1 Kings 4:5

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

son of Nathan: 1 Kings 1:10-53, 2 Samuel 7:2, 2 Samuel 12:1-15, 2 Samuel 12:25

the officers: 1 Kings 4:7

the principal: 2 Samuel 8:18, 2 Samuel 20:26

the king's: 2 Samuel 15:37, 2 Samuel 16:16, 2 Samuel 19:37, 2 Samuel 19:38, 1 Chronicles 27:33, Proverbs 22:11, John 13:23, John 15:14, John 15:15, James 2:23

Reciprocal: 1 Chronicles 27:5 - chief priest

Cross-References

Genesis 4:10
"What have you done?" replied the LORD. "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.

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.

Genesis 31:2
And Jacob saw from the countenance of Laban that his attitude toward him had changed.

Genesis 31:5
and he told them, "I can see from your father's face that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me.

Numbers 16:15
Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them."

Job 5:2
For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.

Psalms 20:3
May He remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Selah

Matthew 20:15
Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

Acts 13:45
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

Hebrews 11:4
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Azariah the son of Nathan [was] over the officers,.... The twelve officers who provided food for Solomon's household after mentioned:

and Zabud the son of Nathan; another of the sons of Nathan the prophet: for he being a principal instrument of settling Solomon on the throne, had interest enough to promote his sons to the chief places of honour and trust: and this here

[was] principal officer, [and] the king's friend; a chief minister about him, very intimate with him, that kept him company, privately conversed with him, was in his secrets, and admitted to great privacy and nearness to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The son of Nathan - It is uncertain whether the Nathan of this verse is the prophet or the son of David 2 Samuel 5:14. While on the one hand the position of “king’s friend” is more likely to have been held by a contemporary, which the prophet’s son would have been, than by one so much younger as the son of a younger brother; on the other hand the title “cohen” seems to point to a member of the royal family. (See the next note.) Azariah who was “over the officers” was chief, that is, of the “officers” mentioned in 1 Kings 4:8-19, as appears from the identity of the term here used with the title by which they are designated in 1 Kings 4:7.

Principal officer - Or, “cohen.” The fact that the title כהן kôhên was borne by sons of David 2 Samuel 8:18, who could not be “priests” in the ordinary sense of the word, seems to identify the Nathan of this verse with David’s son 2 Samuel 5:14 rather than with the prophet.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 4:5. Azariah - was over the officers — He had the superintendence of the twelve officers mentioned below; see 1 Kings 4:7.

Zabud - was principal officer — Perhaps what we call premier, or prime minister.

The king's friend — His chief favourite - his confidant.