The twelfth division was on the east of Jordan, south of the seventh, including the pastoral country of Reuben and part of Gad on the borders of Moab, probably occupied by the royal flocks and herds.
In place of the reading of the text, “and he was the only officer in the land” — which yields very little meaning, for in each of the divisions there was but one governor — the LXX. here reads, “and Naseph (or an officer), one only in the land of Judah.” The reading seems probable; for it will be noticed that in the enumeration the territory of Judah is otherwise altogether omitted. It supplies accordingly here the mention of a special governor, over and above the twelve, for the royal tribe. It has been thought that as Judah was the home province, it was under no other government than that of the king’s officers at Jerusalem; but for purposes of revenue it seems hardly likely that it should have been excepted from the general system. Possibly Azariah, who was over the officers residing at the Court, may have been its territorial governor.
In some MSS. of the Greek Version, 1 Kings 4:27-28 immediately follow 1 Kings 4:19, and (as 1 Kings 4:20-21 are omitted) they form a link between 1 Kings 4:7-19 and 1 Kings 4:22-23, in a very natural order.