1 Kings 4:2

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 princes: That is, great, chief, or principal men; for none of them were princes, in the common acceptation of the word. Exodus 18:21, 2 Samuel 8:15-18, 2 Samuel 20:23-26, 1 Corinthians 12:28

Azariah: 1 Chronicles 6:8-10, 1 Chronicles 27:17

priest: or, chief officer

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 15:24 - Zadok 1 Chronicles 18:4 - an hundred chariots

Cross-References

Genesis 3:23
Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 4:25
And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him."

Genesis 4:26
And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to invoke the name of the LORD.

Genesis 9:20
Now Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.

Genesis 37:13
Israel said to him, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them." "I am ready," Joseph replied.

Genesis 47:3
"What is your occupation?" Pharaoh asked Joseph's brothers. "Your servants are shepherds," they replied, "both we and our fathers."

Exodus 3:1
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Psalms 127:3
Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.

Amos 7:15
But the LORD took me from following the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'

Luke 11:51
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And these [were] the princes which he had,.... That were in office about him, in the highest posts of honour and trust:

Azariah the son of Zadok the priest: or rather his grandson, since Ahimaaz was the son of Zadok, and Azariah the son of Ahimaaz, 1 Chronicles 6:8; though another Zadok may be meant, and his son not a priest but a prince, as the word may be rendered, and was Solomon's prime minister of state, and the rather, since he is mentioned first.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest - “The priest” here belongs to Azariah, not to Zadok. The term used כהן kôhên means sometimes a priest, sometimes a civil officer, with perhaps a semi-priestly character. (See 2 Samuel 8:18 note.) In this place it has the definite article prefixed, and can only mean “the high priest.” Azariah, called here the “son,” but really the “grandson,” of Zadok, seems to have succeeded him in the priesthood 1 Chronicles 6:10. His position as high priest at the time when this list was made out gives Azariah the foremost place in it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 4:2. These were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest. — These were his great, chief, or principal men. None of them were princes in the common acceptation of the word.