TEXT [Commentary]
3. Solomon’s officials and governors (4:1-19)
1 King Solomon now ruled over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were court secretaries.
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the royal historian.
4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
5 Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the district governors.
Zabud son of Nathan, a priest, was a trusted adviser to the king.
6 Ahishar was manager of the palace property.
Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of forced labor.
7 Solomon also had twelve district governors who were over all Israel. They were responsible for providing food for the king’s household. Each of them arranged provisions for one month of the year. 8 These are the names of the twelve governors:
Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim.
9 Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-bethhanan.
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth, including Socoh and all the land of Hepher.
11 Ben-abinadab, in all of Naphoth-dor.[*] (He was married to Taphath, one of Solomon’s daughters.)
12 Baana son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth-shan[*] near Zarethan below Jezreel, and all the territory from Beth-shan to Abel-meholah and over to Jokmeam.
13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead, including the Towns of Jair (named for Jair of the tribe of Manasseh[*]) in Gilead, and in the Argob region of Bashan, including sixty large fortified towns with bronze bars on their gates.
14 Ahinadab son of Iddo, in Mahanaim.
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali. (He was married to Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters.)
16 Baana son of Hushai, in Asher and in Aloth.
17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah, in Issachar.
18 Shimei son of Ela, in Benjamin.
19 Geber son of Uri, in the land of Gilead,[*] including the territories of King Sihon of the Amorites and King Og of Bashan.
There was also one governor over the land of Judah.[*]
NOTES
4:2 these were his high officials. The Hebrew term used here for “high officials” is sarim [TH8269, ZH8569], meaning “princes,” “leaders,” or the like. Cogan (2001:200) prefers the general context of “appointed civil officers” for the term in this context.
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest. The high priest in Jerusalem probably is what is meant here. Cogan (2001:200-202) notes that even though a priest heads the list of administrators, one cannot assume that he necessarily ranked that high in Solomon’s court.
4:3 court secretaries. Heb., soperim [TH5608A, ZH6221], traditionally rendered “scribes” or “secretaries.” Wiseman (1993:89) plausibly suggests that the existence of two of these officials in Solomon’s court may indicate that one covered foreign affairs and one home affairs, or that each used a different method or language when keeping records, as was the case in Assyria.
the royal historian. Heb., hammazkir [TH2142C, ZH4654], meaning “the recorder,” perhaps a “chief of protocol” or the like (Wiseman 1993:89), maybe even someone akin to the “secretary of state” (so NEB; cf. Cogan [2001:202], who, however, also cites the Targum’s paraphrase, “archivist”).
4:4 Zadok and Abiathar were priests. Cogan (2001:202) is surely correct to cite ancient scribal practice where contradictions in lists and traditions (cf. 4:2, which lists Azariah) are retained without further comment or harmonization; in the present case there is historic interest in listing the priests who had served only a short time at the start of Solomon’s reign (cf. 2:26, 35).
4:5 in charge of the district governors. Heb., ‘al-hannitsabim [TH5324, ZH5893], meaning “over the supervisors”; the 12 “district governors” are listed in the following section, 4:7-19a.
Zabud son of Nathan, a priest . . . adviser. The term “priest” (kohen [TH3548, ZH3913], the usual term for the office) is found here, resulting in an unexpected double title in the MT (which the NLT follows) for Zabud son of Nathan. Various recensions of the Greek text (cf. Cogan 2001:202) omit the reference to “priest,” but that is the easier reading, and therefore probably secondary. “Nathan” need not be the famous prophet of that name, but rather a son of David (2 Sam 5:14) or possibly someone else entirely (the name was quite common). If it was David’s son, he may well have also been a “priest”; cf. the anomalous text found to that effect in 2 Sam 8:18b, “David’s sons served as priestly leaders.”
trusted adviser to the king. Lit., “the king’s friend” (re‘eh [TH7463, ZH8291] hammelek). Wiseman (1993:89) suggests the translation “personal adviser to the king,” and notes a parallel in the Amarna (early Canaanite) texts (see also Cogan 2001:203 for details).
4:6 manager of the palace property. Lit., “over the house” (‘al-habbayith [TH1004, ZH1074]). Wiseman (1993:89) defines it as “controller of the (royal) household,” and notes the office increased in prestige eventually to that of a prime minister (cf. 16:9; 18:3; 2 Kgs 10:5; 15:5; 18:18-37).
forced labor. Heb., ‘al-hammas [TH4522, ZH4989], “over the levy” (i.e., the corvée). Later on, this will become a major bone of contention, with Solomon and his administration depicted as a veritable pharaoh of forced labor over the house of Joseph (see 11:28; also cf. 12:1-20, especially v. 18), the protestations of 9:15-23 notwithstanding. References to the “levy” may also be found in 5:13-18 [27-32].
