Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 4:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Population, feasting, and imperial reach.”
Read It With
- 1 Kings 4:20–21
Read 1 Kings 4:21 with 4:20–21. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Depicts the populous kingdom eating, drinking, and celebrating; claims broad imperial reach, tribute, and service under Solomon.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Population, feasting, and imperial reach,” 1 Kings 4:21 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 1 Kings 4:7–19 establishes this prior movement: Explains that twelve district officers provisioned the royal household one month each year; closes the district list with Geber son of Uri's unique responsibility in Gilead. 1 Kings 4:20–21 continues the same royal, temple, household, prophetic, or military movement; that demonstrated relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 1 Kings 4:20–21 together
Why these verses belong together: Population, feasting, and imperial reach is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 4:20–4:21.
Verse 20. 20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.
Verse 21. 21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
Follow the Context
- Depicts the populous kingdom eating, drinking, and celebrating
- Claims broad imperial reach, tribute, and service under Solomon
What This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Kings 4:21 does not permit the wording “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. The unit does not make coerced labor, extraction, tribute, unequal burdens, or royal abundance morally harmless because a temple, palace, army, or prosperous court benefits.
What Remains True
Public achievement remains answerable to the workers, resources, consent, and unequal burdens that make it possible. This unit tests that truth through depicts the populous kingdom eating, drinking, and celebrating; claims broad imperial reach, tribute, and service under Solomon. In 1 Kings 4:21, the concrete line “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the….” Before celebrating a public or religious project, disclose who supplies labor and resources, test consent and distribution, and repair burdens shifted onto people with less power. This response follows from the unit's own sequence: Depicts the populous kingdom eating, drinking, and celebrating; claims broad imperial reach, tribute, and service under Solomon.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 1 Kings 4:21's role in 4:20–21. Paraphrase “And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the…,” identify one agent or affected person, state one material source or historical limit, and name one conclusion the context does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Kings 4:20–21 — Population, feasting, and imperial reachSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 4:20–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 4:20–21
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 591–593, translation and translator notes for 4:20–21
Open source ↗