Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 4:7

"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." — 1 Kings 4:7 (ASV)

Provided victuals for the king and his household. —This denotes the collection of revenue—mostly, no doubt, in kind—for the maintenance of the king's Court, household, and guards; and perhaps also included the management of the royal domain lands, as is described in David’s reign in 1 Chronicles 26:25–31. It is curious that in only five cases is the officer's patronymic given, probably due to some defect in the archives from which this chapter was evidently drawn.

The office must have been of high importance and dignity, for in two cases (1 Kings 4:11; 1 Kings 4:15) its holders were married into the royal house. The provinces over which they had authority—nine on the west and three on the east of the Jordan—coincided in only a few cases with the lands assigned to the several tribes. It is not unlikely that by this time much of the tribal division of territory had become obsolete, although we see from 1 Chronicles 27:16–22, that for chieftainship over men, and for levy in war, it still remained in force.