1 Kings 4:13

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹So King Solomon ruled over Israel, ²and these were his chief officials: Azariah son of Zadok was the priest; ³Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder; ⁴Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; ⁵Azariah son of Nathan was in charge of the governors; Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to the king; ⁶Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram son of Abda was in charge of the labor force. ⁷Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year, ⁸and these were their names: Ben-hur in the hill country of Ephraim; ⁹Ben-deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; ¹⁰Ben-hesed in Arubboth (Socoh and all the land of Hepher belonged to him);

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The son of Geber: or, Ben-geber

Ramothgilead: 1 Kings 22:3, Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 20:8, Joshua 21:38, 2 Kings 9:1, 2 Kings 9:14

the towns: Numbers 32:41, Deuteronomy 3:14

Argob: Deuteronomy 3:4, Deuteronomy 3:8, Deuteronomy 3:13, Deuteronomy 3:14, Psalms 22:12, Psalms 68:15

threescore great cities: These were the fortified cities; their gates and bars being covered with plates of brass.

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 8:28 - Ramothgilead 1 Chronicles 6:71 - Bashan 2 Chronicles 18:2 - Ramothgilead

Cross-References

Job 15:22
He despairs of his return from darkness; he is marked for the sword.

Revelation 16:9
And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.

Revelation 16:11
and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds.

Revelation 16:21
And huge hailstones, about a hundred pounds each, rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The son of Geber in Ramothgilead,.... A city in the tribe of Gad, and was a city of refuge, Joshua 20:8;

to him [pertained] the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which [are] in Gilead; of which see Numbers 32:41;

to him [also pertained] the region of Argob, which [is] in Bashan,

threescore great cities with walls, and brasen bars; called by Josephus s Ragaba, beyond Jordan; Numbers 32:41- :.

s Antiqu. l. 13. c. 15. sect. 5.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

It will be observed that five out of the twelve prefects are designated solely by their father’s names, Ben-Hur, etc., while one (Ahimaaz, 1 Kings 4:15) has no such designation. Probably the document, which the author of the Book of Kings consulted, had contained originally the proper name and father’s name of each prefect; but it was mutilated or illegible in places at the time when he consulted it. If it was in the shape of a list, a single mutilation at one corner might have removed four of the six wanting names.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 4:13. Threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars — These were fortified cities: their gates and bars covered with plates of brass. Such were the gates in Priam's palace: -

Ipse inter primos correpta dura bipenni

Limina perrumpit, POSTES que a cardine vellit

AERATOS. VIRG. AEn., lib. ii. ver. 479.

Fierce Pyrrhus in the front, with forceful sway,

Plied the huge axe, and hew'd the beams away;

The solid timbers from the portal tore,

And rent from every hinge the BRAZEN door.

PITT.