1 Kings 4:20-23

Solomon’s Wealth and Fame

4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy. 4:21 (5:1) ¹  Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River ²  to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms paid tribute as Solomon’s subjects throughout his lifetime. ³  4:22 Each day Solomon’s royal court consumed ⁴  thirty cors ⁵  of finely milled flour, sixty cors of cereal, 4:23 ten calves fattened in the stall, ⁶  twenty calves from the pasture, and a hundred sheep, not to mention rams, gazelles, deer, and well-fed birds.

[4:21]  ¹ sn Beginning with 4:21, the verse numbers through 5:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:21 ET = 5:1 HT, 4:22 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:18 ET = 5:32 HT. Beginning with 6:1 the numbering of verses in the English Bible and the Hebrew text is again the same.

[4:21]  ² tn Heb “the River” (also in v. 24). This is the standard designation for the Euphrates River in biblical Hebrew.

[4:21]  ³ tn Heb “[They] were bringing tribute and were serving Solomon all the days of his life.”

[4:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “the food of Solomon for each day was.”

[4:22]  ⁵ tn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.

[4:23]  ⁶ tn The words “in the stall” are added for clarification; note the immediately following reference to cattle from the pasture.