Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal,
Scripture records the daily grocery list of Solomon's palace down to the last measure. The figures raise three questions: how big was this household, who paid for it, and why keep the record?
The size of one day
Thirty cors and sixty cors mean nothing to a modern reader. One commentator turns them into amounts we can picture.
Leslie M. GrantThe record says Solomon's provision for one day was about 150 bushels of fine flour and 300 bushels of meal. It also took ten fatted oxen and 100 sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and fatted fowl. This is a reminder that in the Millennium Israel will be abundantly blessed by the provision the Lord Jesus makes for His redeemed people. Good government does not only keep order, but provides for the welfare of the people.
A later governor's table shows the scale. Nehemiah fed his guests in Jerusalem on a tiny fraction of this.
W. W. FeredaySolomon's daily provision was immense, for his household was large, and his hospitality was lavish. What Nehemiah did in Jerusalem after the nation was broken up was humble by comparison. He often entertained "150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us." For this he needed one ox and six choice sheep a day. He kept everything low because the people who had returned from exile were poor.
Where the food came from
Someone had to grow and deliver all of it. The chapter this verse sits in shows who did.
J. N. Darby1 Kings 4 lists the officers who served Solomon and upheld the glory of his throne. It then shows the way the whole country provided for the keeping of his household. Judah and Israel had multiplied and were full of joy.
Everything the land produced ran up to the throne. Yet the people who supplied it were not left poor.
H. L. RossierSolomon's subjects ate and drank and made merry. They had material abundance; there were no more needs that were not satisfied. Joy filled their hearts; security reigned everywhere. Everyone had his own property and lived under his vine and under his fig tree… All the prosperity and all the resources of the kingdom serve to exalt the king. They unite to bring out his glory.
A picture of a greater reign
Commentators read this abundance as a small picture of something still to come.
W. W. FeredayIn Solomon's day all Israel sat in peace, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, eating and drinking and making merry. That prosperity was as nothing compared with what God will grant to His people in the reign of David's greater Son.
The table that outlasts the kitchen
When the Queen of Sheba visited, one of the things that took her breath away was the food of Solomon's table. Writers move from that impression to what Christ sets before His people.
Leslie M. GrantWhat the Queen of Sheba saw inside the house was equally impressive: "the food of his table." His provision for one day is told us in chapter 4:22-23 — an amazing amount. The provision of the Lord Jesus for His Church is also more than enough. It is more than enough not only in quantity, but in its wonderful quality. Christ Himself is "the bread of life," and He fully satisfies every hungry heart.
What splendour cost
There is a harder side to these figures. Commentators differ on how heavily the cost fell on the people. One writer states the rule simply.
W. W. FeredayThe greater the glory of the kingdom, the heavier the burden on the people has to be.
Another writer is not so sure the burden was unfair.
C. KnappThe people plainly resented this forced labour. "Your father," they later said to Rehoboam, "made our yoke heavy." … There is no certain evidence that this was really so. Their labour went to the glory and security of the kingdom, and everyone was supposed to profit by its prosperity. It is possible, however, that they were put to work on things that served only self-gratification. When men leave the right way, as Solomon did, they soon become oppressive.
Summary
- Measure. One day at Solomon's table took about 150 bushels of fine flour, 300 of meal, ten fatted oxen and a hundred sheep. Nehemiah later fed his guests on one ox and six sheep.
- Flow. Officers and the whole country supplied that table. Every resource of the kingdom ran up to exalt the king.
- Joy. The giving did not drain the givers — they ate, drank, made merry, and sat safely under vine and fig tree.
- Shadow. All this splendour "was as nothing" beside the reign of David's greater Son. Then God will bless Israel's provision far beyond it.
- Bread. What amazed the Queen of Sheba points to a fuller table. Christ Himself is the bread of life, enough in both quantity and quality for every hungry heart.