Mahol

Mahol appears once, identified only as the father of three sons whose proverbial wisdom is the comparison point used to measure Solomon's. The figure himself is unmarked beyond the patronymic role.

The Father of Three Wise Men

In the summary of Solomon's wisdom, Mahol is named as the parent of the men whose reputation for wisdom Solomon surpasses: "For he was wiser than all of man; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all the nations round about" (1Ki 4:31). Mahol's three sons — Heman, Calcol, and Darda — are listed alongside Ethan the Ezrahite as the standard of comparison; Mahol himself receives no biography, no tribe, and no other attribute. The single line is the entire record.