Purveyor

A purveyor in Scripture is an officer of the king tasked with provisioning the royal household. The single concentrated picture is the rota of twelve officers Solomon set over Israel, each responsible for one month's supply per year.

Solomon's Twelve Officers

Solomon's administration distributes the burden of provisioning across the territory by month: "And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and his household: each man had to make provision for a month in the year" (1Ki 4:7). The roster pairs each officer with a defined district. Ben-hur sits in the hill-country of Ephraim; Ben-deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elon-beth-hanan; Ben-hesed in Arubboth, with Socoh and the land of Hepher attached to him; Ben-abinadab over the height of Dor and married to Taphath, Solomon's daughter; Baana the son of Ahilud over Taanach and Megiddo and the Beth-shean / Jezreel corridor as far as Abel-meholah and beyond Jokmeam; Ben-geber in Ramoth-gilead, holding the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh and the region of Argob in Bashan with its threescore great walled cities; Ahinadab the son of Iddo in Mahanaim; Ahimaaz in Naphtali and likewise married to a daughter of Solomon, Basemath; Baana the son of Hushai in Asher and Bealoth; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah in Issachar; Shimei the son of Ela in Benjamin; and Geber the son of Uri "in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan" as the sole officer for that region (1Ki 4:8-19).

A System That "Let Nothing Be Lacking"

The closing summary measures the system by its result: "And those officers provided victuals for King Solomon, and for all who came to king Solomon's table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking" (1Ki 4:27). The monthly rotation, the territorial breadth, and the mention of those "who came to king Solomon's table" together describe a court whose food supply was continuous and abundant by design.