2 Chronicles 9:21

For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
king’s	לַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ la.Me.lekh	H4428	a king · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
ships	אֳנִיּ֤וֹת 'o.ni.Yot	H591	a ship · noun, common feminine plural absolute
went	הֹלְכ֣וֹת ho.le.Khot	H1980	to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal active participle, feminine plural absolute
Tarshish	תַּרְשִׁ֔ישׁ tar.Shish	H8659	Tarshish · proper noun, a place name
servants	עַבְדֵ֣י 'av.Dei	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct
Huram	חוּרָ֑ם chu.Ram	H2361	Churam · proper noun, a man's name
three	לְשָׁל֨וֹשׁ le.sha.Lo.osh	H7969	three · preposition + noun, common both genders singular absolute
years	שָׁנִ֜ים sha.Nim	H8141	a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
once	אַחַת֩ 'a.Chat	H259	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
came	תָּב֣וֹאנָה ta.Vo.nah	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
ships	אֳנִיּ֣וֹת 'o.ni.Yot	H591	a ship · noun, common feminine plural construct
Tarshish	תַּרְשִׁ֗ישׁ tar.Shish	H8659	Tarshish · proper noun, a place name
bringing	נֹֽשְׂאוֹת֙ no.se.'Ot	H5375	to lift · verb, qal active participle, feminine plural absolute
gold	זָהָ֣ב za.Hav	H2091	gold · noun, common masculine singular absolute
silver	וָכֶ֔סֶף va.Khe.sef	H3701	silver (from its pale color) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
ivory	שֶׁנְהַבִּ֥ים shen.ha.Bim	H8143	probably · noun, common masculine plural absolute
apes	וְקוֹפִ֖ים ve.ko.Fim	H6971	a monkey · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
peacocks	וְתוּכִּיִּֽים ve.tu.ki.Yim	H8500	probably of foreign derivation · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute

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

1 Kings 10:22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silve…
1 Kings 22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
2 Chronicles 20:36-37 And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber.
Job 39:13 Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 9:13–end

We have here Solomon in his throne, and Solomon in his grave; for the throne would not secure him from the grave. Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat - Death wrenches from the hand the sceptre as well as the spade. I. Here is Solomon reigning in wealth and power, in ease and fulness, such as, for aught I know, could never since be paralleled by any king whatsoever. In cannot pretend to be critical in comparing the grandeur of Solomon with that of some of the great princes of the earth. But I may observe that the most illustrious of them were famed for their wars, whereas Solomon reigned forty years in profound peace. Some of those that might be thought to vie with Solomon affected retirement, kept…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 9:21

the king's ships went to Tarshish--rather, "the king's ships of Tarshish went" with the servants of Huram. ships of Tarshish--that is, in burden and construction like the large vessels built for or used at Tarshish [CALMET, Fragments].

Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 9:21

The king's ships went to Tarshish - "Went to Africa." - Targum.

John Gill on 2 Chronicles 9:1

See Chapter Introduction

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Chronicles 9:13-21

Solomon's revenue in gold, and the use he made of it. Cf. Kg1 10:14-22, and the commentary there on this section, which is identical in both narratives, with the exception of some trifling differences. Before מביאים והסּחרים the relative pronoun is to be supplied: "and what the merchants brought." As to the derivation of the word פּחות, which comes from the Aramaic form פּחה, governor (Ch2 9:14), see on Hag 1:1. - תּרשׁישׁ הלכות אניּות, in Ch2 9:21, ships going to Tarshish, is an erroneous paraphrase of תּרשׁישׁ אניּות, Tarshish-ships, i.e., ships built for long sea voyages; for the fleet did not go to Tartessus in Spain, but to Ophir in Southern Arabia (see on Kg1 9:26.). All the rest has b…

Dictionary and topics

Ape — An animal of the monkey tribe (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chr. 9:21). It was brought from India by the fleets of Solomon and Hiram, and was called by the Hebrews koph_, and by the Greeks _kepos, both words…
Apes — (Heb. kophim) are mentioned in (1 Kings 10:22) and 2Chr 9:21 There can be little doubt that the apes were brought from the same country which supplied ivory and peacocks, both of which are common in…
Elephant — Not found in Scripture except indirectly in the original Greek word (elephantinos) translated “of ivory” in Rev. 18:12, and in the Hebrew word (shenhabim, meaning “elephant’s tooth”) rendered “ivory”…
Huram — (noble born).
Merchant — The Hebrew word so rendered is from a root meaning “to travel about,” “to migrate,” and hence “a traveller.” In the East, in ancient times, merchants travelled about with their merchandise from place…
Peacock — (Heb. tuk, apparently borrowed from the Tamil tokei). This bird is indigenous to India. It was brought to Solomon by his ships from Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chr. 9:21), which in this case was…
Peacocks — (Heb. tuccyyim). Among the natural products which Solomon’s fleet brought home to Jerusalem, mention is made of “peacocks,” (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 9:21) which is probably the correct…
Silver — Used for a great variety of purposes, as may be judged from the frequent references to it in Scripture. It first appears in commerce in Gen. 13:2; 23:15, 16. It was largely employed for making…
Tarshish — A Sanscrit or Aryan word, meaning “the sea coast.” (1.) One of the “sons” of Javan (Gen. 10:4; 1 Chr. 1:7). (2.) The name of a place which first comes into notice in the days of Solomon. The question…
Commerce · Maritime, by ships — Maritime, by ships
Imports · .Gold, ivory, apes, peacocks

2 Chronicles 9:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 9:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 9:21

Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 9:21

John Gill on 2 Chronicles 9:1

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Chronicles 9:13-21

Dictionary and topics

2 Chronicles 9:21

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 9:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Chronicles 9:21

Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 9:21

John Gill on 2 Chronicles 9:1

Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Chronicles 9:13-21

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Chronicles 9:21

Rashi on 2 Chronicles 9:21