Advanced Commentary
Texts -- 1 Kings 4:31 (NET)
Pericope
NET
- 1Ki 4:20-34 -- Solomon's Wealth and Fame
Bible Dictionary
-
Mahol
[ebd] dance, the father of four sons (1 Kings 4:31) who were inferior in wisdom only to Solomon.
[isbe] MAHOL - ma'-hol (machol, "dance"; compare bene-machol, "sons of dance"): The father of the 4 sages reputed next in wisdom to Solomon (1 Ki 4:31). Their names were Ethan, Heman, Chalcol, Darda.
[smith] (dancing), the father of the four men most famous for wisdom next to Solomon himself. (1Â Kings 4:31; 1Â Chronicles 2:6)
[nave] MAHOL, father of Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, 1 Kin. 4:31.
-
Ethan
[ebd] firm. (1.) "The Ezrahite," distinguished for his wisdom (1 Kings 4:31). He is named as the author of the 89th Psalm. He was of the tribe of Levi. (2.) A Levite of the family of Merari, one of the leaders of the temple music ...
[isbe] ETHAN - e'-than ('ethan, "firm," "enduring"; Gaithan): (1) A wise man with whom Solomon is compared (1 Ki 4:31). Called there "Ethan the Ezrahite," to whom the title of Ps 89 ascribes the authorship of that poem. (2) A "son ...
[smith] (enduring). Ethan the Ezrahite, one of the four sons of Mahol, whose wisdom was excelled by Solomon. (1Â Kings 4:31; 1Â Chronicles 2:6) His name is in the title of (Psalms 89:1) Son of Kishi or Kushaiah; a Merarite Levit...
[nave] ETHAN 1. A renowned sage, 1 Kin. 4:31. See title, Psa. 89. 2. Son of Zerah, 1 Chr. 2:6, 8. 3. Two Levites, 1 Chr. 6:42, 44; 15:17, 19.
-
Heman
[ebd] faithful. (1.) 1 Kings 4:31; 1 Chr. 2:6, a son of Zerah, noted for his wisdom. (2.) Grandson of Samuel (1 Chr. 6:33; 15:17), to whom the 88th Psalm probably was inscribed. He was one of the "seers" named in 2 Chr. 29:14, 30,...
[isbe] HEMAN - he'-man (heman, "faithful"): The name of two men in the Old Testament. (1) A musician and seer, a Levite, son of Joel and grandson of the prophet Samuel; of the family of the Kohathites (1 Ch 6:33), appointed by Davi...
[smith] (faithful) Son of Zerah. (1Â Chronicles 2:6; 1Â Kings 4:31) Son of Joel and grandson of Samuel the prophet, a Kohathite. He is called "the singer," rather the musician, (1Â Chronicles 6:33) and was the first of the thr...
[nave] HEMAN 1. A man noted for wisdom, to whom Solomon is compared, 1 Kin. 4:31; 1 Chr. 2:6. 2. "The singer,'' a chief Levite, and musician, 1 Chr. 6:33; 15:17, 19; 16:41. The king's seer, 1 Chr. 25:5. His sons and daughters te...
-
Darda
[ebd] pearl of wisdom, one of the four who were noted for their wisdom, but whom Solomon excelled (1 Kings 4:31).
[isbe] DARDA - dar'-da (darda`, "pearl of wisdom"): One of the wise men to whom Solomon is compared (1 Ki 4:31). He was either a son of Mahol (ibid.) or a son of Zerah, son of Judah (1 Ch 2:6, where the corresponding name in the sa...
[nave] DARDA, called also Dara. A famous wise man, 1 Kin. 4:31; 1 Chr. 2:6.
-
Solomon
[ebd] peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David's second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father on the throne in early man...
[nave] SOLOMON Son of David by Bathsheba, 2 Sam. 12:24; 1 Kin. 1:13, 17, 21. Named Jedidiah, by Nathan the prophet, 2 Sam. 12:24, 25. Ancestor of Joseph, Matt. 1:6. Succeeds David to the throne of Israel, 1 Kin. 1:11-48; 2:12; 1...
-
EZRAHITE
[ebd] a title given to Ethan (1 Kings 4:31; Ps. 89, title) and Heman (Ps. 88, title). They were both sons of Zerah (1 Chr. 2:6).
[isbe] EZRAHITE - ez'-ra-hit ('ezrachi; Asebon): Found in 1 Ki 4:31; Psalms 88; 89, titles; from which it appears that the word is a patronymic for Ethan and Heman. It may be derived from Zerah, instead of Ezrah, seeing that there ...
-
Wisdom
[isbe] WISDOM - wiz'-dum: 1. Linguistic 2. History 3. Religious Basis 4. Ideals 5. Teaching of Christ 6. Remainder of the New Testament (1) James (2) Paul 7. Hypostasis LITERATURE 1. Linguistic: In the Revised Version (British and ...
[nave] WISDOM Of Joseph, Gen. 41:16, 25-39; Acts 7:10. Of Moses, Acts 7:22. Of Bezaleel, Ex. 31:3-5; 35:31-35; 36:1. Of Aholiab, Ex. 31:6; 35:34, 35; 36:1; of other skilled artisans, Ex. 36:2; of women, Ex. 35:26. Of Hiram, 1 K...
