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Wednesday, May 14th, 2025
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Read the Bible

New American Standard Bible (1995)

1 Kings 4:20

Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Rulers;   Solomon;   Tax;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Holy Land;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Blessedness;   Israel;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, the Book of;   Solomon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Kings, 1 and 2;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Government;   Israel;   Solomon;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Sea;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Sand;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Sand;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Triennial Cycle;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea; they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing.
Hebrew Names Version
Yehudah and Yisra'el were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
King James Version
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.
English Standard Version
Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy.
New Century Version
There were as many people in Judah and Israel as grains of sand on the seashore. The people ate, drank, and were happy.
New English Translation
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.
Amplified Bible
[The people of] Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is in abundance by the sea; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
New American Standard Bible
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were eating, drinking, and rejoicing.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Iudah and Israel were many, as the sand of the sea in number, eating, drinking, and making merry.
Legacy Standard Bible
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and being glad.
Contemporary English Version
There were so many people living in Judah and Israel while Solomon was king that they seemed like grains of sand on a beach. Everyone had enough to eat and drink, and they were happy.
Complete Jewish Bible
Y'hudah and Isra'el were as numerous as sand grains on the seashore; they ate, drank and enjoyed themselves.
Darby Translation
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
Easy-to-Read Version
In Judah and Israel there were as many people as sand on the seashore. The people were happy and had plenty to eat and drink.
George Lamsa Translation
Judah and Israel were as many in multitude as the sand which is by the sea; they ate and drank and made merry.
Good News Translation
The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore; they ate and drank, and were happy.
Lexham English Bible
Judah and Israel were as many as the sand which is on the seashore in abundance, eating and drinking and rejoicing!
Literal Translation
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand by the sea in multitude; eating and drinking and rejoicing.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
As for Iuda and Israel, they were in nombre as the sonde of the see, and ate and dronke, and were mery.
American Standard Version
Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
Bible in Basic English
Judah and Israel were as great in number as the sand by the seaside, and they took their food and drink with joy in their hearts.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Iuda and Israel were many [euen] as the sande of the sea in numbre, eating, drincking, and making mery.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
King James Version (1611)
Iudah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merrie.
English Revised Version
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
Berean Standard Bible
Judah and Israel became as numerous as the sand by the sea, eating and drinking and rejoicing.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Juda and Israel weren vnnoumbrable, as the soond of the see in multitude, etynge, and drynkynge, and beynge glad.
Young's Literal Translation
Judah and Israel [are] many, as the sand that [is] by the sea for multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing.
Update Bible Version
Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
Webster's Bible Translation
Judah and Israel [were] many, as the sand which [is] by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.
World English Bible
Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
New King James Version
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing.
New Living Translation
The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They were very contented, with plenty to eat and drink.
New Life Bible
There were many people in Judah and Israel, as much as the sand beside the sea. They were eating and drinking and full of joy.
New Revised Standard
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea; they ate and drank and were happy.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Judah and Israel, were many, as the sand that is by the sea, for multitude, - eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Juda and Israel were innumerable, as the sand of the sea in multitude; eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
Revised Standard Version
Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea; they ate and drank and were happy.
THE MESSAGE
Judah and Israel were densely populated—like sand on an ocean beach! All their needs were met; they ate and drank and were happy. Solomon was sovereign over all the kingdoms from the River Euphrates in the east to the country of the Philistines in the west, all the way to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and were vassals of Solomon all his life.

Contextual Overview

20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.21 Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour and sixty kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over everything west of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River; and he had peace on all sides around about him. 25 So Judah and Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 Those deputies provided for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon's table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to his charge.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

as the sand: 1 Kings 3:8, Genesis 13:16, Genesis 15:5, Genesis 22:17, Proverbs 14:28

eating: 1 Samuel 30:16, 1 Chronicles 12:39, Job 1:18, Psalms 72:3-7, Ecclesiastes 2:24, Isaiah 22:13, Micah 4:4, Zechariah 3:10, Zechariah 9:15, Acts 2:46

Reciprocal: Genesis 49:11 - he washed Numbers 1:46 - General Joshua 11:4 - as the sand 2 Samuel 17:11 - as the sand 1 Kings 4:29 - as the sand 1 Kings 12:4 - our yoke 2 Kings 18:31 - eat ye 1 Chronicles 22:9 - I will give 2 Chronicles 10:4 - grievous Psalms 68:13 - the wings Psalms 72:16 - of the city Psalms 80:9 - and it Isaiah 10:22 - though thy Isaiah 36:16 - eat ye Jeremiah 22:15 - eat Zechariah 10:8 - and they Hebrews 11:12 - as the sand Revelation 20:8 - the number

Cross-References

Genesis 4:2
Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Genesis 4:4
Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering;
Genesis 4:5
but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
Genesis 4:9
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
Genesis 4:10
He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.
Genesis 4:11
"Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:12
"When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth."
Genesis 4:21
His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.
Genesis 25:27
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.
John 8:44
"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Judah and Israel [were] many, as the sand which [is] by the sea in multitude,.... Being blessed with great fruitfulness in their families, and having no pestilential disease among them, nor wars to lessen their number, and so the promise to Abraham was fulfilled, Genesis 22:17; and which was an emblem of Christ's spiritual subjects, especially in the latter day, whom Solomon was a type of, see Hosea 1:10;

eating, and drinking, and making merry; having a large increase of the fruits of the earth, and in no fear of any enemies; expressive of the spiritual joy of believers in the kingdom of Christ, and under the word and ordinances, Song of Solomon 2:3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

There is some doubt about the proper arrangement of the remainder of this chapter. The best alteration, if we alter the Hebrew order at all, would be to place 1 Kings 4:20-21 after 1 Kings 4:25.

Many ... - See 1 Kings 3:8 note; and compare Psalms 127:1-5, which is traditionally ascribed to Solomon, and which celebrates the populousness and security of Israel in his day.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 4:20. Eating and drinking, and making merry. — They were very comfortable, very rich, very merry, and very corrupt. And this full feeding and dissipation led to a total corruption of manners.


 
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