1 Kings 4:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Kings 4:13
The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars:
Ben-Geber · noun, common masculine singular construct
Ramoth-gilead
גִּלְעָ֑דgil.'Ad
H1568
Gilad · proper noun, a place name
towns
חַוֹּת֩cha.Vot
H2333
by implication · noun, common feminine plural construct
Jair
יָאִ֨ירya.'Ir
H2971
Jair · proper noun, a man's name
son
בֶּןben-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Manasseh
מְנַשֶּׁ֜הme.na.Sheh
H4519
Menashsheh · proper noun, a man's name
Gilead
בַּגִּלְעָ֗דba.gil.'Ad
H1568
Gilad · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
region
חֶ֤בֶלChe.vel
H2256
a rope (as twisted) · noun, common both genders singular construct
Argob
אַרְגֹּב֙'ar.Go
H709
Argob · proper noun, a place name
Bashan
בַּבָּשָׁ֔ןba.ba.Shan
H1316
Bashan (often with the article) · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
threescore
שִׁשִּׁים֙shi.Shim
H8346
sixty · noun, common masculine plural absolute
great
גְּדֹל֔וֹתge.do.Lot
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine plural absolute
cities
עָרִ֣ים'a.Rim
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural absolute
walls
חוֹמָ֖הcho.Mah
H2346
a wall of protection · noun, common feminine singular absolute
brasen
נְחֹֽשֶׁתne.Cho.shet
H5178
copper · noun, common feminine singular absolute
bars
וּבְרִ֥יחַu.ve.Ri.ach
H1280
a bolt · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 32:41 And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair.
Deuteronomy 3:4 And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the k…
1 Kings 22:3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of th…
Deuteronomy 3:8 And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unt…
Deuteronomy 3:13-14 And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all B…
Deuteronomy 4:43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the…
Joshua 20:8 And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramot…
Joshua 21:38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 4:1-19
Here we have,
I. Solomon upon his throne (Kg1 4:1): So king Solomon was king, that is, he was confirmed and established king over all Israel, and not, as his successors, only over two tribes. He was a king, that is, he did the work and duty of a king, with the wisdom God had given him. Those preserve the name and honour of their place that mind the business of it and make conscience of it.
II. The great officers of his court, in the choice of whom, no doubt, his wisdom much appeared. It is observable, 1. That several of them are the same that were in his father's time. Zadok and Abiathar were then priests (Sa2 20:25), so they were now; only then Abiathar had the precedency, now Zadok. Jehosh…
The son of Hur--or, as the Margin has it, Benhur, Bendekar. In the rural parts of Syria, and among the Arabs, it is still common to designate persons not by their own names, but as the sons of their fathers.
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 4:13
Threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars - These were fortified cities: their gates and bars covered with plates of brass. Such were the gates in Priam's palace: -
Ipse inter primos correpta dura bipenni
Limina perrumpit, Postes que a cardine vellit
Aeratos. Virg. Aen., lib. ii. ver. 479.
Fierce Pyrrhus in the front, with forceful sway,
Plied the huge axe, and hew'd the beams away;
The solid timbers from the portal tore,
And rent from every hinge the Brazen door.
Pitt.
John Gill on 1 Kings 4:13
The son of Geber in Ramothgilead,.... A city in the tribe of Gad, and was a city of refuge, Joshua 20:8;
to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; of which see Numbers 32:41;
to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan,
threescore great cities with walls, and brasen bars; called by Josephus (s) Ragaba, beyond Jordan; See Gill on Deuteronomy 3:4.
(s) Antiqu. l. 13. c. 15. sect. 5.
Dictionary and topics
Argob — Stony heap, an “island,” as it has been called, of rock about 30 miles by 20, rising 20 or 30 feet above the table-land of Bashan; a region of crags and chasms wild and rugged in the extreme. On this…
Bar — Used to denote the means by which a door is bolted (Neh. 3:3); a rock in the sea (Jonah 2:6); the shore of the sea (Job 38:10); strong fortifications and powerful impediments, etc. (Isa. 45:2; Amos…
Bashan — Light soil, first mentioned in Gen. 14:5, where it is said that Chedorlaomer and his confederates “smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth,” where Og the king of Bashan had his residence. At the time of…
Bashan-havoth-jair — The Bashan of the villages of Jair, the general name given to Argob by Jair, the son of Manasseh (Deut. 3:14), containing sixty cities with walls and brazen gates (Josh. 13:30; 1 Kings 4:13). (See…
Chebel — (cord), one of the singular topographical terms in which the ancient Hebrew language abounded. We find it always attached to the region of Argob. (3:4,13,14; 1 Kings 4:13)
City — The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain (Gen. 4:17). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12). Next, we have…
Geber — A valiant man, (1 Kings 4:19), one of Solomon’s purveyors, having jurisdiction over a part of Gilead, comprising all the kingdom of Sihon and part of the kingdom of Og (Deut. 2; 31).
Havoth-jair — Hamlets of the enlightener a district in the east of Jordan. (1.) Jair, the son of Manasseh, took some villages of Gilead and called them by this name (Num. 32:41). (2.) Again, it is said that Jair…
Havothjair — (villages of Jair), certain villages on the east of Jordan, in Gilead or Bashan, which were taken by Jair the son of Manasseh, and called after his name. (Numbers 32:41; 3:14) In the records of…
Jair — Enlightener. (1.) The son of Segub. He was brought up with his mother in Gilead, where he had possessions (1 Chr. 2:22). He distinguished himself in an expedition against Bashan, and settled in the…
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 4:7-19
Solomon's Official Persons and Their Districts. - Kg1 4:7. Solomon had (appointed) twelve נצּבים over all Israel, who provided (כּלכּלוּ) for the king and his house, i.e., supplied provisions for the necessities of the court. These prefects are not to be regarded as "chamberlains," or administrators of the royal domains (Michaelis and Ewald), for these are mentioned in Ch1 27:25. under a different title. They are "general receivers of taxes," or "chief tax-collectors," as Rosenmller expresses it, who levied the king's duties or taxes, which consisted in the East, as they still do to the present time, for the most part of natural productions, or the produce of the land, and not of money payme…
The twelve district governors probably handled lesser administrative duties, such as securing revenue and providing food for the king’s household. Solomon’s twelve districts did not exactly coincide with the old tribal allotments.
Rashi on 1 Kings 4:13
The Argov region. He [Gever’s son] was appointed over them to collect the king’s tax, because the rules pertaining to the monarchy allow for his expenditures to be collected from the people, as it is stated in the rules pertaining to the monarchy, in the book of Shmuel.5See Ibid.
Ramothgilead — (heights of Gilead), one of the great fastnesses on the east of jordan, and the key to an important district. (1 Kings 4:13) It was the city of refuge for the tribe of Gad, (4:43; Joshua 20:8; 21:38)…
Argob · 1. A region east of the Jordan River — 1. A region east of the Jordan River
Ben-Geber (R. V.) · In R.V. — In R.V.
Brass · .Bars — .Bars
Brass, Or Copper · Made into: Bars for gates — Made into: Bars for gates
Commissary · For royal households — For royal households
Geber · Name of two men, officers of — Name of two men, officers of
Holy Land · Divided into: Twelve provinces by Solomon — Divided into: Twelve provinces by Solomon
Jair · 1. — 1.
Kings · Officers of: Providers for the king’s table — Officers of: Providers for the king’s table
Officer · .Appointed by kings — .Appointed by kings
Purveyor · For — For
Ramoth-Gilead · One of — One of
Tax · Paid in provisions — Paid in provisions
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
