1 Kings 4:2

2. Princes Hebrew, the Sarim, Superior officers; high state-dignitaries, in distinction from the prefects, or lesser officers mentioned below, 1 Kings 4:7-19.

Azariah the son of Zadok the priest The word כהן , here rendered priest, but in verse v principal officer, occurs three times in this list of officers, and if we adopt the present punctuation of the Hebrew, Septuagint, and English texts, and explain with Keil, Bahr, and others, that כהן here means a regent, or some privy counsellor of the king, then we have the word used in the space of four verses in three different senses. That כהן means an intimate counsellor of the king in 1 Kings 4:5 and in 2 Samuel 8:18, is admitted in our notes; but if it means the same thing here, and defines the office of Azariah to be identical with that of Zabud the son of Nathan, why in the world are not these two persons holding the same office placed together in the list? Certainly the relative position of these two names in the record most naturally indicates that Azariah and Zabud did not hold the same office. It seems better, therefore, to adopt the punctuation of the Vulgate, and construe Azariah with the first two names of 1 Kings 4:3, and כהן , the priest, in apposition with Zadok. Thus, connecting 1 Kings 4:2-3, we read, “Azariah the son of Zadok the priest, Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes.”