and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara They all lived at the time of David and at the time of Solomon, and they were exceedingly wise. Concerning this it says (I Kings 5:11): "And he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol.⁠" Further on, regarding Solomon's wisdom, the expression is "Darda,⁠" for even though it was called the generation of knowledge (דֵּעָה דּוּר) because of its wisdom, Solomon was wiser than all of them. Now when Scripture says הָאֶזְרָחִי, the "aleph" is superfluous, like הַזַּרְחִי (Num. 26:20), [because] he was descended from Zerah, and in many places, the "aleph" is inserted into the word, and is not pronounced, e.g. (Job. 13:17): "and my speech (וְאַחְוָתִי)" (Isa. 19:6): "And they shall abandon (וְהֶאֶזְנִיחוּ).⁠" And likewise, (Num. 11:4): "וְהָאסַפְסוּף, and the rabble.⁠" Now sometimes it is completely missing, as (II Sam. 19:14): "תֹמְרוּ, you shall say,⁠" and likewise, (II Chron. 22:5): "... and the Arameans (הָרַמִּים) smote.⁠" [The verse in Kings] is expounded by Pesikta (Peskikta d'Rav Kahana p. 34, Pesikta Rabbathi 14:9): "... than all men this refers to Adam. Ethan is Abraham. Heman is Moses. Calcol is Joseph. Darda is the generation of the desert. Mahol means that He forgave them for making the Calf.⁠"