Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year, SolomonThe name Solomon is derived from the Hebrew word "Shlomo," which is related to "shalom," meaning peace. Solomon's reign is often characterized by peace and prosperity, a fulfillment of God's promise to David that his son would build the temple and reign in peace. Solomon's wisdom and leadership are central themes in the narrative of his kingship, reflecting God's blessing and the fulfillment of His covenant with David. had twelve governors
The number twelve is significant in the biblical context, often representing completeness or the people of Israel, as seen in the twelve tribes. These governors, or "natsab" in Hebrew, were officials appointed by Solomon to oversee the administrative and logistical needs of the kingdom. This system of governance reflects Solomon's wisdom in organizing and managing the vast resources and people of Israel, ensuring efficient administration and provision for the royal household. over all Israel
This phrase emphasizes the unity and extent of Solomon's rule. Unlike his father David, who spent much of his reign consolidating power, Solomon inherited a unified kingdom. His governance over "all Israel" signifies the fulfillment of God's promise to establish a strong and united nation under a wise and godly king. It also highlights the centralization of power and the establishment of a structured government. who provided food for the king and his household
The provision of food was a significant responsibility, indicating the wealth and prosperity of Solomon's reign. The Hebrew word "kalkalah" suggests not just food, but sustenance and support, reflecting the abundance and careful management of resources. This provision underscores the importance of hospitality and care in leadership, as well as the logistical complexity of maintaining a royal court. Each one made provision for one month of the year
This system of rotating responsibility ensured that the burden of provision was shared among the governors, reflecting wisdom in administration and fairness in governance. The phrase highlights the organized and systematic approach Solomon took in managing the kingdom's resources. It also suggests a sense of community and shared responsibility among the leaders of Israel, fostering unity and cooperation. Persons / Places / Events 1. SolomonThe third king of Israel, known for his wisdom, wealth, and building projects, including the Temple in Jerusalem. His reign is marked by peace and prosperity. 2. Twelve GovernorsAppointed by Solomon to oversee the provision of food for the king's household. Each governor was responsible for one month of the year, ensuring a steady supply of resources. 3. IsraelThe united kingdom under Solomon, encompassing all the tribes of Israel. This period is often seen as the height of Israel's power and influence. 4. Provision for the King’s HouseholdThe logistical system established by Solomon to maintain the royal court, reflecting the administrative organization and economic prosperity of his reign. 5. Monthly Provision SystemA structured approach to governance and resource management, ensuring that the needs of the king's household were met consistently throughout the year. Teaching Points Wisdom in AdministrationSolomon's appointment of twelve governors demonstrates the importance of wise and organized leadership. Effective administration is crucial for maintaining order and prosperity. Stewardship and ResponsibilityEach governor's responsibility for one month highlights the importance of stewardship and accountability in our roles, whether in family, work, or ministry. Provision and PlanningThe monthly provision system underscores the value of planning and foresight. We are called to be diligent in preparing for the future, trusting God while also using the resources and wisdom He provides. Unity and CooperationThe cooperation among the twelve governors reflects the need for unity and teamwork in achieving common goals. In the body of Christ, each member has a role to play in supporting the whole. Dependence on God’s WisdomSolomon's wisdom was a gift from God, reminding us to seek divine guidance in our decisions and leadership responsibilities. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Solomon's system of governance reflect the wisdom God granted him, and how can we apply this wisdom in our own leadership roles? 2. In what ways can we practice good stewardship and responsibility in our personal and professional lives, similar to the governors' roles? 3. How does the concept of planning and provision in Solomon's reign encourage us to prepare for the future while trusting in God's provision? 4. What lessons can we learn from the unity and cooperation among the twelve governors that can be applied to our church or community involvement? 5. How can we seek and apply God's wisdom in our daily decision-making processes, as Solomon did in his administration? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 41Joseph's administration in Egypt, where he organized the collection and distribution of grain during the years of plenty and famine, parallels Solomon's administrative wisdom. Proverbs 6:6-8The ant's preparation and provision for the future can be seen as a metaphor for the organized and diligent system Solomon established. 1 Corinthians 14:40The principle of doing everything in a fitting and orderly way reflects the structured governance seen in Solomon's reign. People Abda, Abel, Abiathar, Abinadab, Adoniram, Ahiah, Ahijah, Ahilud, Ahimaaz, Ahinadab, Ahishar, Amorites, Argob, Asher, Azariah, Baana, Baanah, Basmath, Ben, Benaiah, Benjamin, Calcol, Chalcol, Dan, Darda, Dekar, Elah, Elihoreph, Elon, Ethan, Geber, Hanan, Heman, Hepher, Hesed, Hur, Hushai, Iddo, Issachar, Jair, Jehoiada, Jehoshaphat, Jezreel, Mahol, Manasseh, Naphtali, Nathan, Og, Paruah, Shimei, Shisha, Sihon, Solomon, Taphath, Uri, Zabud, ZadokPlaces Abel-meholah, Argob, Arubboth, Bashan, Bealoth, Beersheba, Beth-shan, Beth-shemesh, Dan, Egypt, Elonbeth-hanan, Euphrates River, Gaza, Gilead, Hepher, Jerusalem, Jezreel, Jokmeam, Lebanon, Mahanaim, Makaz, Megiddo, Naphath-dor, Ramoth-gilead, Shaalbim, Socoh, Taanach, Tiphsah, ZarethanTopics Deputies, District, Governors, Household, Month, Needed, Officers, Overseers, Provide, Provided, Provision, Provisions, Responsible, Royal, Solomon, Stores, Superintendents, Supplied, Supplies, Sustained, Sustenance, Twelve, VictualsDictionary of Bible Themes 1 Kings 4:7 4903 time
4978 year
5119 Solomon, life of
5327 governors
5558 storing 1 Kings 4:1-25 7236 Israel, united kingdom 1 Kings 4:5-19 5434 officer 1 Kings 4:7-19 5489 rank Library The Great Gain of Godliness
'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. 26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 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. 28. Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureWhether He who Raises the Unworthy to Orders Commits a Sin?
