ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for 1 Kings 4

1 Kings 4:1–20 Solomon displayed great wisdom in the early years of his kingship, and as a result, “Judah and Israel . . . were happy” (v. 20).

1 Kings 4:2 Among the high officials of Solomon’s kingdom is the chief priest, who is surprisingly not Zadok (2:35) but Azariah the son of Zadok. For some unknown reason, Zadok himself is now in a lesser position, along with Abiathar, who apparently has been reinstated (4:4; see 2:26–27 and notes on 1 Kings 2:26–27). The new order, designed in God-given wisdom, is different from the old order, in which Zadok had replaced Abiathar who, perhaps unjustly, had been banished.

1 Kings 4:3 The secretaries may have had general managerial responsibilities, or more specific tasks such as recording history or writing letters. It is unclear what the recorder did. He may have been a royal messenger or even the state prosecutor.

1 Kings 4:5 Azariah was in charge of the 12 officers over all Israel mentioned in vv. 7–19. Zabud held the office of king’s friend, that is, his personal adviser.

1 Kings 4:7–19 The twelve officers may have been tax supervisors. Their job was to ensure that local governments paid their dues to the central government. The one governor who was over the land was most likely Azariah (v. 5), to whom the 12 district officers were accountable.

1 Kings 4:21–24 Solomon had a strong influence over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. It is a large area, corresponding to the area promised to Abraham in Gen. 15:18.

1 Kings 4:25 And Judah and Israel lived in safety . . . every man under his vine and under his fig tree. The people lived under God’s blessing and had some economic independence.

1 Kings 4:26 40,000 stalls of horses. Although most Hebrew manuscripts place this number at 40,000, a Greek Septuagint manuscript and one Hebrew manuscript say 4,000, which is also the number indicated in 2 Chron. 9:25. So the number here could possibly be a copying error. Compare the 1,400 chariots in 1 Kings 10:26, which would suggest fewer than 40,000 horse stalls. In either case, such a large number of stalls (even 4,000) would violate the prohibition in Deut. 17:16 that the king “must not acquire many horses for himself.”

1 Kings 4:30–31 Solomon’s wisdom exceeded that of people from places well-known for their wisdom, including all the people of the east (see Matt. 2:1–12). His wisdom was greater than that of various individuals famous for their wisdom (Ethan, Heman, etc.).

1 Kings 4:33 He spoke of trees . . . beasts . . . birds . . . reptiles, and of fish. Careful observation of the natural world and how it works is one of the “normal” ways in which people gain wisdom. Solomon combined such wisdom with the special wisdom God gave him (ch. 3).