Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 4:28
Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where [the officers] were, every man according to his charge.
28. unto the place where the officers were ] As shewn by the italics of A. V. there is no word in the original for ‘the officers.’ The verb moreover is in the singular. It is better therefore to render with the margin of R.V. ‘where he (i.e. the king) was’ or ‘where it should be.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Barley is to this day in the East the common food of horses.
Dromedaries – Coursers. The animal intended is neither a camel nor a mule, but a swift horse.
The place where the officers were – Rather, places where the horses and coursers were, i. e., to the different cities where they were lodged.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. And dromedaries] The word rechesh, which we translate thus, is rendered beasts, or beasts of burden, by the Vulgate; mares by the Syriac and Arabic; chariots by the Septuagint; and race-horses by the Chaldee. The original word seems to signify a very swift kind of horse, and race-horse or post-horse is probably its true meaning. To communicate with so many distant provinces, Solomon had need of many animals of this kind.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Dromedaries, or mules, by comparing this with 2Ch 9:24; or post horses, which are particularly mentioned and distinguished from the other horses, because they took a more exact and particular care about them. Howsoever, it is agreed that these were swift beasts, which is evident from Est 8:10,14; Mic 1:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. Barley . . . and strawStrawis not used for litter, but barley mixed with chopped straw is theusual fodder of horses.
dromedariesone-humpedcamels, distinguished for their great fleetness.
1Ki4:29-34. HIS WISDOM.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Barley also, and straw for the horses and dromedaries,…. Or rather mules, by comparing the passage with 2Ch 9:24; the particular kind of creatures meant is not agreed on; though all take them to be a swifter sort of creatures than horses; or the swifter of horses, as race horses or posts horses: barley was for their provender, that being the common food of horses in those times and countries, and in others, as Bochart h has shown from various writers; and in the Misnah i it is called the food of beasts; and Solomon is said to have every day his own horses two hundred thousand Neapolitan measures of called “tomboli” k; so the Roman soldiers, the horse were allowed a certain quantity of barley for their horses every morning, and sometimes they had money instead of it, which they therefore called “hordiarium” l and the “straw” was for the litter of them: these
brought they unto the place; where the officers were; not where the king was, as the Vulgate Latin version; where Solomon was, as the Arabic version, that is, in Jerusalem; nor
where [the officers] were; in their respective jurisdictions, as our version supplies it, which would be bringing them to themselves; but to the place where the beasts were, whether in Jerusalem, or in any, other parts of the kingdom:
every man according to his charge: which he was monthly to perform.
h Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 9. col. 158, 159. Vid. Homer. Iliad. 4. ver. 196. and Iliad. 8. ver. 560. i Sotah, c. 2. sect. 1. k Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 10. 2. l Vid. Valtrinum de re Militar. Roman. l. 3. c. 15. p. 236.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(28) Dromedariesproperly (see Margin), swift beasts; probably the horses of the royal messengers, as distinguished from the war horses.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Dromedaries The dromedary differs from the camel in being of a finer and more elegant form, having one hump on the back instead of two, and in being trained for greater speed. But the Hebrew word means a swift-courser, or race-horse, and in Mic 1:13, is rendered swift-beast, one that was used with the chariot, and so could hardly be the dromedary. In Est 8:10; Est 8:14, it is rendered mule, but swift-courser would be better.
Where the officers were The Septuagint and Vulgate read, where the king was. But it is still better simply to supply they, referring to the horses and coursers. The barley and straw were brought where the horses were kept by those who had this matter in charge, every man according to his charge , literally, according to his judgment; that is, according to the amount which it was decided each should bring.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 4:28. Straw for the horses See Jdg 19:21 whence there is room to think, that this was not straw to litter with. The litter now used for horses, &c. in the east, is their own dung, dried in the sun, and bruised between the hands, which is heaped up again in the morning, and in the summer sprinkled with fresh water to keep it from corrupting. Observations, p. 209.
REFLECTIONS.1. Solomon’s kingdom was prodigiously extensive: not only Israel submitted to his gentle sway, but all the nations which his father had conquered by arms; nor did any of them think of struggling against an administration so wise and equitable. Note; More extensive is the dominion of the Prince of Peace, even from pole to pole; and those who know the blessings of his government count their service perfect freedom.
2. The people of Israel and Judah were immensely numerous, and lived in affluence. Their families grew like flocks, according to the promise, Gen 22:17. Safe and secure from all their enemies, they sat every man under his vine and his fig-tree, their property secure, their provisions abundant, and their hearts filled with joy and gladness, in the enjoyment of the blessings that God had bestowed upon them. Note; More numerous far are God’s spiritual Israel, more secure their portion, more substantially abiding their joys; their kingdom is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
3. Vast was the daily provision for Solomon’s table, sufficient to serve, at two pounds of bread each, besides meat, no less than 29,160 men. Our great Solomon supplies a more numerous family with daily bread, and this not that bread which perisheth, but which endureth to everlasting life.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Ki 4:28 Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries brought they unto the place where [the officers] were, every man according to his charge.
Ver. 28. And dromedaries. ] Which are animalia citissima, vecturae apta et equitatui, very swift creatures. It is therefore by antiphrasis that we call slow people dromedaries.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
dromedaries: or, mules, or swift beasts, Est 8:10, Est 8:14, Mic 1:13
Reciprocal: Gen 36:24 – found 1Sa 8:12 – and will set Joh 6:9 – barley