-
Chalcol
[smith] (1Â Kings 4:31) [CALCOL]
[nave] CHALCOL, called also Calcol. Son of Nahor, 1 Kin. 4:31; 1 Chr. 2:6.
-
UCAL
[isbe] UCAL - u'-kal ('ukhal (see below)): This name occurs along with that of Ithiel (Prov 30:1), both being taken by older interpreters as those of ancient sages. Some have suggested (see Toy, Proverbs, 519 f) that Ucal might be ...
-
EZRAHITE, THE
[smith] (son of Zerah), a title attached to two persons --Ethan, (1Â Kings 4:31; Psalms 89:1) title, and Heman, Psal 88:1 title.
-
Wise Men
[nave] WISE MEN Of Egypt, Gen. 41:8, 24; Ex. 7:11. Solomon, 1 Kin. 4:29-34. Of Babylon, Dan. 4:18; 5:8. Of the East, Matt. 2:1-12. See: Wisdom.
-
RAMOTH-GILEAD
[isbe] RAMOTH-GILEAD - ra'-moth-gil'-e-ad (ramoth gil'adh; Codex Vaticanus Rhemmath Galadd; Codex Alexandrinus Rhammoth, and other forms): A great and strong city East of the Jordan in the territory of Gad, which played an importan...
-
ZERAH
[smith] (rising (of the sun)). A son of Reuel, son of Esau, (Genesis 36:13; 1Â Chronicles 1:37) and one of the "dukes" or phylarchs of the Edomites. (Genesis 36:17) (B.C. after 1760.) Less properly, Zarah, twin son, with his elder...
-
PHILOSOPHY
[smith] It is the object of the following article to give some account (I.) of that development of thought among the Jews which answered to the philosophy of the West; (II.) of the systematic progress of Greek philosophy as forming a...
-
GENEALOGY, 1-7
[isbe] GENEALOGY, 1-7 - je-na-al'-o-ji, jen-a-al'-o-ji: 1. Definition 2. Biblical References 3. Importance of Genealogies 4. Their Historical Value 5. Principles of Interpretation 6. Principles of Compilation 7. Sources 8. Principa...
-
DEER
[isbe] DEER - der ('ayyal, feminine 'ayyalah, and 'ayyeleth (compare Arabic, 'ayyal and 'iyal, "deer" and 'ayil, "ram," and Latin caper and capra, "goat," caprea, capreolus, "wild goat," "chamois," or "roe deer"); yachmur (compare ...
-
CALCOL; CHALKOL
[isbe] CALCOL; CHALKOL - kal'-kol, kal'-kol (kalkol): Mentioned in 1 Ki 4:31 as one of the wise men with whom Solomon was compared. The better orthography is Calcol which the King James Version gives for the same name in 1 Ch 2:6. ...
-
Micah, Book of
[ebd] the sixth in order of the so-called minor prophets. The superscription to this book states that the prophet exercised his office in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. If we reckon from the beginning of Jotham's reign ...
-
FAME
[isbe] FAME - fam (shem, shema`; akoe, pheme): "Fame" has the twofold meaning, (1) of report or rumor, (2) of renown or reputation (in the Old Testament it is not always easy to distinguish the two senses). "Fame," shema`, "fame," ...
-
Calcol
[ebd] (1 Chr. 2:6), sustenance, the same probably as Chalcol (1 Kings 4:31), one of the four sages whom Solomon excelled in wisdom; for "he was wiser than all men."
Arts
Resources/Books
Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)
-
The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
-
I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
-
The Holy Spirit led the writer of Kings to give an interpretation of history, not just a chronologically sequential record of events. This is true of all the writers of the Old Testament historical books. Some of the events i...
-
The flowing narrative of chapters 1-2 now gives way to reports and lists that catalogue facts about Solomon's reign.The writer constructed the Solomon narrative (chs. 3-11), like so many others in the Old Testament, to draw a...
-
The writer of Kings referred to other ancient records (v. 41; cf. 14:19, 29). The Acts of Solomon was the first of these.120It is no longer extant.Solomon's long reign of 40 years (971-931 B.C.) ended with the king in decline...
-
Aharoni, Yohanan. "The Building Activities of David and Solomon."Israel Exploration Journal24:1(1974):13-16.Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonahl. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.,...
-
The Chronicler's main interest in David's reign, as we have seen, focused on the Davidic Covenant with its promises to David and his descendants. In recounting the events of Solomon's reign he proceeded to emphasize the templ...
-
This is one of the saddest of the psalms. It relates the prayer of a person who suffered intensely over a long time yet continued to trust in the Lord. Heman was a wise man who was a singer in David's service and a contempora...
-
The writer of this royal psalm was Ethan, another wise Levitical musician in David's service (1 Kings 4:31; 1 Chron. 15:17-18).The occasion of writing is unclear. Judging from the content of the psalm it appears to have been ...
-
Solomon had unique resources for investigating life. He was the king of Israel (v. 12), and he possessed superlative wisdom (v. 13; cf. v. 16; 1 Kings 4:26-34). He says he made a comprehensive study of all kinds of human acti...
