1Salomon var konge over hele Israels folk,2og det følgende er en liste over hans højeste embedsmænd: Azarja, søn af Zadok, var præst ved helligdommen;3Elihoref og Ahija, Shishas sønner, var statssekretærer; Joshafat, søn af Ahilud, havde ansvaret for de historiske arkiver;4Benaja, søn af Jojada, var øverstbefalende for hæren; Zadok og Ebjatar var præster;5Azarja, søn af Natan, havde opsyn med alle distriktsguvernørerne; Zabud, søn af Natan, var hofpræst og kongens personlige rådgiver;6Ahishar var hofmarskal; Adoniram, søn af Abda, havde opsyn med alle slaverne.7Salomons 12 distriktsguvernører havde ansvar for at opkræve skat til kongens hof. Hvert distrikt havde ansvar for at sende forsyninger til kongen og hans hof én måned om året.8Det følgende er en liste over distriktsguvernørerne og de områder, de havde ansvar for: Hurs søn var guvernør over Efraims bjergland;9Dekers søn over Makatz-Sha’albim, Bet-Shemesh og Elon-Bet-Hanan;10Heseds søn over byerne Arubbot og Soko samt hele Hefer-området;11Abinadabs søn, som var gift med Salomons datter Tafat, over Dors højland;12Ba’ana, Ahiluds søn, over byerne Ta’anak og Megiddo samt hele området omkring Bet-Shan, som ligger ved Zaretan neden for Jizre’elsletten og op til Abel-Mehola og Jokmeam området;13Gebers søn over Ramot-Gilead, Jairs landsbyer (opkaldt efter Manasses søn Jair) og Argob-området i Bashan, i alt 60 større befæstede byer med portslåer af bronze;14Ahinadab, Iddos søn over Mahanajim-området;15Ahima’atz, der var gift med Basemat—en anden af Salomons døtre—over Naftalis land;16Ba’ana, Hushajs søn, over Ashers land med byen Alot;17Joshafat, Paruas søn, over Issakars land;18Shimi, Elas søn, over Benjamins land;19Geber, Uris søn, over Gilead-området med den del, der havde tilhørt amoritterkongen Sihon og kong Og af Bashan. Der var kun én garnison i hele det område.
Israels og Judas storhedstid
20Under kong Salomon oplevede Juda og Israel en vældig opblomstring. Befolkningstallet voksede stærkt, og alle havde nok at spise og var glade og tilfredse.
1King Solomon was king over all Israel,2and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; (1.Krøn 6,10)3Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; (2.Sam 8,16; 2.Sam 20,24)4Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests; (2.Sam 20,25; 1.Kong 2,27; 1.Kong 2,35)5Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king’s friend; (2.Sam 15,37; 2.Sam 16,16; 1.Kong 4,7; 1.Krøn 27,33)6Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor. (2.Sam 20,24; 1.Kong 5,14; 1.Kong 9,15; 1.Kong 12,18; 2.Krøn 10,18)7Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year.8These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; (Josva 24,33)9Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan;10Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher);11Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife); (Josva 11,2)12Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam; (Josva 17,11)13Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); (4.Mos 32,41; 5.Mos 3,4; 1.Kong 22,3)14Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;15Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);16Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;18Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; (1.Kong 1,8)19Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land. (5.Mos 3,8)
Solomon’s Wealth and Wisdom
20Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy. (1.Mos 22,17; 1.Kong 3,8; 2.Krøn 1,9)21[1] Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates[2] to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. (1.Mos 15,18; 2.Mos 23,31; Josva 1,4; 2.Krøn 9,26; Salm 68,29; Salm 72,8; Salm 72,10)22Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors[3] of fine flour and sixty cors of meal,23ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.24For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates[4] from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him. (1.Mos 10,19; 1.Krøn 22,9)25And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon. (2.Sam 3,10; 2.Kong 18,31; Es 36,16; Jer 23,6; Jer 32,37; Ez 28,26; Mika 4,4; Zak 3,10)26Solomon also had 40,000[5] stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. (1.Kong 10,26; 2.Krøn 1,14; 2.Krøn 9,25)27And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon’s table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking.28Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty. (Ester 8,10; Ester 8,14; Mika 1,13)29And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, (1.Kong 3,12; 1.Kong 4,20)30so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. (Dom 6,3; Es 19,11; Ap G 7,22)31For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. (1.Kong 4,29)32He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. (Ord 1,1; Præd 12,9; Høj 1,1)33He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.34And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. (1.Kong 10,1; 2.Krøn 9,23)