1 Kings 4:30

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

²⁹And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore. ³⁰Solomon's wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.³¹He was wiser than all men-wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and wiser than Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread throughout the surrounding nations. ³²Solomon composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. ³³He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. ³⁴So men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth when they heard of his wisdom.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the children: Genesis 25:6, Job 1:3, Daniel 1:20, Daniel 4:7, Daniel 5:11, Daniel 5:12, Matthew 2:1, Matthew 2:16

the wisdom of Egypt: Isaiah 19:11, Isaiah 19:12, Acts 7:22

Reciprocal: Genesis 29:1 - came Judges 6:3 - children Judges 7:12 - the Midianites 2 Chronicles 9:22 - passed all the kings Job 1:8 - none Ecclesiastes 1:14 - General Ecclesiastes 1:16 - Lo Ezekiel 25:4 - men

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east,.... The Arabians, and Persians, famous for wisdom, and who lay to the east of the land of Judea; whose wisdom lay in the knowledge of the stars, in divination by birds, and soothsaying m:

and all the wisdom of Egypt; which it was eminent for in the times of Moses, and in which he was learned and well-skilled, Acts 7:22; and hence in later times the philosophers of the Gentiles travelled to get knowledge, as Pherecydes, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Plato, and others to Egypt, said to be the mother of arts and sciences n.

m Midrash Kohelet. fol. 76. 3. n Macrob. in Som. Scip. c. 19. 21. & Saturnal l. 1. c. 15.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Children of the east country - Rather, “of the East” - the Beni Kedem - a distinct tribe, who occupied both sides of the Euphrates along its middle course (marginal reference). They were mostly nomads, who dwelt in tents Jeremiah 49:28-29. Job belonged to them Job 1:3, as did probably his three friends; and, perhaps, Balsam Numbers 23:7. They must have been either Arabs or Aramaeans. We may see in the Book of Job the character of their “wisdom.” Like Solomon’s, it was chiefly gnomic but included some knowledge of natural history. The “wisdom of Egypt” was of a different kind. It included magic Genesis 41:8; Exodus 7:11, geometry, medicine, astronomy, architecture, and a dreamy mystic philosophy, of which metempsychosis was the main principle. It is not probable that Solomon was, like Moses (marginal reference), deeply versed in Egyptian science. The writer only means to say that his wisdom was truer and more real than all the much-praised wisdom of Egypt.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 4:30. The children of the east country — That is the Chaldeans, Persians, and Arabians, who, with the Egyptians, were famed for wisdom and knowledge through all the world.