Daily Tanach Thursday Sefer Melachim 1 – Chapter 4: The king’s ministers and advisors

• The 12 governors: Shlomo had 12 governors appointed over the Jewish people who were in charge of providing the king and his family with sustenance on a monthly basis. There was one governor appointed per month. The following were their names:
  1. Ben Chur in the mountain of Efraim. [He was appointed to collect the money from this region of Efraim.^[1]]
  2. Ben Deker was in charge of collecting funds from the area of Makatz, Shalavim and Bet Shemesh.
  3. Eilon was in charge of collecting funds from Beis Chanan.
  4. Ben Chesed was in charge of collecting funds from Arubos, Lo Shocheh, and the entire land of Chefer.
  5. Ben Avinadav was in charge of collecting funds from the entire region of Dor. He was married to Tafas the daughter of Shlomo.
  6. Baanah the son on Achilud was in charge of collecting funds from Taanach and Megiddo and the entire region of Beis Shean which was near Tzarsana, under Yizrael, from Beit Shean until Avel Mechola, until the passing of Yakmeam.
  7. Ben Gever was in charge of collecting funds from Ramos Gilad, and Chavos Yair the son of Menashe which was in Gilad, and the strip of Argov which was in Bashan. [This strip of Argov^[2]] contained a total of 60 large cities which were fortified with walls and contained copper door locks.
  8. Achinadav the son of Iddo was in charge of collecting funds from Machanayim.
  9. Achimatz was in charge of collecting funds from the region of Naftali. He too had married Basmas, the daughter of Shlomo, as a wife
  10. Bana the son of Chushai was in charge of collecting funds from the territory of Asher, and Alos.
  11. Yehoshafat the son of was in charge of collecting funds from the territory of Yissachar.
  12. Shimi the son of Eilah was in charge of collecting funds from the territory of Benjamin.
  13. Gever the son of Uri was in charge of collecting funds from the [remaining^[3]] territory of Gilad, which was the land of Sichon the king of the Amorites and of Og the King of Bashan.
• The top governor: There was one governor who was appointed to be in charge of all the other governors in the land. [His name was Azaryahu the son of Nathan, as stated above.^[4] Alternatively, the intent of this verse is to state that there was a governor appointed for the leap year month of Adar.^[5]]

1.      The state of the Jewish people at that time:

• At that time Judah and the people of Israel were very populous like the sand of the sea and ate and drank with joy.

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[1] Metzudos Dovid 4:8

[2] Metzudos Dovid 4:13

[3] Metzudos Dovid 4:19

[4] Metzudos Dovid 4:19

[5] See Rashi 4:19; Sanhedrin 12:1