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Selected Verse: 1 Kings 4:29 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
1Ki 4:29	King James	And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
HIS WISDOM. (Kg1 4:29-34) God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart--that is, high powers of mind, great capacity for receieving, as well as aptitude for communicating knowledge.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

HIS WISDOM. (Kg1 4:29-34)

God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart--that is, high powers of mind, great capacity for receieving, as well as aptitude for communicating knowledge.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Largeness of heart - What we call "great capacity." The expression which follows is common in reference to numerical multitude Kg1 4:20, but its use here to express mere amplitude or greatness is unique.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
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 East, and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. קרם בּני (sons of the East) are generally the Arabian tribes dwelling in the east of Canaan, who spread as far as to the Euphrates (cf. Jdg 6:3, Jdg 6:33; Jdg 7:12; Jdg 8:10; Job 1:3; Isa 11:14, etc.). Hence we find קרם ארץ used in Gen 25:6 to denote Arabia in the widest sense, on the east and south-east of Palestine; whereas in Gen 29:1 קרם בּני ארץ signifies the land beyond the Euphrates, viz., Mesopotamia, and in Num 23:7, קרם הררי, the mountains of Mesopotamia. Consequently by "the sons of the East" we are to understand here primarily the Arabians, who were celebrated for their gnomic wisdom, more especially the Sabaeans (see at 1 Kings 10), including the Idumaeans, particularly the Temanites (Jer 49:7; Oba 1:8); but also, as כּל requires, the Chaldaeans, who were celebrated both for their astronomy and astrology. "All the wisdom of the Egyptians," because the wisdom of the Egyptians, which was so greatly renowned as almost to have become proverbial (cf. Isa 19:11; Isa 31:2, and Act 7:22; Joseph. Ant. viii. 2, 5; Herod. ii. 160), extended over the most diverse branches of knowledge, such as geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and astrology (Diod. Sic. i. 73 and 81), and as their skill in the preparation of ointments from vegetable and animal sources, and their extensive acquaintance with medicine, clearly prove, embraced natural science as well, in which Solomon, according to Kg1 4:33, was very learned. Kg1 4:31 "He was wiser than all men (of his time), than Ethan the Ezrachite and Heman, Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Machol." These four persons are most probably the same as the "sons of Zerach" (Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara) mentioned in Ch1 2:6, since the names perfectly agree, with the exception of דּרע for דּרדּע, where the difference is no doubt attributable to a copyist's error; although, as the name does not occur again, it cannot be decided whether Dara or Darda is the correct form. Heman and Ethan are also called Ezrachites (האזרחי) in Psa 88:1 and Psa 89:1; and אזרחי is another form of זרחי, the name of the family of Zerach the son of Judah (Num 26:13, Num 26:20), lengthened by א prosthet. But they were both Levites - Heman a Korahite of the line of Kohath and a grandson of Samuel (Ch1 6:18-19), and Ethan a Merarite (Ch1 6:29-32; Ch1 15:17) and the president of the Levitical vocal choirs in the time of David (Ch1 15:19); and Heman was also "the king's seer in the words of God" (Ch1 25:5). Their Levitical descent is not at variance with the epithet Ezrachite. For as the Levite in Jdg 17:7 is spoken of as belonging to the family of Judah, because he dwelt in Bethlehem of Judah, and as Samuel's father, Elkanah the Levite, is called an Ephraimite in Sa1 1:1, because in his civil capacity he was incorporated into the tribe of Ephraim, so Heman and Ethan are called Ezrachites because they were incorporated into the Judaean family of Zerach. It by no means follows from Ch1 2:6 that they were lineal descendants of Zerach. The whole character of the genealogical fragment contained in Ch1 2:6. shows very clearly that it does not give the lineal posterity of Zerach with genealogical exactness, but that certain persons and households of that family who had gained historical renown are grouped together without any more precise account of their lineal descent. Calcol and Darda (or Dara) are never met with again. It is no doubt to these two that the expression מחול בּני refers, though it cannot be determined whether מחול is a proper name or an appellative noun. In support of the appellative meaning, "sons of the dance," in the sense of sacras choreas ducendi periti, Hiller (in the Onomast. p. 872) appeals to Ecc 12:4, "daughters of song." - "And his name was," i.e., he was celebrated, "among all the nations round about" (cf. Kg1 10:1, Kg1 10:23-24). Kg1 4:32 "He spoke three thousand proverbs, and there were a thousand and five of his songs." Of these proverbs we possess a comparatively small portion in the book of Proverbs, probably a selection of the best of his proverbs; but of the songs, besides the Song of Songs, we have only two psalms, viz., Ps 72 and Psa 127:1-5, which have his name, and justly bear it. Kg1 4:33 "And he spoke of trees, from the cedar on Lebanon to the hyssop which grows upon the wall." The cedar and hyssop are placed in antithesis, the former as the largest and most glorious of trees, the latter as the smallest and most insignificant of plants, to embrace the whole of the vegetable kingdom. Thenius maintains that by אזוב we are not to understand the true hyssop, nor the Wohlgemuth or Dosten (ὀρίγανον), according to the ordinary view (see at Exo 12:22), because they are neither of them such small plants as we should expect in an antithesis to the cedar, but "one of the wall-mosses growing in tufts, more especially the orthotrichum saxatile (Oken), which forms a miniature hyssop with its lancet-shaped leaves, and from its extreme minuteness furnishes a perfect antithesis to the cedar." There is much to favour this view, since we can easily imagine that the Hebrews may have reckoned a moss, which resembled the hyssop in its leaves, as being itself a species of hyssop. - "And of beasts and birds, of creeping things and fishes;" the four principal classes into which the Hebrews divided the animal kingdom. Speaking of plants and animals presupposes observations and researches in natural science, or botanical and zoological studies. Kg1 4:34 The widespread fame of his wisdom brought many strangers to Jerusalem, and all the more because of its rarity at that time, especially among princes. The coming of the queen of Sheba to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10) furnishes a historical proof of this. (Note: Greatly as the fame of Solomon's wisdom is extolled in these verses, it was far outdone in subsequent times. Even Josephus has considerably adorned the biblical accounts in his Antiqq. viii. 2, 5. He makes Solomon the author not only of 1005 βιβλία περὶ ᾠδῶν καὶ μελῶν, and 300 βίβλους παραβολῶν καὶ εἰκόνων, but also of magical books with marvellous contents. Compare the extracts from Eupolemus in Eusebii praep. Ev. ix. 31ff., the remnants of Solomon's apocryphal writings in Fabricii Cod. apocr. V. T. i. pp. 914ff. and 1014f., the collection of the Talmudical Sagas in Othonis Lex. rabb. philol. pp. 668f., and G. Weil, bibl. Legenden der Mussulmnner, pp. 225-279. According to the Koran (Sure xxvii. Kg1 4:17.), Solomon understood the languages not only of men and demons, but also of birds and ants. The Turkish literature contains a "Book of Solomon," Suleimanname, consisting of seventy volumes, from which v. Hammer (Rosenl, i. p. 147ff.) has given extracts.)

