seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 8:11 Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”
12 On the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord, 13 according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for the Sabbaths, the New Moons and the threeannual festivals—the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. 14 In keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties, and the Levites to lead the praise and to assist the priests according to each day’s requirement. He also appointed the gatekeepers by divisions for the various gates, because this was what David the man of God had ordered. 15 They did not deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites in any matter, including that of the treasuries.
16 All Solomon’s work was carried out, from the day the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid until its completion. So the temple of the Lord was finished.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the coast of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own men, sailors who knew the sea. These, with Solomon’s men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents[c] of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.
c. 2 Chronicles 8:18 That is, about 17 tons or about 15 metric tons
Wow... Pharoah's daughter! Back when I was reading about that Pharaoh that Moses had a bout with... thought he was a god!...... He thought he was a god... Moses and I knew better.... giggle.
This is from the easy English site.
Early in his rule, Solomon married a daughter of the king of Egypt. While Solomon built the temple and his own palace, he kept this wife in Jerusalem. Then he built a palace for her and he took her there.
This wife brought her own maids and servants with her from Egypt. She and they probably did not worship the LORD. They had their own gods. Perhaps that is why Solomon kept them away from David’s palace and from the LORD’s temple. There is a tradition that gives her name as Bithiah. That name means ‘a daughter of the LORD who worships him’. So if the tradition is correct, this wife did worship the LORD. But we do know that many of Solomon’s later wives worshipped false gods.
I'm using the same commentary.... check out the final paragraph.
Ezion Geber and Eloth were ports at the north end of the gulf (bay) called the Gulf of Aqaba. The Gulf of Aqaba leads into the Red Sea. The nation called Tyre was famous because of its ships and its sailors. Hiram, who was the king of Tyre, sent ships and sailors to Solomon at these ports. At that time, there was no way to sail ships from Tyre to the Gulf of Aqaba. Therefore, we think that Hiram had ships already in that region. Or perhaps he sent materials by land to make ships at these ports. Or maybe he built ships at these ports. Also, Solomon built ships at Ezion Geber (1 Kings 9:26).
Israelites sailed in the ships with Hiram’s sailors. They went to the region called Ophir. We do not know where Ophir was. But the sailors brought back to Solomon 450 talents of gold.
According to the footnotes.... 450 talents of gold is equal to about 17 tons.... An ounce of gold sells for $1,278.75 as I write this. Of course I am aware there are 16 ounces to 1 pound and 2,000 pounds per ton. So the equation is $1,278.75 x 16 X 2000 X 17 =$695,640,000 in gold alone.
Solomon was a rich man with a foul family history. Solomon started out with a silver spoon in his mouth and now he's getting richer.
