1 Kings 10:29 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Kings 10:29
And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
a king · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Syria
אֲרָ֖ם'a.Ram
H758
Aram or Syria · proper noun, a place name
out
יֹצִֽאוּyo.Tzi.'u
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
means
בְּיָדָ֥םbe.ya.Dam
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea to…
2 Kings 7:6-7 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they s…
Hosea 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.
Malachi 1:1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
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…
A chariot came up - for six hundred shekels - This was the ordinary price of a chariot, as a hundred and fifty shekels were for a horse.
Kings of the Hittites - These must have been the remains of the original inhabitants of Canaan, who had gone to some other country, probably Syria, and formed themselves into a principality there. It seems that neither horses nor chariots came out of Egypt but by means of Solomon's servants.
John Gill on 1 Kings 10:29
And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver,.... Which, reckoning at two shillings and six pence a shekel, amounted to seventy five pounds; but a shekel was not worth more than two shillings and four pence farthing:
and an horse for one hundred and fifty; and this being the fourth part of the above sum, the Jews gather from hence that there were four horses in a chariot; the horses must be reckoned one with another, the whole collection of them, or otherwise no doubt but one horse was better than another; and it was a pretty large price to give for a horse in those times; which, taking a shekel at the lowest rate, must be upwards of ten pounds; and which is…
Dictionary and topics
Alliance — A treaty between nations, or between individuals, for their mutual advantage. Abraham formed an alliance with some of the Canaanitish princes (Gen. 14:13), also with Abimelech (21:22-32). Joshua and…
Alliances — On the first establishment of the Hebrews in Palestine no connections were formed between them and the surrounding nations. But with the extension of their power under the kings alliances became…
Army — The Israelites marched out of Egypt in military order (Ex. 13:18, “harnessed;” marg., “five in a rank”). Each tribe formed a battalion, with its own banner and leader (Num. 2:2; 10:14). In war the…
Cup — A wine-cup (Gen. 40:11, 21), various forms of which are found on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold (1 Kings 10: 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament…
Hittites — Palestine and Syria appear to have been originally inhabited by three different tribes. (1.) The Semites, living on the east of the isthmus of Suez. They were nomadic and pastoral tribes. (2.) The…
Horse — Always referred to in the Bible in connection with warlike operations, except Isa. 28:28. The war-horse is described Job 39:19-25. For a long period after their settlement in Canaan the Israelites…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
Taxes — First mentioned in the command (Ex. 30:11-16) that every Jew from twenty years and upward should pay an annual tax of “half a shekel for an offering to the Lord.” This enactment was faithfully…
In Kg1 10:23-29 everything that had to be stated concerning the wealth, wisdom, and revenue of Solomon is summed up as conclusion (cf. Ch2 9:22-28 and Ch2 1:14-17).
Kg1 10:23-25
Kg1 10:23, Kg1 10:24 point back to Kg1 5:9-14. ויּגדּל: Solomon became greater, not was greater, on account of the Vv consec. כּל־הארץ, all the world, corresponds to כּל־העמּים in Kg1 5:14. The foreigners out of all lands, who came on account of his wisdom, brought Solomon presents: gold and silver vessels, clothes (שׂלמות, court dresses, which are still customary presents in the East), נשׁק, armour, spices, horses and mules.
Kg1 10:26-27
Kg1 10:26 is simply a repetition of Kg1 5:6 (compare also Kg1 9:19); and Kg1 10…
In addition to his own accumulation, Solomon apparently served as a middleman, exchanging horses and chariots between the Egyptians to the south and the Syrians and Anatolians to the north.
Rashi on 1 Kings 10:29
And a single horse for one hundred fifty. We deduce that a chariot consisted of four horses.17If a single horse was exported for 150 silver pieces, and a chariot was exported for 600 silver pieces, obviously a chariot consisted of four horses. And for these prices [they sold] to all the kings of the Chitim and Aram.
Through them. Through Shlomo’s merchants, they exported them from Egypt.
Chariots · Value of in Solomon’s time — Value of in Solomon’s time
Commerce · .Chariots — .Chariots
Egypt · .Exports of — .Exports of
Exports · .Of horses and chariots, and linen yarn — .Of horses and chariots, and linen yarn
Hittites · Retain their own kings — Retain their own kings
Holy Land · Extensive commerce of, in Solomon’s reign — Extensive commerce of, in Solomon’s reign
Horse · .From Egypt — .From Egypt
Horse, The · The Jews: Imported from Egypt — The Jews: Imported from Egypt
Imports · .Horses, chariots, and linen — .Horses, chariots, and linen
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
