One of the important results of archaeology has been to illuminate the meaning of official titles used in the Bible (see BIBLE AND SPADE,<\/i> Winter 1972, pages 7 and 8). A recent PhD dissertation by Tryggve N. D. Mettinger at the University of Lund in Sweden has brought together much valuable data on the function of Israelite civil government officials (Solomonic State Officials, A Study of Civil Government Officials of the Israelite Monarcy;<\/i> Coniectanea Biblica, Old Testament Series 5, C. W. K. Gleerup, Lund, 1971). The following is a summary of Dr. Mettinger\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n
The members of David\u2019s cabinet are first listed in 2 Samuel 8:16\u201318 (similarly in 1 Chronicles 18:15\u201317). Of the six offices listed, two are military, two are religious and two are civil. The two civil offices are:<\/p>\n
Verse 16 \u2014 mazkir,<\/i> Recorder (Secretary of State, NEB)<\/p>\n
Verse 17 \u2014 sopher,<\/i> Scribe (Adjutant-General, NEB)<\/p>\n
From the list of cabinet members in 2 Samuel 20:23\u201326 we learn that David added a third civil office later in his reign:<\/p>\n
Verse 24 \u2014 al-hammas,<\/i> Over the Tribute (In Charge of the Forced Levy, NEB)<\/p>\n
In addition to the offices which David established, Solomon added three more as indicated in 1 Kings 4:1\u20136:<\/p>\n
Verse 5 \u2014 al-hannitstsabim.<\/i> Over the Officers (Superintendent of the Regional Governors, NEB)<\/p>\n
Verse 5 \u2014 reeh hammelek,<\/i> Principal Officer and The King\u2019s Friend (King\u2019s Friend, NEB)<\/p>\n
Verse 6 \u2014 al-habbaith,<\/i> Over the Household (Comptroller of the Household, NEB)<\/p>\n
These lists give us only the high officers under David and Solomon. There were, of course, many more lower ranking officials in the government of Israel.<\/p>\n
The Royal Herald<\/b><\/p>\n
In studying the Scriptural references to the mazkir,<\/i> Mettinger finds that the office was similar to that of the Egyptian Royal Herald. There are only two places in the Bible which refer to the <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 2:4 (Autumn 1973) p. 116<\/p>\n
activities of the Royal Herald \u2014 2 Kings 18:18 and 37 (similarly Isaiah 36:3 and 22) and 2 Chronicles 34:8. In 2 Kings, Joah the mazkir<\/i> took part in the diplomatic delegation which Hezekiah sent (701 B.C.) to negotiate with Sennacherib\u2019s high officials when the Assyrian army was standing outside the walls of Jerusalem. In 2 Chronicles, Joah the mazkir<\/i> was a member of Josiah\u2019s commission for the control of the money collected for the restoration of the temple.<\/p>\n
The Royal Herald was responsible for handling communications between the king and his subjects. In addition he was responsible for the ceremonial at royal audiences. In order to maintain communication with the people, the Royal Herald had under him a staff of messengers, which are frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. We know that life at the court in Jerusalem was regulated by a strict protocol (see 1 Kings 1 and 2, especially 2:19). Moreover, David\u2019s and Solomon\u2019s foreign policy led to the construction of an empire and certainly made it necessary to receive vassal kings and foreign envoys at the court. In this situation the Royal Herald became very important as the \u201cchief of the protocol.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Royal Secretary<\/b><\/p>\n
There are many references in the Old Testament to the sopher,<\/i> the scribe. The sopher<\/i> in the government of Israel was actually a Royal Secretary who headed a secretariat responsible for foreign and domestic correspondence and keeping of the royal annals. The name of David\u2019s Royal Secretary, Seraiah (2 Samuel 8:17), was derived from the Egyptian title \u201cRoyal Letter Writer of Pharaoh.\u201d Possibly Seraiah was an Egyptian by birth.<\/p>\n
The duties of the Royal Secretary were carried out in the State Secretariate (the scribe\u2019s chamber, or adjutant-general\u2019s room in the NEB, Jeremiah 36:12). This was located in the king\u2019s palace. It was most likely here that the archives were kept (Jeremiah 36:20) and the sessions of the cabinet ministers were held (Jeremiah 36:12).<\/p>\n
The Superintendent of the Forced Levy<\/b><\/p>\n
David created a new branch of administration, the al-hammas,<\/i> or Superintendent of the Forced Levy, which was probably Canaanite in origin. This was set up toward the end of his reign, after he had defeated the Canaanites. It was the political control over the former <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 2:4 (Autumn 1973) p. 117<\/p>\n
Canaanite territories that gave David the manpower for this new institution. The forced labor was of two types \u2014 Canaanites were conscripted to permanent levy (1 Kings 9:20, 21), while northern Israelites were subjected to periodic or temporary levy (1 Kings 5:13\u201316).<\/p>\n
The Chief of the District Prefects<\/b><\/p>\n