4:7 Solomon also had twelve district governors who were over all Israel. As is commonly noted, these 12 districts do not correspond to the ancestral tribal boundaries of the 10 northern tribes (Judah and Simeon being excluded as southerners, and Levi being excluded since they inherited cities throughout all Israel, not contiguous territory like the other tribes). As Sweeney (2007:88-95) argues, Solomon thus treated the northern territory differently than he did his ancestral land of Judah. Whether it be the “levy” on the Israelites only (see previous note), or the district boundaries themselves, Judah’s privileged status was starkly evident. As Sweeney aptly points out, “Whereas [Solomon] apparently ruled Judah directly as his home tribe, he ruled Israel through administrators much as one would rule a foreign or subject state.” Sweeney goes on to delineate carefully the locations of the 12 districts, noting, for example, that the boundaries were meant to weaken or contain major elements within the northern regions, especially the two central Joseph tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Each of them arranged provisions for one month of the year. This is the stated rationale for a 12-part division of the northern lands of Israel (see 4:27-28). Each district would thus have to be a viable economic unit (Cogan 2001:205), another reason ostensibly justifying the abandonment of the old tribal divisions. Apparently excluding Judah altogether from this economic arrangement again elevates her public status as Solomon’s home tribe. Cogan (2001:205-211) examines each of the names of the governors and pertinent geographic references in the 12 territories in careful detail; see also Sweeney (2007:88-95).
4:11 Naphoth-dor. Sweeney (2007:91) suggests this means “the heights of Dor” (i.e., the forested hills overlooking Dor on the Mediterranean seacoast). In any case, this was probably a particularly wealthy district inasmuch as Taphath, a daughter of Solomon, is connected with it (cf. 4:15). (Concerning the variation “Naphath-dor” found in the mg note, cf. Josh 12:23; the only difference in meaning is substituting the plural form [“heights”], as in Josh 11:2, for the singular [“height”] in the MT.)
4:13 Jair of the tribe of Manasseh. The NLT mg aptly cites the independent tradition found in 1 Chr 2:22 concerning one Segub, father of Jair, who ruled 23 towns in Gilead. The term “son” (ben [TH1121, ZH1201]) often means “descendant of,” or perhaps as here, “of the tribe of.”
4:15 Basemath, another of Solomon’s daughters. Cf. note on 4:11, above. Once again, this must have been an important district (Cogan [2001:209] notes that the major royal fortress at Hazor [cf. 1 Kgs 9:15] was part of this district).
4:19 land of Gilead. As the NLT mg note points out, the Greek versions attest reading “Gad” for “Gilead.” Gilead has seemingly already been dealt with back in 4:13. The textual issues are complicated here (cf. next note and the excellent discussion in Cogan 2001:210-211); but the first part of the present verse may be a textual variant of 4:13a, with its references to “son of Geber,” “Gilead,” and later on, the reference to “Bashan.” (The familiar traditions about Kings Sihon and Og are to be found in the Pentateuch [Num 21:21-35; Deut 2:26–3:11], and these traditions could be linked geographically both to Gad and to Gilead.)
There was also one governor over the land of Judah. Cogan (2001:211) suggests this sentence is actually a remnant of the entry originally delineating the 12th district, not, as usually understood, part of a separate note concerning Solomon’s home tribe, as in the NRSV and NLT texts. (For details concerning the privileged place of Judah in the Solomonic empire, see the first note on 4:7.) The NIV combines all of 4:19 as part of Geber’s “Gilead” district, but this translation also is quite problematic, especially with the absence of any footnote alerting the reader as to its tendentious nature.
COMMENTARY [Text]
It is beyond the scope of the present commentary to examine each and every name found in this section of 1 Kings. The reader is urged particularly to consult the uniformly excellent notes found in Cogan 2001:199-220 for such details. Lists such as these, although often seen as tedious by the casual reader, represent nothing less than a treasure trove for the Hebraist and the historian.
DeVries (1985:66) sees most of this section and the next as from The Book of the Acts of Solomon (cf. 11:41; on the use of italics for this title in the NLT, see the “Literary Style” section of the Introduction). The following is a slightly modified version of his analysis:
List of Solomon’s high officials (4:1-6), taken from the The Book of the Acts of Solomon
List of his district governors (4:7-19a), from the Acts
Expansion: Laudatory interpolation, 4:19b-20
Solomon’s empire (4:21 [5:1]), from the Acts
Solomon’s commissary arrangements (4:22-23, 26-28 [5:2-3, 6-8]), from the Acts
Expansion: Solomon’s ideal reign, 4:24-25 [5:4-5]
Expansion: Laudatory interpolation, 4:29-34 [5:9-14]
Drawing theological conclusions from lists of names often requires ingenuity on the part of the commentator, but surprisingly enough, that is not the case here. Taking into account the textual irregularities as delineated above, the overall conclusion is surely evident—Solomon treated the northern tribes of Israel differently than he did his own tribe of Judah (which historically included remnants of the tribe of Simeon as well). Solomon’s choices of court leadership included both old-timers and new arrivals, but it is the list of the 12 districts that surprises the reader—the time-honored tribal divisions of the proverbial 12 sons of Israel are largely gone, and the land of Judah is clearly positioned as preeminent, particularly over the tribes of Joseph. (See Ps 78:65-68 and passim for a northern perspective on this situation; also see the old tribal poem found in Gen 49:1-28.) Solomon sought to eradicate rival tribal allegiances as surely as he had previously sought to eradicate rival priestly houses (cf. 2:26-27), but as chapter 12 will show, after Solomon’s death the old tribal allegiances reemerged as strongly as ever. And no son of Solomon, still less any court-appointed leader of his “levy,” would be able to withstand their fury.