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Solomon’s Great Wealth

13 The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold,(A) 14 besides that which the traders and merchants brought, and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels[a] of beaten gold went into each large shield. 16 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels[b] of gold went into each shield, and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were arm rests and two lions standing beside the arm rests,(B) 19 while twelve lions were standing, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom.(C) 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[c](D)

22 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.(E) 23 All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 24 Every one of them brought a present, objects of silver and gold, garments, weaponry, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.(F) 26 He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the territory of Egypt.(G) 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone and cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.(H) 28 Horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. 9.15 Heb lacks shekels
  2. 9.16 Heb lacks shekels
  3. 9.21 Or baboons

Solomon’s Wealth(A)

13 Solomon received in any given year about 666 talents[a] of gold, 14 not including revenue from traders and merchants. In addition, all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the nation brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 600 gold pieces,[b] 16 and 300 shields from beaten gold, overlaying each shield with the gold from 300 gold pieces.[c] The king put them in his palace in the Lebanon forest. 17 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 Six steps led up to the throne. A golden footstool was attached to the throne, which had armrests on each side of the seat and two lions standing on either side of each armrest. 19 Twelve lions were placed on both sides of the six steps leading to the throne,[d] and nothing comparable was made for any other[e] kingdom. 20 All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were made of[f] gold, and all the vessels in his palace in the Lebanon forest were made of[g] pure gold. Silver was never considered to be valuable during the lifetime of Solomon, 21 because the king had ships that sailed to Tarshish accompanied by Hiram’s servants. Once every three years ships from Tarshish returned, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

22 As a result, King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in regards to wealth and wisdom. 23 All the kings of the earth continued to seek audiences with Solomon so they could hear the wise things that God had put in his heart. 24 Everyone kept on bringing gifts on an annual basis, including items made of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules. 25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, along with 12,000 cavalry soldiers. He stationed them in various chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 King Solomon[h] ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates[i] River west[j] to the land of the Philistines and as far south as the boundary with Egypt.

27 The king made silver as common as[k] stones in Jerusalem, and made cedar trees as abundant as sycamore trees in the Shephelah.[l] 28 They also kept bringing horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all of the surrounding[m] countries.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:13 I.e. about 49,950 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  2. 2 Chronicles 9:15 MT does not identify the individual unit of measure
  3. 2 Chronicles 9:16 MT does not identify the individual unit of measure
  4. 2 Chronicles 9:19 The Heb. lacks leading to the throne
  5. 2 Chronicles 9:19 The Heb. lacks other
  6. 2 Chronicles 9:20 The Heb. lacks made of
  7. 2 Chronicles 9:20 The Heb. lacks made of
  8. 2 Chronicles 9:26 Lit. He
  9. 2 Chronicles 9:26 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
  10. 2 Chronicles 9:26 The Heb. lacks west
  11. 2 Chronicles 9:27 The Heb. lacks as common as
  12. 2 Chronicles 9:27 I.e. the verdant central lowlands of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
  13. 2 Chronicles 9:28 The Heb. lacks surrounding