1 Kings 4:21-28

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 4:20-28

Such a kingdom, and such a court, surely never any prince had, as Solomon's are here described to be. I. Such a kingdom. Never did the crown of Israel shine so brightly as it did when Solomon wore it, never in his father's days, never in the days of any of his successors; nor was that kingdom ever so glorious a type of the kingdom of the Messiah as it was then. The account here given of it is such as fully answers the prophecies which we have concerning it in Ps. 72:1-20, which is a psalm for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:21

And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms ,.... Not only over Judah and Israel, but all people round about him, they standing in fear of him; or who brought him presents, or paid tribute to him, which was an acknowledgment of superiority over them, and doing homage to him: from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt ; that is, from the river Euphrates, as the Targum, which was the border of his proper domains to the east, to Palestine, inhabited by the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:22

And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour ,.... The measure here used was the "corus", or "cor", the same with the homer, which was equal to ten ephahs, and, according to Bishop Cumberland F23 Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 3. p. 86. , held seventy five wine gallons and five pints, and somewhat more; by which may be known how many gallons of fine flour these thirty measures held, which were all consumed in one day: and threescore measures of meal :... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:23

Ten fat oxen ,.... Such as were kept up in the stall and fatted: and twenty oxen out of the pastures ; which were killed as they were taken from thence, and not put up to be fed: and an hundred sheep ; out of the folds: beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer ; which were clean creatures, according to the Levitical law, Deuteronomy 14:5 ; these were hunted in fields, or taken out of the park, or were presents from other countries; so that here was plenty of beef, mutton,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:24

For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river ,.... Or beyond the river Euphrates, in the sense before given, 1 Kings 4:21 ; which accounts for the plenty of provisions he had, and the revenue with which he supported such a table he kept: from Tiphsah even to Azzah ; or Gaza, one of the five principalities of the Philistines. Tiphsah is thought to be the Thapsacus of Pliny F4 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 24. which both he and Ptolemy F5 Geograph. l. 5. c. 19. ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:25

And Judah and Israel dwelt safely ,.... Without fear of any injury done to their persons or properties by any enemy; which is, and will be, more abundantly fulfilled in Christ, the antitype of Solomon, Jeremiah 23:5 ; every man under his vine, and under his fig tree ; which were principal trees in the land of Judea, put for all the rest; and the phrase denotes the happy, safe, quiet, full, and peaceable enjoyment of all outward blessings, and is used of the times of the Messiah, Micah... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:26

And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for horses ,.... In 2 Chronicles 9:25 ; it is only four thousand; and therefore some think that here is a mistake of the copier, of "arbaim", forty, for "arbah", four; which it is thought might be through divine permission, in such lesser matters, without any prejudice to the authority of the Scriptures in matters of faith and practice; but without supposing this, a reconciliation may be made, by observing, that here the writer, as Ben Gersom notes,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:27

And these officers provided victuals for King Solomon ,.... The twelve before mentioned; and this is repeated here, after the account of his horses, to observe, that they provided for them also, as well as for the sake of what follows; that the large provision made by them was not only for Solomon's family and domestic servants, but for strangers from different arts, who came upon messages to him, or to visit him, and to behold the splendour of his court: and for all that came to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 4:28

Barley also, and straw for the horses and dromedaries ,.... Or rather mules, by comparing the passage with 2 Chronicles 9:24 ; the particular kind of creatures meant is not agreed on; though all take them to be a swifter sort of creatures than horses; or the swifter of horses, as race horses or posts horses: barley was for their provender, that being the common food of horses in those times and countries, and in others, as Bochart F8 Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 9. col. 158, 159. Vid.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 4:21

Solomon reigned over all kingdoms - The meaning of this verse appears to be, that Solomon reigned over all the provinces from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, even to the frontiers of Egypt. The Euphrates was on the east of Solomon's dominions; the Philistines were westward on the Mediterranean sea; and Egypt was on the south. Solomon had, therefore, as tributaries, the kingdoms of Syria, Damascus, Moab, and Ammon, which lay between the Euphrates and the... read more

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