1 Kings 4:8

1Ki 4:8 And these [are] their names: The son of Hur, in mount Ephraim:

Ver. 8. And these are their names.] They were men of renown, and are therefore here memorised.

The son of Hur] Or, Benhur - so 1Ki 4:9-10, &c. - Bendekar, Benhesed, Benabinadab, Baana [Benahilud], Bengeber.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 4:8-10. The son of Hur — This person and others of them are denominated from their fathers, because they were known and famous in their generation. In mount Ephraim — And the territory belonging to it, which must be understood also of the rest of the places mentioned in the following verses. Elon-beth-hanan — Or, Elon, the house, or dwelling- place of Hanan. For Hanan may be a man’s name, and this place may be thus distinguished from other Elons. Or, as the word Elon signifies a plain, the meaning may be, the plain of Beth-hanan. Sochoh — There were two places of this name, but near each other, Jos 15:35-38. Hepher — ln Judah, 1Ch 4:6.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The son of Hur--or, as the Margin has it, Benhur, Bendekar. In the rural parts of Syria, and among the Arabs, it is still common to designate persons not by their own names, but as the sons of their fathers.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(8) And these are their names.—The first division, “mount Ephraim,” included all the higher part of the territory of Ephraim, one of the most fertile and beautiful regions in Palestine, surrounding the city of Shechem, which lies in a rich plain between Mount Ebel and Gerizim, and including the strong site of the future Samaria. See the description of the country in the blessing of Moses (Deu_33:13-17).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. The son of Hur] Better Ben-Hur. So the Vulgate and similarly in 1Ki_4:9-11; 1Ki_4:13. The name is a patronymic, and five out of these twelve officers are thus designated by their fathers’ names rather than by their own. Perhaps at the time the father in each case was more distinguished than the son. The place of commissariatofficer is one which might well be given to a younger man of some well-known family. Two of the men were Solomon’s sons-in-law.

in mount Ephraim] ‘Mount’ conveys a mistaken idea of the rich country of Ephraim. It was a hilly but very fertile region which stretched northwards from the tribe of Benjamin until the land sinks into the plain of Jezreel. It is separated from the Jordan valley by a plain on the east, and by another plain on the west from the Mediterranean sea. It would be more suitably called hill country than mountain.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The son of Dekar in Makaz,.... A place in the tribe of Dan, on the borders of it:

and in Shaalbim, and Bethshemesh, and Elonbethhanan; all in the same tribe, see Jos 19:41.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In this arrangement of the territory into twelve portions, the divisions of the tribes seem to have been adopted as far as could be managed without unfairness. The prefecture of Ben-Hur corresponded nearly to the territory of Ephraim; that of Ben-Dekar to Dan; that of Ben-Hesed to Judah; those of Ben-Abinadab and Baana to Cis-Jordanic Manasseh; that of Ben-Geber to Manasseh beyond Jordan; of Abinadab to Gad; of Ahimaaz to Naphtali; of Baanah to Asher; of Jehoshaphat to Issachar; of Shimei to Benjamin; and of Geber to Reuben. The order in which the prefectures are mentioned is clearly not the geographical. Perhaps it is the order in which they had to supply the king’s table.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Benhur. Ben here, and in the following verses, may signify "the son of Hur," &c. (Calmet) --- Septuagint retain both the original term, and its explanation, "Ben the son of Or." But they afterwards read only "the son of Dakar....of Esed....of Abinadab....and Gaber."

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This and others of them are denominated from their fathers, because they were known and famous in their generation.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. The son of Hur — It is noticeable that the names of the fathers of these officers are given in each case, and in five cases the proper names of the officers themselves are not given at all. The margin, which follows the Vulgate, renders these five as proper names — Ben-hur, Ben-dekar, etc.; but it is more likely that the proper names of these five officers, if ever given, have fallen out of the text by the carelessness of transcribers.

Mount Ephraim — The hill country in the territory of the tribe of Ephraim. See note on Jdg_17:1.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And these are their names the order is not geographical, nor do the districts correspond, except roughly, with the territories of the tribes. The order is probably that of the months for which they were severally responsible, and the districts were marked out according to the capabilities of the country.: The son of Hur Heb. as marg., Ben Hur. Of the twelve prefects, five are only known by their patronymics, for it is hardly likely that these are proper names, like Ben-hanan and Ben-zoheth. (1Ch_4:20) No satisfactory explanation of this curious circumstance has hitherto been given. The most probable is that in the document from which this list was compiled, the part of the page containing the missing names had been accidentally destroyed, in mount Ephraim. (See on 1Ki_12:25) This district, which practically coincided with the territory of Ephraim, was one of the most fertile in Palestine. Hence, possibly, it stands first.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The son, &c. - This and others of them are denominated from their fathers, because they were known and famous in their generation.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

son of Hur

Or, Benhur.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.