1 Kings 4:31

_FOR HE WAS WISER THAN ALL MEN; THAN ETHAN THE EZRAHITE, AND HEMAN, AND CHALCOL, AND DARDA, THE SONS OF MAHOL: AND HIS FAME WAS IN ALL NATIONS ROUND ABOUT._ WISER THAN ALL MEN - i:e., all his contemporaries, either at home or abroad than Ethan-or Jeduthun of the family of Merari (1 Chronicles 6:44). Heman (1 Chronicles 15:17) - the chief of the temple musicians, and the king's seers (1 Chronicles 25:5); the other two are not known. THE SONS OF MAHOL - either another name for Zerah (1 Chronicles 2:6) or, taking it as a common noun, signifying a dance, a chorus; "the sons of Mah

29-34 Solomon's wisdom was more his glory than his wealth. He had what is here called largeness of heart, for the heart is often put for the powers of the mind. He had the gift of utterance, as well as wisdom. It is very desirable, that those who have large gifts of any kind, should have large hearts to use them for the good of others. What treasures of wisdom and knowledge are lost! But every sort of knowledge that is needful for salvation is to be found in the holy Scriptures. There came persons from all parts, who were more eager after knowledge than their neighbours, to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Solomon was herein a type of Christ, in whom are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and hid for us, for he is made of God to us, wisdom. Christ's fame shall spread through all the earth, and men of all nations shall come to him, learn of him, and take upon them his easy yoke, and fi...

Verse 1 Kings 4:31. _HE WAS WISER THAN ALL MEN_] He was wiser than any of those who were most celebrated in his time, among whom were the four after mentioned, viz., _Ethan, Heman, Chalcol_, and _Darda_. Ethan was probably the same as is mentioned in some of the Psalms, particularly Psalms 89:1, title; and among the singers in 1 Chronicles 6:42. There is a _Heman_ mentioned in the title to Psalms 88:1. In 1 Chronicles 2:6 we have all the four names, but they are probably not the same persons, for they are there said to be the...

It is most probable that the persons with whom Solomon is compared were contemporaries, men noted for “wisdom,” though there is no other mention of them. HIS FAME WAS IN ALL NATIONS - See below, 1 Kings 10....

EXPOSITION SOLOMON'S RULE, STATE, AND WISDOM.—The remainder of this chapter, which de-scribes to us the extent and character of Solomon's sway (1 Kings 4:20, 1 Kings 4:21, 1 Kings 4:24, 1 Kings 4:25), the pomp and provision of his household (1 Kings 4:22, 1 Kings 4:23, 1 Kings 4:26-11),

FOR HE WAS WISER THAN ALL MEN,.... Not only that lived in his time, but in ages past since the fall of Adam, and in times to come, especially in natural wisdom and knowledge, in all the branches of it; for though some men excel in some part of knowledge, yet not in all, as Solomon did: THAN ETHAN THE EZRAHITE, AND HEMAN, AND CHALCOL, AND DARDA, THE SONS OF MAHOL; men of the same names are said to be sons of Zerah, grandson of Judah, 1 Chronicles 2:6; wherefore these are either other men, or their father had two names; or Mahol here may be an appellative, and describe the character of these then, and point at what they were famous for, as that they were sons of music, piping, and dancing, as Mahol may signify; the Jews have a tradition o, that Ethan is Abraham, and Heman Moses, and Chalcol Joseph: AND HIS FAME WAS IN ALL NATIONS ROUND ABOUT; not f

3. SOLOMON'S PRINCES AND OFFICERS THE PROSPEROUS KINGDOM AND THE KING'S GREAT WISDOM CHAPTER 4 _ 1. The Princes (1 Kings 4:1)_ 2. The Officers (1 Kings 4:7) 3. The prosperous kingdom (1 Kings 4:20) 4. Solomon's great wisdom (1 Kings 4:29) “So King Solomon was king over all Israel.” A list of the princes and the twelve officers is given first. Their names fit in perfectly with the character of the kingdom, foreshadowing the coming and better kingdom of our Lord. We give the names of the princes with their meaning. Azariah, “Jehovah is help”; Elihoreph, “my God is reward”; Ahiah, “Brother of Jeho

1 KINGS 3:1 TO 1 KINGS 4:34. EARLY DAYS, REIGN, AND WISDOM OF SOLOMON. The sources of this section are various, and the arrangement of the narrative in the LXX should be noticed. There are (_a_) a statistical account of Solomon s reign, referred to, apparently in 1 Kings 11:41, as the book of the acts of Solomon; (_b_) a number of narratives about this reign; (_c_) several Deuteronomic additions_ e.g._ 1 Kings 3:6; 1 Kings 3:14, etc.: and (_d_) some very late passages, possibly originally explanatory notes. The history of Solomon's reign

ALL MEN. any man. MEN. Hebrew. _'adam,_ with Art. (App-14). any human being. ETHAN. The same four names occur among the sons of Zerah the son of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:6), except Dara for Darda; but compare 1 Chronicles 6:44 and 1 Chronicles 6:33. FAME. name....

_Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman_ Ethan and Heman are among the names of the singers (1 Chronicles 15:19) appointed by David when the ark was brought up to the city of David, but there is no possibility of deciding whether those are the men alluded to here. In 1 Chronicles (1 Kings 15:17) Ethan is called the son of Kushaiah, and the son of Kishi (1 Chronicles 6:44), and Heman is, in the latter chapter (1 Kings 4:33), called the son of Joel. See the next note. _Chalcol_ The better orthography is CALCOL which A.V. gives for the same name in...