Useful Bible Studies > 1 Kings Commentary > chapter 4
Solomon needed, for his palace and his government, a regular supply of food for every day in the year (4:22-28). To achieve this, the governors or rulers, who collected the taxes in each region, had to make careful plans.
We continue with the list of rulers who, perhaps, supplied Solomon during the Summer months. Summers in Israel are dry, with hardly any rain. However, the fruit harvest is in Summer, so these governors would have supplied fruit for the palace. Their regions are across the centre of Israel, from west to east. They are north of the regions for the first three governors in the list (4:8-10).
Ben-Abinadab was the governor of Dor, which is at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. His land would have included the long, low mountain called Carmel. Isaiah 35:2 mentions how splendid Carmel was. Ben-Abinadab had the great honour to marry one of Solomon’s daughters, as another governor, Ahimaaz, also did (4:15).
Baana’s land was Israel’s great central plain (flat land), which was excellent for agriculture. It included the valleys of the Kishon and Jezreel rivers. The city called Jezreel was in the middle of this plain.
The description of Ben-Geber’s region reminds us how vast and impressive this region was. The 60 towns here all had strong walls for defence that surrounded the town. These towns were in the mountains on the east side of the Jordan river. Deuteronomy 3:13-14 tells more about the history of this region.
Next part: The regions that provided for Solomon's palaces in Autumn (1 Kings 4:14-16)
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