1Ki 4:21
Solomon’s Regal Splendour. - 1Ki 4:21. “Solomon was ruler over all the kingdoms from the river (Euphrates) onwards, over the land of the Philistines to the border of Egypt, who brought presents and were subject to Solomon his whole life long.” Most of the commentators supply ועד before פלשׁתּים ארץ (even to the land of the Philistines) after the parallel passage 2Ch 9:26, so that the following גּבוּל ועד would give a more precise definition of the terminus ad quem. But it is by no means probable that ועד, which appears to be indispensable, should have dropped out through the oversight of a copyist, and it is not absolutely necessary to supply it, inasmuch as בּ may be repeated in thought before ארץ פ from the preceding clause. The participle מגּשׁים is construed ad sensum with ממלכות. Bringing presents is equivalent to paying tribute, as in 2Sa 8:2, etc.
Vv. 22-28. The splendour of the court, the consumption in the royal kitchen (1Ki 4:22-25), and the well-filled stables (1Ki 4:26-28), were such as befitted the ruler of so large a kingdom.