seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 9:13 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,[d] 14 not including the revenues brought in by merchants and traders. Also all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the territories brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels[e] of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three hundred shekels[f] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them.19 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. 20 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 day. 21 The king had a fleet of trading ships[g] manned by Hiram’s[h] servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
22 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 23 All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, and robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses,[i] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 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 all other countries.
d. 2 Chronicles 9:13 That is, about 25 tons or about 23 metric tons
e. 2 Chronicles 9:15 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms
f. 2 Chronicles 9:16 That is, about 7 1/2 pounds or about 3.5 kilograms
g. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Hebrew of ships that could go to Tarshish
h. 2 Chronicles 9:21 Hebrew Huram, a variant of Hiram
i. 2 Chronicles 9:25 Or charioteers
Yet another thing I didn't notice the first time around.... Rich boy Solomon had an annual income of 666 talents of gold. The commentary this morning is from enduringword.com.
Six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold: This is a vast amount of gold, which came to Solomon yearly. One commentator sets the value of the 666 talents of gold at $281,318,400. According to the 2016 price of gold ($1269 an ounce) the value would be $1,019,565,360. 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 weird 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 what the traveling merchants and traders brought: Solomon received more than 666 talents of gold a year. The 666 talents was just his beginning salary.
The writer of Chronicles gave a subtle warning signal here. He assumed his readers knew 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.
They brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and all lands: At the end of this great description of Solomon’s wealth and splendor, we have the sound of this dark note. This was in direct disobedience to Deuteronomy 17:16, which said to the Kings of Israel: But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, “You shall not return that way again.”
Ok... now I see a possible hint. Why did Solomon have 700 wives, 300 concubines, and only 4 children? Maybe it's because he was too busy making making money. Sure he had a beautiful Temple.... but that was just a result of what his father David did. Who wouldn't have a beautiful Temple when their dad gave them a $4 Billion erector set?! Why even the sitting president of the US only got a mere $4 Million dollars to build his tower. Solomon had such a huge silver spoon in his mouth when he was born, silver became worthless. That's like having a coffee can chock full of mercury dimes and not caring.....IMHO...... Solomon was a big headed man with too much time on his hands. I am stunned.... why didn't he have more children? God gave him wisdom and riches.... but only a couple of children? This does not tie in with "be fruitful and multiply". Solomon was supposed to be the shining example of a wise man.... he made God happy when he asked for wisdom over riches.... and God gave him both.... why didn't he ask for heirs? Why didn't God give such a wise and prosperous man more children? Solomon was the richest.... maybe he was so busy collecting, counting, dispersing, and hoarding all those riches that he didn't have time for 700 wives and 300 concubines. Maybe he was enough for himself.....he didn't desire a woman. Maybe he had an heir and that was all he was interested in.
Maybe there was more than one camel that Solomon had to work through the eye of a needle. But what would I know... I'm just an old gray haired woman with an online Bible and some online commentaries. I really don't have a clue.... I do have a lot of questions about Solomon.
