1 Kings 4:32

32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs. ¹

1 Kings 4:32 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 4:32

And he spake three thousand proverbs
Wise sayings, short and pithy sentences, instructive in morality and civil life; these were not written as the book of Proverbs, but spoken only, and were taken from his lips, and spread by those that heard them for the use of others, but in process of time were lost; whereas the above book, being written under divine inspiration, is preserved: and

his songs were a thousand and five;
some things that were useful to improve the minds and morals of men he delivered in verse, to make them more pleasant and agreeable, that they might be the more easily received and retained in memory; but of all his songs, the most: excellent is the book of Canticles, called "the Song of Songs", being divine and spiritual, and dictated by the inspiration of the Spirit of God: he was both a moral philosopher and poet, as well as a botanist and naturalist, and well-skilled in medicine, as the following words suggest, ( 1 Kings 4:33 ) .

1 Kings 4:32 In-Context

30 Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt.

31 He was the wisest of all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame spread throughout all the neighboring countries.

32 He composed three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs.

33 He spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

34 Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him.

Cross References

• 1. 4.32Proverbs 1.1; 10.1; 25.1;Song of Songs 1.1.