And king Solomon reigned over all Israel:
2 And these were the princes which he had: Azarias the son of Sadoc the priest:
3 Elihoreph, and Ahia, the sons of Sisa, scribes: Josaphat the son of Ahilud, recorder:
4 Banaias the son of Joiada, over the army: and Sadoc and Abiathar priests.
5 Azarias the son of Nathan, over them that were about the king: Zabud, the son of Nathan the priest, the king’s friend:
6 And Ahisar governor of the house: and Adoniram the son of Abda over the tribute.
7 And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and for his household: for every one provided necessaries, each man his month in the year.
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8 And these are their names: Benhur, in mount Ephraim,
9 Bendecar, in Macces, and in Salebim, and in Bethsames, and in Elon, and in Bethanan.
10 Benhesed in Aruboth: his was Socho, and all the land of Epher.
11 Benabinadab, to whom belonged all Nephath-Dor, he had Tapheth the daughter of Solomon to wife.
12 Bana the son of Ahilud, who governed Thanac and Mageddo, and all Bethsan, which is by Sarthana beneath Jezrael, from Bethsan unto Abelmehula over against Jecmaan.
13 Bengaber in Ramoth Galaad: he had the towns of Jair the son of Manasses in Galaad, he was chief in all the country of Argob, which is in Basan, threescore great cities with walls, and brazen bolts.
14 Abinadab the son of Addo was chief in Manaim.
15 Achimaas in Nephtali: he also had Basemath the daughter of Solomon to wife.
16 Baana the son of Husi, in Aser and in Baloth.
17 Josaphat the son of Pharue, in Issachar.
18 Semei the son of Ela in Benjamin.
19 Gaber the son of Uri, in the land of Galaad, in the land of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites and of Og the king of Basan, over all that were in that land.
20 Juda and Israel were innumerable, as the sand of the sea in multitude: eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
21 And Solomon had under him all the kingdoms from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt: and they brought him presents, and served him, all the days of his life.
22 And the provision of Solomon for each day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal,
23 Ten fat oxen and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred rams, besides venison of harts, roes, and buffles, and fatted fowls.
24 For he had all the country which was beyond the river, from Thaphsa to Gazan, and all the kings of those countries: and he had peace on every side round about.
25 And Juda and Israel dwelt without any fear, every one under his vine, and under his fig tree, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand for the saddle.
27 And the foresaid governors of the king fed them: and they furnished the necessaries also for king Solomon’s table, with great care in their time.
28 They brought barley also and straw for the horses, and beasts, to the place where the king was, according as it was appointed them.
29 And God gave to Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart as the sand that is on the sea shore.
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30 And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the Orientals, and of the Egyptians,
31 And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dorda the sons of Mahol, and he was renowned in all nations round about.
32 Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems were a thousand and five.
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33 And he treated about trees from the cedar that is in Libanus, unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall: and he discoursed of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
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34 And they came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who heard of his wisdom.
Ephrem the Syrian
“The officials elected by Solomon designate the order of the chosen ones whom Christ affirmed in his grace and appointed as rulers of his people. Indeed, twelve prefects were selected to administer the incomes of this king and his house, because just as many apostles had to be distributed over the entire world and had to be appointed as treasures of the divine mysteries, so that they might nourish with living and immortal food the Israel of God and might administer the incomes of the house of the peaceful king. Therefore, also the limits of each prefecture were clearly denoted, because, in a similar way, each apostle received a certain province: Simon preached in Rome, John in Ephesus, Matthew in Palestine and Thomas in the region of India.”
Origen
“But that the object of Christianity is that we should become wise can be proved from the ancient Jewish writings, which we also use, as well as from those that were composed after the time of Jesus and that are believed among the churches to be divine. Now, in the fiftieth psalm, David is described as saying in his prayer to God these words: "The unseen and secret things of your wisdom you have manifested to me." Solomon, too, because he asked for wisdom, received it; and if anyone were to peruse the Psalms, he would find the book filled with many maxims of wisdom; and the evidences of Solomon's wisdom may be seen in his treatises, which contain a great amount of wisdom expressed in few words, and in which you will find many praises of wisdom and encouragements towards obtaining it. So wise, moreover, was Solomon, that the queen of Sheba, having heard his name and the name of the Lord, came to try him with difficult questions and spoke to him all things, whatsoever were in her heart; and Solomon answered her all her questions. There was no question omitted by the king that he did not answer her. And the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the possessions that he had, and there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, "The report is true that I heard in my own land regarding you and your wisdom; and I did not believe them who told me, until I had come, and my eyes have seen it. And, lo, they did not tell me the half. You have added wisdom and possessions above all the report that I heard." It is also recorded of him that "God gave Solomon very great wisdom, discernment and breadth of understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol and Darda, children of Mahol; his fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He would speak of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows in the wall; he would speak of animals, and birds, and reptiles and fish. People came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; they came from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom."”
Ishodad of Merv
“Of his three thousand proverbs a single book is left, while all the others perished during the captivity. And of his one thousand and five songs we still possess a single one, that is the Song of Songs.”
Bonaventure
“All men want to be wise and knowing. Yet, soon it happens that the woman deceives the man. But wisdom is the higher, being noble, while knowing is the lower: yet she seems beautiful to man, and he seeks to be joined to her, and his spirit tends to the things that can be known and experienced, and he wills to know them, and to experience the things he knows, and consequently to be united to them. And in this way he is weakened like Solomon who sought to know all things, "and he treated about trees from the cedar that is in Libanus, unto hyssop." And he forgets about the most important, and thus turns to the vain. Therefore passing from knowing to wisdom is not assured: a means must be placed in between, that is, holiness.”