1 Kings 10:14
in 1 Kings 10The weight of gold that came to Solomon each year was 666 talents,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
KJV
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
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This verse in 1 Kings 10
Commentary
4 notes on this verseNow the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold. From Ophir and Tarshish, and wherever he traded; which was of our money, according to Berewood (k), 2,997,000 pounds; or as another learned man (l), who makes it equal to 5,138,520 ducats of gold. (k) De Ponder. & Pret. c. 5. (l) Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 580.
This site's exposition
six hundred threescore and six talents
on 1 Kings 10:14-15
The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year is six hundred threescore and six talents, a number some modern teachers set beside the six hundred sixty six of Rev 13:18, a connection worth naming as theirs and not the text's own comment. That annual total does not even count the separate streams the next verse lists, the merchantmen, the spice traders, the kings of Arabia, and the country's own governors, each bringing tribute on top of the temple-metal weight. Kings states the number and moves on; the moral weight falls later when the same gold sits beside the wives who turn the king's heart at 11:1-8.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The weight of gold - was six hundred threescore and six talents - This would amount in our money to £4,683, 675 12s. 8 1/2d. sterling. This seems to be what he got annually of bullion; but independently of this, he had tribute of all the kings of Arabia, duties from merchantmen, and the traffic of spice merchants; see 1Ki 10:25.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Six hundred threescore and six talents of gold - About 3,646, 350 of our money. Solomon’s annual revenue exceeded that of Oriental empires very much greater in extent than his, and must have made him one of the richest, if not the very richest, of the monarchs of his time.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Six hundred sixty-six. Chirom gave him 120 [talents], the Queen of Sheva, the ships of Tarshish brought from Ophir, totaling 660 [talents]. I do not know from where the other six came.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Gave to the queen of Sheva. This giving refers only to the teaching of wisdom.
This was in addition [to the gold that came from] traveling merchants. Merchants would bring him who visited the land on business. 5 Alternatively, retailers who sell small quantities, spy [=תרים] out the land to determine where to do business.—Metzudas Tzion
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מִשְׁקַ֣ל | mishkal | [the] weight of | H4948 → | |
| הַזָּהָ֔ב | hazahav | the gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּ֥א | ba' | it came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לִשְׁלֹמֹ֖ה | lishlomoh | to Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| בְּשָׁנָ֣ה | beshanah | in a year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| אֶחָ֑ת | ʾechat | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| שֵׁ֥שׁ | shesh | six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| מֵא֛וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| שִׁשִּׁ֥ים | shishim | sixty | H8346 → | 59 times |
| וָשֵׁ֖שׁ | vashesh | and six | H8337 → | 216 times |
| כִּכַּ֥ר | kikar | talent[s] of | H3603 → | 68 times |
| זָהָֽב׃ | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
מִשְׁקַ֣ל[the] weight of
mishkalH4948 →
הַזָּהָ֔בthe gold
hazahavH2091 →389 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
בָּ֥אit came
ba'H935 →2568 times
לִשְׁלֹמֹ֖הto Solomon
lishlomohH8010 →291 times
בְּשָׁנָ֣הin a year
beshanahH8141 →877 times
אֶחָ֑תone
ʾechatH259 →971 times
שֵׁ֥שׁsix
sheshH8337 →216 times
מֵא֛וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
שִׁשִּׁ֥יםsixty
shishimH8346 →59 times
וָשֵׁ֖שׁand six
vasheshH8337 →216 times
כִּכַּ֥רtalent[s] of
kikarH3603 →68 times
זָהָֽב׃gold
zahavH2091 →389 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 9:28They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents—and delivered it to Solomon.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 8:18
So Hiram sent him ships captained by his servants, along with crews of experienced sailors. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir and acquired from there 450 talents of gold, which they delivered to…
- 1 Chronicles 29:4
three thousand talents of gold (the gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings,
- 1 Kings 10:11
(The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir also brought from Ophir a great cargo of almug wood and precious stones.
- Psalms 45:9
The daughters of kings are among your honored women; the queen stands at your right hand, adorned with the gold of Ophir.
- Job 28:16
It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.
- 2 Chronicles 8:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil, The Books of the Kings.