Melakhim I Chapter 4 | Shlomo’s Officials and Administrators

Chapter 4 describes the organizational structure of Shlomo’s kingdom, listing many officials — verses that often signify the establishment of a stable monarchy. Additionally, the chapter presents a list of twelve administrators systematically stationed across the land. Their role was to create an efficient taxation network to sustain the royal household.

Included here is a lecture by Dr. Haggai Misgav from Herzog’s Yemei Iyun b’Tanakh. He delves into Shlomo’s renewed logistical arrangements and their implications compared to his father David’s reign. For instance, he highlights the transition from a kingdom reliant on its military system under David to one focusing more on developing an economic system as part of Shlomo’s ambition to become a global power. Those interested in hearing his remarks specifically about our chapter can skip to minute 48 in the lecture.

Notably, the chapter concludes with one of the most joyful and uplifting verses in the Tanakh: “Yehuda and Israel were as boundless as the sand upon the seashore, eating and drinking and content” (4:20). Here, we see the fulfillment of God’s blessing to the forefathers: “I will make your descendants countless, like the sand of the sea” (Bereishit 32:13), in addition to the “eating, drinking, and content” of the people of Israel.