1 Kings 4:30

And Solomon's wisdom excelled [or exceeded; same word as in 1 Kings 4:29 ] the wisdom of all the children of the east country [By the Beni-Kedem we are hardly to understand (with Rawlinson) a distinct tribe on the banks of the Euphrates. It is true that the land of the Beni-Kedem is identified with Haran or Mesopotamia ( Genesis 29:1 ), and the mountains of Kedem ( Numbers 23:7 ) are evidently those of Aram. It is also true that "the children of the East" are apparently distinguished from the Amalekites and Midianites ( 6:8 , 6:33 ; 7:12 ; 8:10 ). It is probable, nevertheless, $hat the name is here employed to designate all the Arabian tribes east and southeast of Palestine—Sabaeans, Idumeans, Temanites, Chaldeans. What their wisdom was like, we may see in the Book of Job. Cf. Jeremiah 49:7 ; Obadiah 1:8 ] and all the wisdom of Egypt. [The learning of Egypt was of great repute in the Old World. It differed very considerably from the wisdom of Kedem, being scientific rather than gnomic ( Isaiah 19:11 , Isaiah 19:12 ; Isaiah 31:2 , Isaiah 31:8 ; Acts 7:22 ) and including geometry, astronomy, magic, and medicine. See Jos; Ant. 8.2.5; Herod. 2.109. 160. Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians" vol. 2. pp. 316-465.