Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.
This verse closes the supply list for Solomon's court, and it ends with feed for the royal stables. Why does Scripture record the animals' rations at all, and what about the horses that ate them?
Nothing Overlooked
Twelve officers supplied the king's table, each for one month of the year. This verse records the last item on their list:
Leslie M. GrantSolomon's twelve governors (one from each tribe) also brought provisions for Solomon, one governor in each month of the year. So there was no lack of supply. The administration was well organized (v.27). It reflects the ordered government of the coming thousand-year kingdom. This included barley and straw for the horses (v.28).
Barley
Barley is the grain named here, and it was the cheaper of the two main cereals. Its ordinary use and its market value are both recorded:
Morrish Bible DictionaryBarley is the well-known grain. People used it as food for horses (1 Kings 4:28), and also as food for themselves when wheat failed. During the famine of Samaria the Syrian camp was found deserted. One measure of fine flour then sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel (2 Kings 7:1,16). So barley was worth half the price of wheat.
Swift Steeds
The second animal is harder to identify, and commentators differ. One takes the word as a fast horse used for carrying messages:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThis was probably a swift horse on which dispatches were sent. Esther 8:10, 14. The word is once translated "dromedary," 1 Kings 4:28; and once "swift beast," Micah 1:13.
Another entry takes the older translation "dromedary" at face value, as a breed of camel:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe dromedary can be called the same animal as the camel. The name dromedary belongs to the lighter and more valuable breed. People use them for the same purposes as the camel (1 Kings 4:28).
Wealth That Serves the King
The officers carry the grain to one appointed place, and the whole supply moves in one direction. What does all this wealth finally serve?
H. L. RossierThey had plenty of everything. Every need was met. Joy filled their hearts, and there was security everywhere (v. 25). Each person had his own property, and each one 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 (vv. 22-23, 26-28).
A Table That Points Beyond Solomon
The daily figures in this chapter are huge. One commentator sees in them a picture of a greater King:
W. W. FeredaySolomon required daily "ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl" (1 Kings 4:22-23). Here again is a picture of Christ. When He reigns in Zion, this word will come true: "I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread" (Psalm 132:15). He fed five thousand men in the wilderness, besides women and children. The people then wanted to make Him king at once (John 6:15). But God's time had not yet come.
The Forbidden Horses
The feed in this verse went to horses, and Scripture had warned Israel's kings not to gather them. One commentator sets that warning beside Solomon's stables, and then beside what followed:
Leslie M. GrantAny king who might arise received this warning: he was not to multiply horses, nor send his people to bring horses from Egypt (Deuteronomy 17:16). Of course people thought war horses were necessary to protect the kingdom. Could faith not depend on God for such protection rather than on horses? See Psalm 33:17; Hosea 14:3. Despite this warning, Solomon, wealthy king as he was, imported horses from Egypt, as well as chariots (1 Kings 10:28-29). It is reported that he had 40,000 stalls of horses (1 Kings 4:26). These did not protect the kingdom from division soon after the death of Solomon (1 Kings 12). Depending on these things is not depending on God.
Summary
- Order. Twelve officers, one for each month, kept the king's household supplied. Nothing was lacking. That ordered rule pictures the government of the coming kingdom.
- Detail. The record goes right down to barley and straw. Barley was animal feed, worth half the price of wheat. Even the small supplies were counted.
- Direction. Every resource of the land moved one way. The people's plenty and the stables' feed alike served the king's glory.
- Foreshadowing. The king's rich daily table pictures Christ. When He reigns, He will bless Zion's provisions and satisfy her poor with bread.
- Warning. The horses being fed were the ones a king was told never to multiply. They did not keep the kingdom from splitting. Trusting such things is not trusting God.