2 Chronicles 8:18
in 2 Chronicles 8So 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 King Solomon.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched from thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
KJV
And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
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This verse in 2 Chronicles 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseKnowledge of the sea - Skilful sailors. Solomon probably bore the expenses and his friend, the Tyrian king, furnished him with expert sailors; for the Jews, at no period of their history, had any skill in maritime affairs, their navigation being confined to the lakes of their own country, from which they could never acquire any nautical skill. The Tyrians, on the contrary, lived on and in the sea.
This site's exposition
at the sea side in the land of Edom
on 2 Chronicles 8:17-18
Solomon goes down to Ezion-geber and Eloth on the shore of Edom, ports that give Israel access to the Red Sea trade. Huram sends ships and sailors who know the sea, since the Tyrians had the maritime skill Israel never developed, and Israelite crews sail out under Tyrian direction. The voyage to Ophir returns four hundred and fifty talents of gold to Solomon, a fortune the text records without further comment. Chronicles closes its account where 1 Kings 9:26-28 closes its own telling of the same voyage, the wealth flowing from a partnership rather than from any skill of Israel's own at sea.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Yet Canaan was God's peculiar land, and Israel God's peculiar people. This teaches us that grace, and not gold, is the best riches, and acquaintance with God and his law, not with arts and sciences, the best knowledge.
10-24 , and therefore shall only observe here, I. Though Solomon was a man of great learning and knowledge, yet he spent his days, not in contemplation, but in action, not in his study, but in his country, in building cities and fortifying them, in a time of peace preparing for a time of war, which is as much a man's business as it is in summer to provide food for winter.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Huram sent him . . . ships--either sent him ship-men, able seamen, overland; or, taking the word "sent" in a looser sense, supplied him, that is, built him ships--namely, in docks at Eloth (compare 1Ki 9:26, 27). This navy of Solomon was manned by Tyrians, for Solomon had no seamen capable of performing distant expeditions.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
It has been supposed that these ships were conveyed from Tyre to Ezion-geber, either (1) round the continent of Africa, or (2) across the isthmus of Suez. But the writer probably only means that ships were given by Hiram to Solomon at this time, and in connection with the Ophir enterprise. These vessels may have been delivered at Joppa, and have been there carefully studied by the Jewish shipwrights, who then preceeded to Ezion-geber, and, assisted by Phoenicians, constructed ships after their pattern. Four hundred and fifty talents - “Four hundred and twenty talents” in Kings 1Ki 9:28. One or other of the two texts has suffered from that corruption to which numbers are so especially liable.
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּֽשְׁלַֽח־ | vaiyishlach- | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| לוֹ֩ | lo | to him | ||
| חוּרָ֨ם | churam | Huram | H2361 → | 13 times |
| בְּיַד־ | beyad- | by [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עֲבָדָ֜יו | ʾavadav | servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֳנִיּ֗וֹת | ʾoniyot | ships | H591 → | 31 times |
| וַעֲבָדִים֮ | vaavadim | and servants | H5650 → | 799 times |
| י֣וֹדְעֵי | yodei | [who] knew | H3045 → | 945 times |
| יָם֒ | yam | <of> [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| וַיָּבֹ֜אוּ | vaiyavou | and they went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| עַבְדֵ֤י | ʾavdei | [the] servants of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹה֙ | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| אוֹפִ֔ירָה | ʾofirah | Ophir towards | H211 → | |
| וַיִּקְח֣וּ | vaiyikchu | and they took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מִשָּׁ֔ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אַרְבַּע־ | ʾarba'- | four | H702 → | 318 times |
| מֵא֥וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| וַחֲמִשִּׁ֖ים | vachamishim | and fifty | H2572 → | 163 times |
| כִּכַּ֣ר | kikar | talent[s] of | H3603 → | 68 times |
| זָהָ֑ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וַיָּבִ֖יאוּ | vaiyaviu | and they brought [it] | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹֽה׃ פ | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
וַיִּֽשְׁלַֽח־and he sent
vaiyishlach-H7971 →845 times
לוֹ֩to him
lo
חוּרָ֨םHuram
churamH2361 →13 times
בְּיַד־by [the] hand of
beyad-H3027 →1618 times
עֲבָדָ֜יוservants his
ʾavadavH5650 →799 times
אֳנִיּ֗וֹתships
ʾoniyotH591 →31 times
וַעֲבָדִים֮and servants
vaavadimH5650 →799 times
י֣וֹדְעֵי[who] knew
yodeiH3045 →945 times
יָם֒<of> [the] sea
yamH3220 →396 times
וַיָּבֹ֜אוּand they went
vaiyavouH935 →2568 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
עַבְדֵ֤י[the] servants of
ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times
שְׁלֹמֹה֙Solomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
אוֹפִ֔ירָהOphir towards
ʾofirahH211 →
וַיִּקְח֣וּand they took
vaiyikchuH3947 →966 times
מִשָּׁ֔םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
אַרְבַּע־four
ʾarba'-H702 →318 times
מֵא֥וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
וַחֲמִשִּׁ֖יםand fifty
vachamishimH2572 →163 times
כִּכַּ֣רtalent[s] of
kikarH3603 →68 times
זָהָ֑בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
וַיָּבִ֖יאוּand they brought [it]
vaiyaviuH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמֶּ֥לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
שְׁלֹמֹֽה׃ פSolomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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 10:22For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
it leads to
- Psalms 72:10
May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 22:48
Jehoshaphat built ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.
- Psalms 48:7
With a wind from the east You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.
- 2 Chronicles 20:36–37
They agreed to make ships to go to Tarshish, and these were built in Ezion-geber.
- Genesis 10:4
And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.
- Psalms 72:10
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:8and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 10:10
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was such an abundance of spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave…
- 2 Samuel 19:35
I am now eighty years old. Can I discern what is good and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats or drinks? Can I still hear the voice of singing men…
- 1 Kings 9:28
They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents—and delivered it to Solomon.
- 1 Kings 10:10
About 2 Chronicles
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); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.