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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And king Solomon was king over all Israel. |
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| 2 And these were the princes whom he had: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; |
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| 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; |
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| 4 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; |
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| 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; and Zabud the son of Nathan was chief minister, and the king’s friend; |
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| 6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to taskwork. |
Adoniram – Secretary of the treasury, the one having charge over the assessments, etc., and who presided over the forced labor. R3385:4
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| 7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year. |
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| 8 And these are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill-country of Ephraim; |
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| 9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; |
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| 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him pertained Socoh, and all the land of Hepher); |
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| 11 Ben-abinadab, in all the height of Dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife); |
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| 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan, beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as beyond Jokmeam; |
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| 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; even to him pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and brazen bars); |
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| 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; |
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| 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife); |
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| 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; |
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| 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; |
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| 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; |
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| 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer that was in the land. |
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| 20 Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry. |
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| 21 And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River Euphrates unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life. |
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| 22 And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal, |
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| 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl. |
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| 24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings on this side the River: and he had peace on all sides round about him. |
Peace on all sides – Whereas King David's reign was full of wars, King Solomon's had none. PD44/53
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| 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. |
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| 26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. |
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| 27 And those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking. |
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| 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. |
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| 29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore. |
Gave Solomon wisdom – Not the heavenly wisdom, not spiritual understanding. R2053:2
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| 30 And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. |
Solomon's wisdom excelled – Prefigured the all-comprehensive wisdom of Christ. R2053:1
Only an imperfect realization of the wise and understanding heart suggested in his dream-prayer. R2053:2
Children of the east – Implying that his wisdom was along the lines of the sciences and philosophies popular with them. R2053:5
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| 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. |
Wiser than all men – In the time of Solomon, the zenith of their glory, the Jews were a people distinguished and honored among nations. C244
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| 32 And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand five. |
Three thousand proverbs – Not all deemed of the Lord worthy of preservation in sacred Scripture. R2053:5
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| 33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of birds, and of creeping things, and of fishes. |
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| 34 And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. |
Of all people – "Many people will say, Come and let us go up to the house of the Lord." (Isa. 2:3) R2053:1
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