Solomon set up a system of 12 administrative district (or prefects) for tax purposes (1 Kings 4:7\u201319). The prefects generally followed the old tribal boundaries. It was the duty of each district to supply provisions for the royal court in Jerusalem for one month each year (verse 7). The al-hannitstsabim,<\/i> or Chief of the District Prefects, was administratively over the governors of the 12 districts.<\/p>\n
The system was evidently quite successful for \u201cthose officers provided victual for King Solomon, and for all that came unto King Solomon\u2019s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing\u201d (1 Kings 4:27). From the list of daily provisions in 1 Kings 4:22 and 23 we see that King Solomon was indeed well provided for. State leaders haven\u2019t changed so very much over the centuries after all!<\/p>\n
The Friend of the King<\/b><\/p>\n
The reeh hammelek,<\/i> or Friend of the King, developed into an official figure during the reign of Solomon. Under David he was a lesser official (2 Samuel 15:37, 16:16 and 1 Chronicles 27:33). Probably patterned after a fairly low ranking Egyptian courtier called \u201cThe King\u2019s Acquaintance,\u201d the Friend of the King was basically an advisor, or counsellor, to the king.<\/p>\n
The House Minister<\/b><\/p>\n
The title al-habbaith.<\/i> House Minister, is an interesting one for it is taken from the Egyptian mr pr wr,<\/i> Administer of the Royal Estate. That is exactly what Joseph was in Egypt. At first he was a mr pr,<\/i> overseer of the house (of Potiphar) (Genesis 39:4). But Joseph went on to become the mr pr wr,<\/i> overseer of the great house or, Administrator of the Royal Estate (Genesis 41:40\u201345).<\/p>\n
1 Chronicles 27:25\u201331 lists the stewards of David\u2019s property. It was this sort of property that the House Minister was responsible for <\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 2:4 (Autumn 1973) p. 118<\/p>\n
under Solomon. David\u2019s royal estate consisted of:<\/p>\n
1. The king\u2019s treasuries (verse 25), perhaps the royal treasury in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
2. Landed property \u2014 vineyards, olive and sycamore plantations (verses 26\u201328).<\/p>\n
3. Cattle of different kinds (verses 29\u201331).<\/p>\n
The administrative sphere of the House Minister was a very wide-ranging one. In addition to the task of supervising the royal estate, he was probably also the minister responsible for royal trade. Solomon had traders of his own (1 Kings 10:28). After his victory over Ben-hadad, Ahab established bazaars in Damascus (1 Kings 20:34, where \u201cstreets\u201d in the KJV should be translated \u201ca trading quarter\u201d). Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah joined to form a trading company (2 Chronicles 20:35\u201337).<\/p>\n
Archaeology has given us two associations with the House Minister in the form of royal seals which have been recovered. A seal impression which had apparently been affixed to a papyrus document was found at Lachish. The legend on the seal reads \u201cBelonging to Gedaliah, Officer Over the House.\u201d From the evidence, it appears that this is the same Gedaliah whom the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar appointed over the people who remained in the land after his destruction of Jerusalem in 587\/86 B.C. (2 Kings 25:22). From his title on the seal we may conclude that he held the position of House Minister under one of the last kings of Judah.<\/p>\n
A signet ring, excavated by Nelson Glueck at Elath, suggests that the House Minister was also responsible for mining activities. Depicted on the seal is a ram and bellows with the legend \u201cBelonging to Jotham.\u201d The bellows represents a conventional symbol for metal working. The name on the seal can hardly refer to anyone else than the son of Uzziah, who held the office of House Minister during his crown-princeship, while Uzziah was a leper (2 Kings 15:5). The seal may have belonged to the governor of Elath, ruling on the commission of Jotham. If this analysis is correct, Jotham was responsible for royal mining in his capacity as House Minister.<\/p>\n
We have only touched the surface of this vast subject of the organization and administration of the Monarchy and the Divided Kingdom referred to so often in the Old Testament. In future issues of BIBLE AND SPADE<\/i> we hope to present more on this fascinating topic.<\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 2:4 (Autumn 1973) p. 119<\/p>\n
Signet ring of Jotham excavated at Elath by Nelson Glueck. On the impression of the seal can be seen a bellows in front of the ram and the inscription \u201cto Jotham\u201d above the ram<\/i><\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
BSP<\/i> 2:4 (Autumn 1973) p. 120<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the important results of archaeology has been to illuminate the meaning of official titles used in the Bible (see BIBLE AND SPADE, Winter 1972, pages 7 and 8). A recent PhD dissertation by Tryggve N. D. Mettinger at the University of Lund in Sweden has brought together much valuable data on the function … Continue reading “HIGH
\nSTATE OFFICIALS UNDER DAVID AND SOLOMON”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}