1 So king Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 And these were the princes which he had; Azariah the son of Zadok the priest, 3 Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder. 4 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the host: and Zadok and Abiathar were the priests: 5 And Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers: and Zabud the son of Nathan was principal officer, and the king's friend: 6 And Ahishar was over the household: and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the tribute. 7 And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, which provided victuals for the king and his household: each man his month in a year made provision. 8 And these are their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim: 9 The son of Dekar, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan: 10 The son of Hesed, in Aruboth; to him pertained Sochoh, and all the land of Hepher: 11 The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam: 13 The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brasen bars: 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo had Mahanaim: 15 Ahimaaz was in Naphtali; he also took Basmath the daughter of Solomon to wife: 16 Baanah the son of Hushai was in Asher and in Aloth: 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar: 18 Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin: 19 Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land. 20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. 21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22 And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, 23 Ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. 25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. 27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon's table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge. 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.
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 1 Kings 4:1-19
The officials elected by Solomon designate the order of the chosen ones whom Christ affirmed in his grace and appointed as rulers of his people. Indeed, twelve prefects were selected to administer the incomes of this king and his house, because just as many apostles had to be distributed over the entire world and had to be appointed as treasures of the divine mysteries, so that they might nourish with living and immortal food the Israel of God and might administer the incomes of the house of the peaceful king. Therefore, also the limits of each prefecture were clearly denoted, because, in a similar way, each apostle received a certain province: Simon preached in Rome, John in Ephesus, Matthew in Palestine and Thomas in the region of India.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 4:4
Abiathar: By this it appears that Abiathar was not altogether deposed from the high priesthood; but only banished to his country house, and by that means excluded from the exercise of his functions.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 4:21
The river: Euphrates.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Kings 4:29-34
But that the object of Christianity is that we should become wise can be proved from the ancient Jewish writings, which we also use, as well as from those that were composed after the time of Jesus and that are believed among the churches to be divine. Now, in the fiftieth psalm, David is described as saying in his prayer to God these words: “The unseen and secret things of your wisdom you have manifested to me.” Solomon, too, because he asked for wisdom, received it; and if anyone were to peruse the Psalms, he would find the book filled with many maxims of wisdom; and the evidences of Solomon’s wisdom may be seen in his treatises, which contain a great amount of wisdom expressed in few words, and in which you will find many praises of wisdom and encouragements towards obtaining it. So wise, moreover, was Solomon, that the queen of Sheba, having heard his name and the name of the Lord, came to try him with difficult questions and spoke to him all things, whatsoever were in her heart; and Solomon answered her all her questions. There was no question omitted by the king that he did not answer her. And the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the possessions that he had, and there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, “The report is true that I heard in my own land regarding you and your wisdom; and I did not believe them who told me, until I had come, and my eyes have seen it. And, lo, they did not tell me the half. You have added wisdom and possessions above all the report that I heard.” It is also recorded of him that “God gave Solomon very great wisdom, discernment and breadth of understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol and Darda, children of Mahol; his fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. He composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He would speak of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows in the wall; he would speak of animals, and birds, and reptiles and fish. People came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon; they came from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.”

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Kings 4:29-34
[Greek philosophers] took these ideas from Solomon, since it was long before them in age and time that he first gave these teachings through the Spirit of God. The Greeks have brought them forth as their own discoveries, and they have also included them in their books of instructions and left them to be handed down to their successors. But, as we have said, Solomon discovered them before all the rest and taught them through the wisdom he received from God, as it is written, “And God gave Solomon understanding and wisdom beyond measure, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. And his wisdom was made greater than that of all the ancient sons of humankind and all the wise men of Egypt.” Thus, Solomon, since he wished to distinguish from one another and to separate what we have called earlier the three general disciplines, that is, moral, natural and contemplative, set them forth in three books, each one in its own logical order. Thus, he first taught in Proverbs the subject of morals, setting regulations for life together, as was fitting, in concise and brief maxims. And he included the second subject, which is called the natural discipline, in Ecclesiastes, in which he discusses many natural things. And by distinguishing them as empty and vain from what is useful and necessary, he warns that vanity must be abandoned and what is useful and right must be pursued. He also handed down the subject of contemplation in the book we have in hand, that is, Song of Songs, in which he urges on the soul the love of the heavenly and the divine under the figure of the bride and the bridegroom, teaching us that we must attain fellowship with God by the paths of loving affection and of love. Indeed, he was not unaware that he was laying the foundations of the true philosophy and founding the order of its disciplines and principles.

[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 1 Kings 4:29-34
Of his three thousand proverbs a single book is left, while all the others perished during the captivity. And of his one thousand and five songs we still possess a single one, that is the Song of Songs.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 4:32
Three thousand parables: These works are all lost, excepting some part of the parables extant in the book of Proverbs; and his chief poem called the Canticle of Canticles.