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

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 East, and all the wisdom of the Egyptians. קרם בּני (sons of the East) are generally the Arabian tribes dwelling in the east of Canaan, who spread as far as to the Euphrates (cf. Jdg 6:3, Jdg 6:33; Jdg 7:12; Jdg 8:10; Job 1:3; Isa 11:14, etc.). Hence we find קרם ארץ used in Gen 25:6 to denote Arabia in the widest sense, on the east and south-east of Palestine; whereas in Gen 29:1 קרם בּני ארץ signifies the land beyond the Euphrates, viz., Mesopotamia, and in Num 23:7, קרם הררי, the mountains of Mesopotamia. Consequently by "the sons of the East" we are to understand here primarily the Arabians, who were celebrated for their gnomic wisdom, more especially the Sabaeans (see at 1 Kings 10), including the Idumaeans, particularly the Temanites (Jer 49:7; Oba 1:8); but also, as כּל requires, the Chaldaeans, who were celebrated both for their astronomy and astrology. "All the wisdom of the Egyptians," because the wisdom of the Egyptians, which was so greatly renowned as almost to have become proverbial (cf. Isa 19:11; Isa 31:2, and Act 7:22; Joseph. Ant. viii. 2, 5; Herod. ii. 160), extended over the most diverse branches of knowledge, such as geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and astrology (Diod. Sic. i. 73 and 81), and as their skill in the preparation of ointments from vegetable and animal sources, and their extensive acquaintance with medicine, clearly prove, embraced natural science as well, in which Solomon, according to Kg1 4:33, was very learned.

Kg1 4:31

"He was wiser than all men (of his time), than Ethan the Ezrachite and Heman, Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Machol." These four persons are most probably the same as the "sons of Zerach" (Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara) mentioned in Ch1 2:6, since the names perfectly agree, with the exception of דּרע for דּרדּע, where the difference is no doubt attributable to a copyist's error; although, as the name does not occur again, it cannot be decided whether Dara or Darda is the correct form. Heman and Ethan are also called Ezrachites (האזרחי) in Psa 88:1 and Psa 89:1; and אזרחי is another form of זרחי, the name of the family of Zerach the son of Judah (Num 26:13, Num 26:20), lengthened by א prosthet. But they were both Levites - Heman a Korahite of the line of Kohath and a grandson of Samuel (Ch1 6:18-19), and Ethan a Merarite (Ch1 6:29-32; Ch1 15:17) and the president of the Levitical vocal choirs in the time of David (Ch1 15:19); and Heman was also "the king's seer in the words of God" (Ch1 25:5). Their Levitical descent is not at variance with the epithet Ezrachite. For as the Levite in Jdg 17:7 is spoken of as belonging to the family of Judah, because he dwelt in Bethlehem of Judah, and as Samuel's father, Elkanah the Levite, is called an Ephraimite in Sa1 1:1, because in his civil capacity he was incorporated into the tribe of Ephraim, so Heman and Ethan are called Ezrachites because they were incorporated into the Judaean family of Zerach. It by no means follows from Ch1 2:6 that they were lineal descendants of Zerach. The whole character of the genealogical fragment contained in Ch1 2:6. shows very clearly that it does not give the lineal posterity of Zerach with genealogical exactness, but that certain persons and households of that family who had gained historical renown are grouped together without any more precise account of their lineal descent. Calcol and Darda (or Dara) are never met with again. It is no doubt to these two that the expression מחול בּני refers, though it cannot be determined whether מחול is a proper name or an appellative noun. In support of the appellative meaning, "sons of the dance," in the sense of sacras choreas ducendi periti, Hiller (in the Onomast. p. 872) appeals to Ecc 12:4, "daughters of song." - "And his name was," i.e., he was celebrated, "among all the nations round about" (cf. Kg1 10:1, Kg1 10:23-24).

Kg1 4:32

"He spoke three thousand proverbs, and there were a thousand and five of his songs." Of these proverbs we possess a comparatively small portion in the book of Proverbs, probably a selection of the best of his proverbs; but of the songs, besides the Song of Songs, we have only two psalms, viz., Ps 72 and Psa 127:1-5, which have his name, and justly bear it.

Kg1 4:33

"And he spoke of trees, from the cedar on Lebanon to the hyssop which grows upon the wall." The cedar and hyssop are placed in antithesis, the former as the largest and most glorious of trees, the latter as the smallest and most insignificant of plants, to embrace the whole of the vegetable kingdom. Thenius maintains that by אזוב we are not to understand the true hyssop, nor the Wohlgemuth or Dosten (ὀρίγανον), according to the ordinary view (see at Exo 12:22), because they are neither of them such small plants as we should expect in an antithesis to the cedar, but "one of the wall-mosses growing in tufts, more especially the orthotrichum saxatile (Oken), which forms a miniature hyssop with its lancet-shaped leaves, and from its extreme minuteness furnishes a perfect antithesis to the cedar." There is much to favour this view, since we can easily imagine that the Hebrews may have reckoned a moss, which resembled the hyssop in its leaves, as being itself a species of hyssop. - "And of beasts and birds, of creeping things and fishes;" the four principal classes into which the Hebrews divided the animal kingdom. Speaking of plants and animals presupposes observations and researches in natural science, or botanical and zoological studies.

Kg1 4:34

The widespread fame of his wisdom brought many strangers to Jerusalem, and all the more because of its rarity at that time, especially among princes. The coming of the queen of Sheba to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10) furnishes a historical proof of this.

(Note: Greatly as the fame of Solomon's wisdom is extolled in these verses, it was far outdone in subsequent times. Even Josephus has considerably adorned the biblical accounts in his Antiqq. viii. 2, 5. He makes Solomon the author not only of 1005 βιβλία περὶ ᾠδῶν καὶ μελῶν, and 300 βίβλους παραβολῶν καὶ εἰκόνων, but also of magical books with marvellous contents. Compare the extracts from Eupolemus in Eusebii praep. Ev. ix. 31ff., the remnants of Solomon's apocryphal writings in Fabricii Cod. apocr. V. T. i. pp. 914ff. and 1014f., the collection of the Talmudical Sagas in Othonis Lex. rabb. philol. pp. 668f., and G. Weil, bibl. Legenden der Mussulmnner, pp. 225-279. According to the Koran (Sure xxvii. Kg1 4:17.), Solomon understood the languages not only of men and demons, but also of birds and ants. The Turkish literature contains a "Book of Solomon," Suleimanname, consisting of seventy volumes, from which v. Hammer (Rosenl, i. p. 147ff.) has given extracts.)

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Largeness of heart - Vastness of understanding, a most comprehensive knowledge of all things both Divine and human.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
God gave Solomon wisdom, etc. - He gave him a capacious mind, and furnished him with extraordinary assistance to cultivate it. Even as the sand that is on the sea-shore - Lord Bacon observes on this: "As the sand on the sea-shore encloses a great body of waters, so Solomon's mind contained an ocean of knowledge." This is a happy and correct illustration.

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²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
³⁰ And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
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.
³² And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.
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.
³⁴ And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

²⁰ Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

¹⁷ Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar:

³⁴ And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

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 blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

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.

¹ A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
² It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
³ Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
⁴ As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
⁵ Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

³² And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

²³ So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
²⁴ And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

¹ And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

⁴ And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

⁶ And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.

¹ Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:

⁷ And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there.

⁵ All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

¹⁹ So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass;

¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

²⁹ The sons of Merari; Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzza his son,
³⁰ Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.
³¹ And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that the ark had rest.
³² And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order.

¹⁸ And the sons of Kohath were, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.
¹⁹ The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers.

²⁰ And the sons of Judah after their families were; of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.

¹³ Of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.

¹ Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

¹ A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

⁶ And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.

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.

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.

²² And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

² Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.

¹¹ Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?

⁸ Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

⁷ Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

⁷ And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.

¹ Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

⁶ But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.

¹⁴ But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

³ His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the hosts of the children of the east: for there fell an hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword.

¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

³³ Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

³ And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;

³⁰ And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.

⁴ And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.

⁴⁹ And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

²⁰ Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

¹² Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.