1 Kings 4:10

Study note

Setting — The narrator records Solomon’s administrative divisions, listing Ben-hesed as the official responsible for a specific district. This entry follows the territorial assignments of neighboring governors in the same census-like register.

The words — The text names the governor חֶסֶד (ḥesed, meaning “grace” or “kindness”) as ruling over אֲרֻבּוֹת (ʾăruvvōṯ, literally “arrows” or a local toponym). The governor’s jurisdiction explicitly includes Socoh and the entire land of Hepher.

The thread — The place names Socoh and Hepher appear elsewhere in the conquest and settlement records. Socoh is listed among the Judahite cities in Joshua 15:35, while Hepher is noted as a defeated king in Joshua 12:17 and a clan territory in Joshua 17:2.

Why it lands — The verse functions as a structural marker in Solomon’s bureaucratic inventory, confirming that earlier tribal allotments are now under centralized royal administration. It requires the reader to track how territorial claims are organized, governed, and integrated into the kingdom’s political framework.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.