Solomon’s governors and officials
4 Solomon was the king who ruled all of Israel, 2 and these were his most important officials:
- Zadok’s son Azariah was the priest.
- 3 Shisha’s sons Elihoreph and Ahijah were the official secretaries.
- Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was the one who announced to the people the king’s decisions.
- 4 Benaiah was the commander of the army.
- Zadok and Abiathar were also priests.
- 5 Nathan’s son Azariah was the administrator of the governors.
- Another of Nathan’s sons, Zabud, was a priest and the king’s chief advisor.
- 6 Ahishar supervised the servants who worked in the palace.
- Abda’s son Adoniram supervised the men who were forced to do work for the government.
7 Solomon appointed twelve men, one to govern each of the regions in Israel. They also were required to provide food for the king and all the others who lived and worked in the palace. Each man was required to provide from his own region the food for one month each year. 8 Their names were:
- Ben-Hur, for the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim.
- 9 Ben-Deker, for Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-Shemesh, and Elon-Bethhanan cities;
- 10 Ben-Hesed, for Arubboth and Socoh towns and the area near Hepher town;
- 11 Ben-Abinadab, who was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath, for all the Dor district;
- 12 Ahilud’s son Baana, for Taanach and Megiddo towns, and all the region near Zarethan city, and from Beth-Shan city south of Jezreel as far as Abel-Meholah town and Jokmeam city;
- 13 Ben-Geber, for Ramoth city in the Gilead region, and for the villages in Gilead that belonged to Jair, who was a descendant of Manasseh, and the Argob area in the Bashan region. There were 60 large towns in that region altogether, each town with a wall around it and bronze bars across the gates.
- 14 Iddo’s son Ahinadab, for Mahanaim city east of the Jordan River;
- 15 Ahimaaz, who had married Solomon’s daughter Basemath, for the territory of the tribe of Naphtali;
- 16 Hushai’s son Baana, for the territory of the tribe of Asher and for Aloth town;
- 17 Paruah’s son Jehoshaphat, for the territory of the tribe of Issachar;
- 18 Ela’s son Shimei, for the territory of the tribe of Benjamin;
- 19 Uri’s son Geber, for the Gilead region, the land that Sihon the king of the Amor people-group formerly ruled, and the Bashan area, which was the area that Og formerly ruled.
In addition to all those, Solomon appointed one governor for the territory of the tribe of Judah.