1 Kings 4:9

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Ben Deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan;

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 hapax legomenon — only here in the Hebrew Bible
3 first appearances in the Hebrew Bible

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Word by word

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בְּמָקַ֥ץ

Mâqats

H4739

“in/at · Makaz”

Preposition + Noun, Proper

Appears 1× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears here

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H7112

TWOT: None

Makaz = "end" - a place in Israel; site unknown

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

9: words
5: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

1 hapax legomenon — a word that appears only here in the entire Hebrew Bible:

בְּמָקַ֥ץ Makaz H4739

First appearance in Scripture

These words make their first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

בֶּן Ben-dekar H1128
בְּמָקַ֥ץ Makaz H4739
וְאֵיל֖וֹן Elon Beth-hanan H358

Grammatical profile

9 nouns

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וְאֵיל֖וֹן Elon Beth-hanan H358 ×3
בֶּן Ben-dekar H1128 ×2
וּבֵ֣ית Beth-shemesh H1053 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 13 words from the Hebrew and 18 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 9 Hebrew tokens and 13 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Kings 4:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Joshua 19:42 and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Ithlah,
Joshua 21:16 and Ain with its suburbs, and Juttah with its suburbs, [and] Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.
Judges 1:35 but the Amorites would dwell in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became subject to forced labor.
1 Samuel 6:12 The cattle took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and didn't turn aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
1 Samuel 6:20 The men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 1 Kings 4:9 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

בֶּן דֶּ֛קֶר בְּמָקַ֥ץ וּבְשַֽׁעַלְבִ֖ים וּבֵ֣ית שָׁ֑מֶשׁ וְאֵיל֖וֹן בֵּ֥ית חָנָֽן

Ben Deker, in Makaz, and in Shaalbim, and Beth-shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan;

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 1 Kings 4:9 Septuagint · lemma form

υἱός ρηχαβ ἐν μαχεμας καί βηθαλαμιν καί βαιθσαμυς καί αιλων ἕως βαιθαναν εἷς

The son of Dacar, in Makes, and in Salabin, and Baethsamys, and Elon as far as Bethanan, one.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Pulpit Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

בַּר דֶקֶר בְּמָקַץ וּבְשַׁעֲלַבִים וּבֵית שָׁמֶשׁ וְאֵלוֹן דְמִבֵּית חָנָן:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 1 Kings 4:9 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Or, Elon in Beth Aven.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) The second division included the territory in the maritime plain to the north-west of Judah; assigned to Dan, but in all the earlier history held, with perhaps a few exceptions, by the Philistines. The cities Shaalbim, Elon, and Beth-shemesh, or Ir-shemesh, are noted in Jos_19:41-43. Makaz is not mentioned elsewhere. There is here the addition to the name Elon of beth-hanan (“the house of Hanan”) In 1Ch_8:23 there is a Hanan among the chief men of Benjamin; and 1Ch_1:43 a Hanan among David’s mighty men. The only one of these cities known in history is Beth-shemesh, the first resting-place of the Ark (1Sa_6:12-21) when restored by the Philistines.

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

9. the son of Dekar] Read Ben-Deker, according to the Hebrew pointing. The name Deker is found nowhere else.

in Makaz] The name does not occur again, and we can only conjecture the whereabouts of the place from the other names with which it is joined. Shaalbim, the town next mentioned, was in the tribe of Dan (Jdg_1:35); Bethshemesh, was at the northern boundary of Judah, and was one of the ‘suburb cities’ allotted to the priests (Jos_21:16); of Elon-beth-hanan nothing more is known. The Vulgate, following some Hebrew MSS. reads ‘Elon and Bethhanan,’ making two towns out of the name. It is clear however that Ben-Deker’s district lay in Dan and on the borders of Judah.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

The son of Hesed in Aruboth,.... Which seems to have been in the tribe of Judah by the places that follow:

to him pertained Sochoh; there were two places of this name in that tribe, Jos 15:35;

and all the land of Hepher: there was an Hepher in the land of Canaan, which was a royal city in the times of the Canaanites, Jos 12:17; and there was an Hepher, the name of a man, a descendant of Judah, to whom, very probably, this land belonged, Ch1 4:6; unless it can be thought to be the portion of land given to the daughters of Hepher, Jos 17:3.

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

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For some of the names, see Jos 19:41-43.

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

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Or, Elon, the house or dwelling-place of Hanan; and Hanan may be a man’s name and this place may be so differenced from other Elons. Or, the plain (for so the Hebrew word signifies) of Beth-hanan.

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

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

9. Makaz… Shaalbim — Places apparently in the tribe of Dan, but now unknown.

Beth-shemesh — See on Jos_15:10, and 1Sa_6:9.

Elon-bethhanan — Site unknown, but probably the same as Elon. Jos_19:43.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

The son of Dekar Ben. Dekar, in Makaz unknown otherwise, and in Shaalbim Jos_19:42; Jud 1:35 and Beth-shemesh called Irshemesh, Jos_19:41. Now "Ain Shemes and Elon-beth-hanan. Elon, Jos_19:43. Probably Beth-hanan is a different place, the "and" (w) having accidentally dropped out of the text. The LXX (ewv Bhqanan) favours this view. It has been identified by Robinson with Beit Hunun. This second district embraces Daniel.

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Kings, in the Historical, opens this verse with 9 words (5 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Mâqats (“Makaz”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “Makaz” (Mâqats) shape what this verse is saying?
This verse holds 1 word here found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. What might the rare word draw attention to?
3 words here appear for the first time in Scripture. What is being introduced at this debut?
Joshua 19:42 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
“Elon Beth-hanan” occurs 3× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Reading how Geneva Bible (1599) and Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.
3 words make their first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
This verse counts 9 Hebrew ↔ 13 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 11 words in this verse.
“Elon Beth-hanan” occurs 3× in this single verse.