Chapter 5

Solomon’s Riches: International Affairs. ^1 [a]Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River^[b] to the land of the Philistines, down to the border of Egypt; they paid Solomon tribute and served him as long as he lived. ^2 [c]Solomon’s provisions for each day were thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, ³ ten fatted oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred sheep, not counting harts, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl. ⁴ He had dominion over all the land west of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and all its kings, and he had peace on all his borders round about. ^5 (A)Thus Judah and Israel lived in security, everyone under their own vine and fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba, as long as Solomon lived.

Solomon’s Riches: Chariots and Horses. ^6 (B)Solomon had forty thousand stalls for horses for chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. ^7 [d]The governors, one for each month, provided food for King Solomon and for all the guests at King Solomon’s table. They left nothing unprovided. ⁸ For the chariot horses and draft animals also, each brought his quota of barley and straw to the required place.

Solomon’s Renown. ^9 (C)Moreover, God gave Solomon wisdom, exceptional understanding, and knowledge, as vast as the sand on the seashore. ¹⁰ Solomon’s wisdom surpassed that of all the peoples of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. ¹¹ He was wiser than anyone else—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the musicians—and his fame spread throughout the neighboring peoples. ¹² Solomon also uttered three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. ¹³ He spoke of plants, from the cedar on Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall, and he spoke about beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes. ^14 (D)People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Preparations for the Temple.^[e]