1 Kings 10 666 & Baubles

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
1 Kings 10:14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[e] 15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels[f] of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas[g] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

18 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. 22 The king had a fleet of trading ships[h] at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

23 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

26 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue[j]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. 29 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.[k] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.


e. 1 Kings 10:14 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons
f. 1 Kings 10:16 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms; also in verse 29
g. 1 Kings 10:17 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms; or perhaps reference is to double minas, that is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms.
h. 1 Kings 10:22 Hebrew of ships of Tarshish
I. 1 Kings 10:26 Or charioteers
j. 1 Kings 10:28 Probably Cilicia
k. 1 Kings 10:29 That is, about 3 3/4 pounds or about 1.7 kilograms

I am remembering the fourth of July fireworks on the Mall this morning. I can hear those people oooohhhhing and aaaahhhing. I thinks that's what I'd be doing if Solomon took me on a tour of his baubles. How could I not oooh or aaah at the sight of that fancy throne... overlaid in ivory and inlaid with pure gold.

But wait.... look at that first verse! "The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents"

This is from enduringword.com.

Six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold: This was a vast amount of gold, which came to Solomon yearly. One commentator estimated the value of the 666 talents of gold at $281,318,400. According to the value of gold in 2015, it would be just under $1 billion dollars. This speaks not only to the great wealth of Solomon, but it also makes him the only other person in the Bible associated with the number 666.

The other Biblical connection to 666 is the end-times world dictator and opponent of God and His people often known as the Antichrist (Revelation 13:18). In fact, the Revelation passage specifically says that the number 666 is the number of a man, and the man may be Solomon.

This isn’t to say that Solomon was the Antichrist or that the coming Antichrist will be some strange reincarnation of Solomon. But it may indicate that the Antichrist may not be someone purely evil from the very beginning. Instead, he may be like Solomon – a good man corrupted.​

Besides that from the traveling merchants: Solomon received more than 666 talents of gold a year. The 666 talents was just his beginning salary.

The writer of 1 Kings gives us a warning signal here. He assumes that we know of the instructions for future kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. He assumes we know verse 17 of that passage, which says: nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. God blessed Solomon with great riches, but Solomon allowed that blessing to turn into a danger because he disobediently multiplied silver and gold for himself.

Remember, Solomon asked God for wisdom. God granted him wisdom but then heaped on the riches because Solomon didn't ask for it. My guess.... if Solomon had asked for riches... he would have probably received so much that he would have choked on it. I wonder... is Solomon wise enough to deal with being rich? Can the Solomon camel make it through the eye of the Solomon needle?

:coffee:
 
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