1 Kings 4:33 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Kings 4:33
And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
properly · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
fowl
הָע֔וֹףha.'of
H5775
a bird (as covered with feathers · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
things
הָרֶ֖מֶשׂha.Re.mes
H7431
a reptile or any other rapidly moving animal · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fishes
הַדָּגִֽיםha.da.Gim
H1709
a fish (often used collectively) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
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
2 Kings 19:23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountain…
Psalms 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psalms 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Genesis 1:20-25 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open fi…
Exodus 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blo…
Numbers 19:18 And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons…
Numbers 24:6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar t…
Hebrews 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and sc…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 4:29–end
Solomon's wisdom was more his glory than his wealth, and here we have a general account of it.
I. The fountain of his wisdom: God gave it him, Kg1 4:29. He owns it himself. Pro 2:6, The Lord giveth wisdom. He gives the powers of reason (Job 38:36), preserves and improves them. The ordinary advances of them are owing to his providence, the sanctification of them to his grace, and this extraordinary pitch at which they arrived in Solomon to a special grant of his favour to him in answer to prayer.
II. The fulness of it: He had wisdom and understanding, exceeding much, great knowledge of distant countries and the histories of former times, a quickness of thought, strength of memory, and clearne…
he spake of trees, from the cedar . . . to the hyssop--all plants, from the greatest to the least. The Spirit of God has seen fit to preserve comparatively few memorials of the fruits of his gigantic mind. The greater part of those here ascribed to him have long since fallen a prey to the ravages of time, or perished in the Babylonish captivity, probably because they were not inspired.
Next: 1 Kings Chapter 5
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 4:33
He spake of trees - beasts - fowl - creeping things, and of fishes - This is a complete system of natural history, as far as relates to the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and the first intimation we have of any thing of the kind: Solomon was probably the first natural historian in the world.
O, how must the heart of Tournefort, Ray, Linne, Buffon, Cuvier, Swammerdam, Blosch, and other naturalists, be wrung, to know that these works of Solomon are all and for ever lost! What light should we have thrown on the animal and vegetable kingdoms, had these works been preserved! But the providence of God has not thought fit to preserve them, and succeeding naturalists are left to invent the system wh…
Fish — Called dag by the Hebrews, a word denoting great fecundity (Gen. 9:2; Num. 11:22; Jonah 2:1, 10). No fish is mentioned by name either in the Old or in the New Testament. Fish abounded in the…
Forest — Heb. ya’ar, meaning a dense wood, from its luxuriance. Thus all the great primeval forests of Syria (Eccl. 2:6; Isa. 44:14; Jer. 5:6; Micah 5:8). The most extensive was the trans-Jordanic forest of…
Hyssop — (Heb. ‘ezob; LXX. hyssopos), first mentioned in Ex. 12:22 in connection with the institution of the Passover. We find it afterwards mentioned in Lev. 14:4, 6, 52; Num. 19:6, 18; Heb. 9:19. It is…
Philosophy — It is the object of the following article to give some account (I.) of that development of thought among the Jews which answered to the philosophy of the West; (II.) of the systematic progress of…
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
B · History of, written by Solomon — History of, written by Solomon
Birds · General references — General references
Books · Not extant, but mentioned in scripture: Natural history by Solomon — Not extant, but mentioned in scripture: Natural history by Solomon
Cedar, The · Considered the first of trees — Considered the first of trees
Fishes · Solomon wrote the history of — Solomon wrote the history of
And he spake of trees,.... Of all trees, herbs, and plants, of the nature, virtues, and use them:
from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon: a mountain on the northern border of Judea, famous for cedars, the tallest and largest of trees:
even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; which grew about Jerusalem, and in the mountains of it, as an Arabic writes testifies (p), the lowest and least herb; so that what is between the cedar and hyssop include trees and plants of every kind and sort: whether the same herb we call hyssop is meant, is not certain; some take it to be mint; others marjoram; some houseleek; others the wallflower; Levinus Lemnius (q) supposes it to be Adiantum, or mai…
Solomon's Wisdom. - Kg1 4:29. According to His promise in Kg1 3:12, God gave Solomon wisdom and very much insight and לב רחב, "breadth of heart," i.e., a comprehensive understanding, as sand by the sea-shore, - a proverbial expression for an innumerable multitude, or great abundance (cf. Kg1 4:20; Gen 41:49; Jos 11:4, etc.). חכמה signifies rather practical wisdom, ability to decide what is the judicious and useful course to pursue; תּבוּנה, rather keenness of understanding to arrive at the correct solution of difficult and complicated problems; לב רחב, mental capacity to embrace the most diverse departments of knowledge.
Kg1 4:30
His wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the…
proverbs . . . songs: Solomon wrote much of the book of Proverbs and composed Pss 72 and 127. His knowledge of plants and animals reflected his careful observation of nature (see Prov 6:6-8). Solomon’s wisdom and literary prowess (see Matt 12:42) are reflected in the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. No wonder many, including kings (1 Kgs 10:1-9), sought the wisdom of Solomon.
Rashi on 1 Kings 4:19
And one officer over the land. Rav and Shmuel have differing opinions, one says, one was appointed over all of them, and this was Azaryoh[u] the son of Noson, who was mentioned previously,6Above v. 5. and one says he was [appointed] for the thirteenth month.7I.e., the purpose of appointing a thirteenth officer was to take care of the king for the thirteenth month of a leap year. See Maseches Sanhedrin 12a.
Hyssop · An indigenous plant to western Asia and northern Afri — An indigenous plant to western Asia and northern Afri
Reptiles · Solomon wrote a history of — Solomon wrote a history of
Sciences · Botany — Botany
Trees · Solomon wrote the history of — Solomon wrote the history of
Walls · Hyssop frequently grew on — Hyssop frequently grew on
Wisdom · Of — Of
Wise Men · General references — General references
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).
