1 Kings 4:1

EXPOSITION

SOLOMON 'S STATE AND COURT OFFICIALS .—The account of Solomon's marriage and entry upon his religious and judicious functions is appropriately followed by a description of his court, of the great functionaries of the realm, of his royal state and magnificence, and, lastly, of his varied and unprecedented wisdom. It must not be supposed, however, from the occurrence of the lists in this particular place, that they necessarily represent the appointments of the early part of Solomon's reign. The mention of two of the married daughters of the king ( 1 Kings 4:11 , 1 Kings 4:15 ) has been generally thought to prove that the record belongs to a much later period, and it certainly affords a powerful presumption in favour of a later date. Too much stress, however, must not be laid on this consideration, as the girls of the East marry early, and these may well have been given to officers much their seniors, who had long been in office, and who had merited this distinction (cf. Joshua 15:16 ; 1 Samuel 17:25 ; 1 Samuel 18:17 ) by the important services they had rendered to the State. Ewald sees in these lists unmistakeable evidence of compilation from the public archives. But see Introduction, sect. 6. If the historians of Israel were the prophets, nothing is more natural than that they should record such details of the Augustan age of their race.

So King Solomon was king over all Israel [All later kings ruled but a part of the land of Israel, as also did David at first.]