Reading for June 9th

Read 1 Kings 4
In verses 1-34 Solomon's administration.
In verses 1-6 similar lists are found for David's cabinet in 2 Sam 8.15-18.
In verses 7-19 Solomon's reorganized Israel into twelve provinces for the purpose of taxation.
Each province had to provide for the king one month in the year (v.7).
Judah is listed separately (v.19) because it was exempted from taxation as David's and Solomon's home tribe.
In verses 20-21 this is an idealized statement as the revolt immediately after Solomon's death indicates.
The extent of his actual rule may also be exaggerated here.
In verses 22-28 a cor (v.22) was about eleven bushels.
From Dan to Beer-sheba (v.25) marked the traditional boundaries of Israel and Judah.
The expression all of them under the vine and fig trees was an idiom for tranquility and agricultural prosperity.
In verses 29-34 Solomon's legendary wisdom is said to exceed that of the people of the east, which is probably a reference to Mesopotamia (roughly modern day Iraq) and of Egypt (v.30) the two great civilizations of the ancient Near east.
Wisdom is the sense used here involved not only wise judgment but also the composition of wisdom literature such as proverbs, and the observation of the natural world (vv.32-33).
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