Melachim Alef 4
לעילוי נשמות אמתינו היקרות Esther Oppenheimer and Sarah Shenker עליהן השלום, each deeply devoted and proud to transmit their families’ Torah legacy to the next generations. From their children, Nina and Chaim Shenker
Role Call
As the Navi did with David, we are now given a list of Solomon's officers. These included Benayahu the general and Tzadok the Kohein Gadol, whom we already know. Evyasar, the previous Kohein Gadol, whom Solomon dismissed, continued as Deputy Kohein Gadol, filling in on an as-needed basis. Other officers included Jehoshaphat, Solomon's personal secretary, who had served in the same role for David, and the minister of taxes, Adoniram, who also served in this function for David, but is called Adoram in II Samuel chapter 20. (Read the text of this chapter for a full list of Solomon's court.)
There were also twelve local officers, corresponding not to the twelve Tribes, but to the months of the year. Each was responsible to gather the needs of Solomon's palace for one month of the year. (We'll see in the next chapter what a big job that was!) Two of these officers later married daughters of Solomon.
The chapter ends by telling us that the people of Judah and Israel were very numerous, prosperous and secure in their land.
Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz