1 Kings 4:7-19 Names of Twelve Governor’s!

 ”And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year. These are their names: Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim; Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife; Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam; Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged the region of Argob in Bashan—sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars; Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife; Baanah the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin; Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor who was in the land.“ I Kings‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬-‭19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Twelve governors over all Israel: These men were responsible for taxation in their individual districts. The districts were not strictly separated by tribal borders but often according to mountains, land, and region.

i. Solomon’s leadership was creative. We can imagine that in the past, twelve governors would be apportioned strictly along tribal lines. Solomon knew that the way you did it before wasn’t necessarily the best way to do it at the present time. He was willing to try new things.

ii. “The absence of reference to Judah in this list could be explained by ‘there was only oneofficial in the home-land’ (i.e. Judah, RSV) – that is, these twelve districts were additional to Judah, which remained unchanged, some say untaxed.” (Wiseman)

b. Each one made provision for one month of the year: Taxes were paid in grain and livestock, which were used to support the royal court and the central government. Each governor was responsible for one month of the year.

i. Solomon’s leadership was not oppressive. It doesn’t seem too much to do one-twelfth of the work, so each of these governors didn’t feel overwhelmed by the burden of raising so much in taxes. (Guzik)

Names of Twelve Governor’s!

When I study the Bible and a list of names come up, my eyes tend to glaze over! 

But I need to remind myself that there is a reason that the names are mentioned. 

Biblical and historical!

Do you think your pastor could give a sermon on these verses and correctly pronounce all the names?

Blessings 

Twelve Governors