  Who had been the recorder for Solomon?
7.  When had Benaiah become commander of the army?
8.  What had happened to Abiathar?
9.  Who was captain of the guard for Solomon?
10. Who had the honor of being called the king's friend?
11. Who was over the household help?
12. _____________ was in charge of collecting the tribute.
13. How many daughters of Solomon are mentioned in this lesson?
14. Shimei was a _________ name.
15. How could we describe Judah and Israel during Solomon's reign?
16. This time was a time to _____, __________, and be ________.
17. Where were the boundaries of Solomon's reign?
18. How much flour was needed for one day for Solomon?
19. How many people will the food, mentioned in verses 22 and 23,
    feed?
20. Why was it necessary for Solomon to have so many in his employ?
21. What is meant by verse 25?
22. How long did Solomon reign?
23. How many stalls of horses did Solomon have?
24. Who provided food for Solomon and his people?
25. The barley and straw were for the ___________.
26. What does "dromedaries" means?
27. What three things do we read of in verse 29, that God gave
    Solomon?
28. Verse 30 says, his wisdom excelled whose?
29. What wisdom has Egypt imparted to the world?
30. Embalming of the dead came from _________.
31. What observation did the author make about the 4 men in verse 31?
32. How many proverbs did Solomon speak?
33. How many songs did he write?
34. What is knowledge?
35. Where does wisdom come from?
36. Why did kings come to hear his wise sayings?
37. His wisdom was a ________ from _____.