1 Kings 4:3

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

Shisha: 2 Samuel 20:25, Sheva, 1 Chronicles 18:6, Shavsha

scribes: or, secretaries

recorder: or, remembrancer. 2 Samuel 8:16, 2 Samuel 20:24, 1 Chronicles 18:15, Isaiah 62:6, *marg.

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 18:18 - the recorder 1 Chronicles 18:16 - Shavsha 1 Chronicles 24:6 - the scribe

Cross-References

Genesis 4:1
And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man," she said.

Genesis 4:11
Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

Numbers 18:12
I give you all the freshest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain that the Israelites give to the LORD as their firstfruits.

1 Kings 17:7
Some time later, however, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Nehemiah 13:6
While all this was happening, I was not in Jerusalem, because I had returned to King Artaxerxes of Babylon in the thirty-second year of his reign. Some time later I obtained leave from the king

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes,.... Their father Shisha, the same with Sheva, was scribe only in David's time; and he being dead very probably, both his sons were continued in the office as secretaries of state, Solomon having more business for such an office, see 2 Samuel 20:25;

Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; who was in the same office in the times of David, and now held it under Solomon, 2 Samuel 8:16.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Shisha, or Shavsha 1 Chronicles 18:16, seems also to have been called Sheva 2 Samuel 20:25, and Seraiah 2 Samuel 8:17.

The “scribes” were probably royal “secretaries” (margin), who drew up the king’s edicts, wrote his letters, and perhaps managed his finances 1 Kings 12:10. They were among his most influential councillors.

By “recorder” or “remembrancer” (margin), we must understand “court annalist” (marginal reference “a”).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 4:3. Elihoreph and Ahiah - scribes — Secretaries to the king.

Jehoshaphat - recorder — Historiographer to the king, who chronicled the affairs of the kingdom. He was in this office under David see 2 Samuel 20:24.