was sent away to Mahanaim.
Verse 15
1Ki 4:15Ahimaaz, possibly Zadok's son (2Sa 15:27; 2Sa 17:17.), in Naphtali. This does not denote generally “the most northern portion of the land, say from the northern end of the lake of Gennesaret into Coele-Syria,” as Thenius supposes; for the tribe-territory of Asher, which had a prefect of its own, was not situated to the south-west of Naphtali, but ran along the west of Naphtali to the northern boundary of Canaan (see at Jos 19:24-31). He also (like Ben-Abinadab, 1Ki 4:11) had a daughter of Solomon, Basmath, as his wife.
Verse 16
1Ki 4:16Baanah the son of Hushai, probably the faithful friend and wise counsellor of David (2Sa 15:32., 1Ki 17:5.), was in Asher and בּעלות, a name quite unknown. If בּ forms part of the word (Baaloth, according to the lxx, Vulg., Syr., and Arab.), we must take it as a district, since the preposition בּ would necessarily have been repeated if a district (Asher) had been connected with a town (Baaloth). In any case, it is not the city of Baaloth in the Negeb of Judah (Jos 15:24) that is intended.
Verse 17
1Ki 4:17Jehoshaphat the son of Paruach, in Issachar; i.e., over the whole of the territory of that tribe in the plain of Jezreel, with the exception of the cities of Taanach, Megiddo, and Bethshean, which were in the southern portion of it, and were allotted to the Manassites, and, according to 1Ki 4:12, were put under the care of Baanah; and not merely in the northern part of Issachar, “with the exception of the plain of Jezreel,” as Thenius erroneously maintains. Zebulun may possibly have also formed part of his district, if not entirely, yet in its southern portion, provided that the northern portion was assigned to Ahimaaz in Naphtali, since Zebulun had no prefect of its own.
Verse 18
1Ki 4:18Shimei the son of Elah, possibly the one mentioned in 1Ki 1:8, in Benjamin.
Verse 19
1Ki 4:19Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, i.e., as the apposition “the land of Sihon ... and of Og...” clearly shows, the whole of the Israelitish land on the east of the Jordan, as in Deu 34:1; Jdg 20:1, etc., with the simple exception of the districts placed under Bengeber and Ahinadab (1Ki 4:13 and 1Ki 4:14). אחד נציב, “one president was it who (was) in the land (of Gilead).” נציב cannot signify a military post or a garrison here, as in 1Sa 10:5; 1Sa 13:3, etc., but is equivalent to נצּב, the president (1Ki 4:7). The meaning is, that notwithstanding the great extent of this district, it had only one prefect.