Objection 1: It would seem that he who raises the unworthy to orders commits no sin. For a bishop needs assistants appointed to the lesser offices. But he would be unable to find them in sufficient number, if he were to require of them such qualifications as the saints enumerate. Therefore if he raise some who are not qualified, he would seem to be excusable. Objection 2: Further, the Church needs not only ministers for the dispensation of things spiritual, but also for the supervision of temporalities. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Vengeance Should be Taken on those who have Sinned Involuntarily?
Objection 1: It seems that vengeance should be taken on those who have sinned involuntarily. For the will of one man does not follow from the will of another. Yet one man is punished for another, according to Ex. 20:5, "I am . . . God . . . jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation." Thus for the sin of Cham, his son Chanaan was curse (Gn. 9:25) and for the sin of Giezi, his descendants were struck with leprosy (4 Kings 5). Again the blood …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Stedfastness in the Old Paths.
"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."--Jer. vi. 16. Reverence for the old paths is a chief Christian duty. We look to the future indeed with hope; yet this need not stand in the way of our dwelling on the past days of the Church with affection and deference. This is the feeling of our own Church, as continually expressed in the Prayer Book;--not to slight what has gone before, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII Adam and Zaretan, Joshua 3
I suspect a double error in some maps, while they place these two towns in Perea; much more, while they place them at so little a distance. We do not deny, indeed, that the city Adam was in Perea; but Zaretan was not so. Of Adam is mention, Joshua 3:16; where discourse is had of the cutting-off, or cutting in two, the waters of Jordan, that they might afford a passage to Israel; The waters rose up upon a heap afar off in Adam. For the textual reading "In Adam," the marginal hath "From Adam." You …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica The Fact of the Redeemer's Return was Typified in the Lives of Joseph and Solomon.
In the Old Testament there are numerous references to the Second Coming of Christ, references both direct and typical, but in every instance it was His return to the earth which was in view. The secret coming of Christ into the air, to catch up the saints to Himself, was an event quite unknown to the Old Testament prophets, an event kept secret until revealed by God to the apostle Paul who, when writing to the Corinthians upon this particular aspect of our subject, said, "Behold, I show you a mystery …
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return Perhaps There is no Book Within the Whole Canon of Scripture So Perplexing and Anomalous...
Perhaps there is no book within the whole canon of Scripture so perplexing and anomalous, at first sight, as that entitled "Ecclesiastes." Its terrible hopelessness, its bold expression of those difficulties with which man is surrounded on every side, the apparent fruitlessness of its quest after good, the unsatisfactory character, from a Christian standpoint, of its conclusion: all these points have made it, at one and the same time, an enigma to the superficial student of the Word, and the arsenal …
F. C. Jennings—Old Groans and New Songs The Care of the Soul Urged as the one Thing Needful
Luke 10:42 -- "But one thing is needful." It was the amiable character of our blessed Redeemer, that "he went about doing good," this great motive, which animated all his actions, brought him to the house of his friend Lazarus, at Bethany, and directed his behavior there. Though it was a season of recess from public labor, our Lord brought the sentiments and the pious cares of a preacher of righteousness into the parlor of a friend; and there his doctrine dropped as the rain, and distilled as the …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield The Spiced Wine of My Pomegranate;
OR, THE COMMUNION OF COMMUNICATION. I would cause Thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate."--Song of Solomon viii. 2.And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."--John i. 16. THE SPICED WINE OF MY POMEGRANATE. THE immovable basis of communion having been laid of old in the eternal union which subsisted between Christ and His elect, it only needed a fitting occasion to manifest itself in active development. The Lord Jesus had for ever delighted Himself with the …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come A vision of Judgement and Cleansing
'And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3. Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel. 4. And He answered and spake unto those that stood before Him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him He said, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Historical Books.
1. In the Pentateuch we have the establishment of the Theocracy, with the preparatory and accompanying history pertaining to it. The province of the historical books is to unfold its practiced working, and to show how, under the divine superintendence and guidance, it accomplished the end for which it was given. They contain, therefore, primarily, a history of God's dealings with the covenant people under the economy which he had imposed upon them. They look at the course of human events on the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible The Poetical Books (Including Also Ecclesiastes and Canticles).
1. The Hebrews reckon but three books as poetical, namely: Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, which are distinguished from the rest by a stricter rhythm--the rhythm not of feet, but of clauses (see below, No. 3)--and a peculiar system of accentuation. It is obvious to every reader that the poetry of the Old Testament, in the usual sense of the word, is not restricted to these three books. But they are called poetical in a special and technical sense. In any natural classification of the books of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 1 Kings 4:7 NIV1 Kings 4:7 NLT1 Kings 4:7 ESV1 Kings 4:7 NASB1 Kings 4:7 KJV
1 Kings 4:7 Commentaries
Bible Hub |
