Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 10:14–end
We have here a further account of Solomon's prosperity.
I. How he increased his wealth. Though he had much, he still coveted to have more, being willing to try the utmost the things of this world could do to make men happy. 1. Besides the gold that came from Ophir (Kg1 9:28), he brought so much into his country from other places that the whole amounted, every year, to 666 talents (Kg1 10:14), an ominous number, compare Rev 13:18, and Ezr 2:13. 2. He received a great deal in customs from the merchants, and in land-taxes from the countries his father had conquered and made tributaries to Israel, Kg1 10:15. 3. He was Hiram's partner in a Tharshish fleet, of and for Tyre, which imported once in…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 10:22
a navy of Tharshish--Tartessus in Spain. There gold, and especially silver, was obtained, anciently, in so great abundance that it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. But "Tarshish" came to be a general term for the West (Jon 1:3).
at sea--on the Mediterranean.
once in three years--that is, every third year. Without the mariner's compass they had to coast along the shore. The ivory, apes, and peacocks might have been purchased, on the outward or homeward voyage, on the north coast of Africa, where the animals were to be found. They were particularized, probably as being the rarest articles on board.
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 10:23
Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches - Mr. Reynolds, stating the yearly tribute of Solomon, 666 talents of gold, at about four times as much as his father left him, hence reckons that he had 4,909, 371 8s. 8d. each year, 94,410 19s. 9 1/4d. per week, 13,487 5s. 8d. per day, taking each day, week, and year, one with another.
John Gill on 1 Kings 10:24
And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. For it was all of God, a peculiar gift of his; by "all the earth" is meant the inhabitants of it, and only them, and those the more principal; who came from the several parts of it, hearing the fame of his wisdom, to know the truth of it, and to improve themselves by it.
