1 Kings 4:9

The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) The second division included the territory in the maritime plain to the north-west of Judah; assigned to Dan, but in all the earlier history held, with perhaps a few exceptions, by the Philistines. The cities Shaalbim, Elon, and Beth-shemesh, or Ir-shemesh, are noted in Joshua 19:41-43. Makaz is not mentioned elsewhere. There is here the addition to the name Elon of beth-hanan (“the house of Hanan”) In 1Chronicles 8:23 there is a Hanan among the chief men of Benjamin; and 1Chronicles 1:43 a Hanan among David’s mighty men. The only one of these cities known in history is Beth-shemesh, the first resting-place of the Ark (1Samuel 6:12-21) when restored by the Philistines.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:1-19 In the choice of the great officers of Solomon's court, no doubt, his wisdom appeared. Several are the same that were in his father's time. A plan was settled by which no part of the country was exhausted to supply his court, though each sent its portion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For some of the names, see Joshua 19:41-43.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Or, Elon, the house or dwelling-place of Hanan; and Hanan may be a man’s name and this place may be so differenced from other Elons. Or, the plain (for so the Hebrew word signifies) of Beth-hanan.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The son of Dekar in Makaz,.... A place in the tribe of Dan, on the borders of it:

and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan; all in the same tribe, see Joshua 19:41.

Geneva Study Bible

The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. the son of Dekar] Read Ben-Deker, according to the Hebrew pointing. The name Deker is found nowhere else.

in Makaz] The name does not occur again, and we can only conjecture the whereabouts of the place from the other names with which it is joined. Shaalbim, the town next mentioned, was in the tribe of Dan (Jdg 1:35); Bethshemesh, was at the northern boundary of Judah, and was one of the ‘suburb cities’ allotted to the priests (Joshua 21:16); of Elon-beth-hanan nothing more is known. The Vulgate, following some Hebrew MSS. reads ‘Elon and Bethhanan,’ making two towns out of the name. It is clear however that Ben-Deker’s district lay in Dan and on the borders of Judah.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - The son of Dekar [Ben. Dekar], in Makaz [unknown otherwise], and in Shaalbim [Joshua 19:42; Judges 1:35] and Beth-shemesh [called Irshemesh, Joshua 19:41. Now Ain Shemes], and Elon-beth-hanan. [Elon, Joshua 19:43. Probably Beth-hanan is a different place, the "and" (ו) having accidentally dropped out of the text. The LXX. (ἕως Βηθανὰν) favours this view. It has been identified by Robinson with Beit Hunun. This second district embraces Daniel] 1 Kings 4:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Bendeker was in Makaz, a city only mentioned here, the situation of which is unknown, but which is at any rate to be sought for in the tribe of Dan, to which the other cities of this district belong. Shaalbim has probably been preserved in the present Selbit, to the north-west of Ylo (see at Joshua 19:42). Bethshemesh, the present Ain-Shems (see at Joshua 15:10). Elon (אילון), which is distinguished from Ajalon (Joshua 19:42 and Joshua 19:43) by the epithet Bethchanan, and belonged to the tribe of Dan, has not yet been discovered (see at Joshua 19:43). The lxx have arbitrarily interpolated ἕως before Bethchanan, and Thenius naturally takes this under his protection, and consequently traces Bethchanan in the village of Beit Hunn (Rob. Pal. ii. p. 371), but without considering that ἕως yields no reasonable sense unless preceded by מן, ἐκ (from; cf. 1 Kings 4:12).