Advisers and Staff

1 Kings 4:1-19

¹ King Solomon was king over all Israel,

² and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest;

³ Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;

⁴ Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;

⁵ Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king’s friend;

⁶ Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

⁷ Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year.

⁸ These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;

⁹ Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan;

¹⁰ Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher)

¹¹ Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);

¹² Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;

¹³ Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars);

¹⁴ Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;

¹⁵ Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);

¹⁶ Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;

¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;

¹⁸ Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;

¹⁹ Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

As students of the Bible, it is easy to look at a reading such as we have today and just sort of skip over it, right? I mean, it’s just a list of names which are unpronounceable and these verses don’t really propel the story forward at all. This is a short passage of that type. There are some that go on for pages! But we should not be so quick to skip this information because it was important enough to God to include it in His Word, so maybe it’s important enough for us to give it some attention.

Here we see Solomon setting up his governing body. These are the people who would help rule the people during Israel's most influential period in all of history. Many of these appointed leaders are left over from the reign of King David and so already have a working knowledge of how to lead.

But there are a few more important clues in this passage that will point into the future for Solomon’s reign as well. Unfortunately, in this assemblage of leadership lie the seeds of destruction as well as the foundation for the nation’s government. As you already know, the nation is based around the 12 Tribes of Israel. While the people saw themselves as one nation, The Children of Israel, they were also very closely bound to their individual tribes. There was great loyalty to one’s tribal roots. It was the law that each of the twelve tribes had to provide one month’s worth of food and provisions for the king’s court – except for the tribe of Judah (which was Solomon’s tribe)! This created a platform for some of the revolt that will happen after Solomon’s death. Also take note of verse 6.  “Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.” That’s right – the slaves. This also created animosity and resentment which festered until Solomon’s death, creating yet another reason for that revolt. So, as you can see, while this list appears to be boring or something to skip over, it is not. It holds a great deal of information that is helpful to the Biblical scholar.

Whenever we start picking things to “skip” in the Bible, we are making a mistake. If it were not important, God would not have included it. Sometimes, the greatest insights can come when the reading is difficult, or dare I say, even boring. Entertainment is not the goal of Bible study. Instead we seek after insight, inspiration, edification, and information. Even in the boring parts we learn what to do, what not to do, and just exactly what God is like. Next time you’re tempted to skip a section, don’t. Give it a read and see what God has for you!