Geber the son of Uri was in the country of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only officer which was in the land. (1 Kings 4:19)
The meaning of these words is not clear, since each district had no more than one officer. The LXX here reads, “one officer in the land of Judah.” This may be the correct reading, for it will be noticed that otherwise the territory of Judah is omitted from the list of districts paying tribute to the royal court. As a special favor to Judah, there may have been one officer over that district who was over and above the twelve other officers. Since Judah was the home province, it was under no other government than that of the king’s officers at Jerusalem; but it is hardly likely that for purposes of revenue Judah would have been excluded from the general system.
Gilead.
A district east of Jordan, including parts of the territory of Reuben, Manasseh, and Gad (see on vs. 13, 14).