The large space of Scripture devoted to him in the Books of Kings and Chronicles is occupied almost exclusively with the details of architecture and display. It is only in the first and last sections of his story that we catch the least glimpse of the man himself. In the central section we see nothing of him, but are absorbed in measurements and descriptions which have a purely archæological, or, at the best, a dimly symbolic significance. The man is lost in the monarch, the monarch in the appurtenances of his royal display. His annals degenerate into the record of a sumptuous parade. The fourth chapter of the Book of Kings gives us the constitution of his court as it was in the middle of his reign, when two of his daughters were already married. It need not detain us long. The highest officers of the kingdom were called _Sarim_, "princes," a title which in David's reign had been borne almost alone by Joab, who was _Sar-ha-zaba_, or captain of the host. The son of Zadok[203] is named first as "the priest." The two chief secretaries (_Sopherim_) were Elihoreph and Ahiah. They inherited the office of their father Shavsha (1 Chron. xviii. 16),[204] who had been the secretary of David. It was their duty to record decrees and draw up the documents of state. Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, continued to hold the office of annalist or historiographer (_Mazkîr_), the officer known as the Waka Nuwish in Persian courts.[205] Azariah was over the twelve prefects (_Nitzabim_), or farmers-general, who administered the revenues.[206] His brother Zabud became "priest" and "king's friend."[207] Ahishar was "over the household" (_al-hab-Baith_); that is, he was the chamberlain, vizier, or mayor of the palace, wearing on his shoulder the key which was the symbol of his authority.[208] Adoniram or Adoram, who had been tax-collector for David, still held that onerous and invidious office,[209] which subsequently, in his advanced old age, cost him his life. Benaiah succeeded to the chief-captaincy of Joab. We hear nothing more of him, but the subsequent history shows that when David gathered around him this half alien and wholly mercenary force in a country which had no standing army, he turned the sovereignty into what the Greeks would have called a tyranny. As the only armed force in the kingdom the body-guard overawed opposition, and was wholly at the disposal of the king. These troops were to Solomon at Jerusalem what the Prætorians were to Tiberius at Rome. The chief points of interest presented by the list are these:-- 1. First we mark the absence of any prophet. Neither Nathan nor Gad is even mentioned. The pure ray of Divine illumination is overpowered by the glitter of material prosperity.