1 KINGS—NOTE ON 1 KINGS 10:1 The QUEEN OF SHEBA (see note on 2 Chron. 9:1–9, 12) arrives from Arabia (“Ophir” in 1 Kings 9:28) TO TEST Solomon. THERE WAS NOTHING HIDDEN. Solomon’s wisdom, given by God, was unprecedented. This foreign queen is amazed (1 Kings 10:4). ⇐ ⇔... [ Continue Reading ]
1 KINGS—NOTE ON 1 KINGS 10:8 HAPPY ARE YOUR MEN! HAPPY ARE YOUR SERVANTS. Chapter 1 Kings 10:1 as a whole focuses on the benefit that wisdom brings to the royal court, and particularly to Solomon himself. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img;... [ Continue Reading ]
1 KINGS—NOTE ON 1 KINGS 10:10 The queen’s gift of 120 TALENTS OF GOLD (9,000 pounds/4,080 kg) is a remarkably large amount, yet Solomon was already receiving much more gold than this (notice that her gift is exactly the same size as Hiram’s _first installment_ in 1 Kings 9:14). Solomon was a much we... [ Continue Reading ]
1 KINGS—NOTE ON 1 KINGS 10:14 WEIGHT OF GOLD. The accumulation of gold continues. It is mentioned no fewer than 11 times in vv. 1 Kings 10:14, 1 Kings 10:16, 1 Kings 10:21, 1 Kings 10:25. It arrives in Israel by various means, including SHIPS OF TARSHISH (v. 1 Kings 10:22 [ Continue Reading ]
1 KINGS—NOTE ON 1 KINGS 10:26 CHARIOTS AND HORSEMEN... SILVER. The accumulation of silver and horses, as well as gold, is forbidden by Deuteronomy 17:16. Solomon has violated all but one of the instructions in that passage. His violation of that one remaining instruction will be the subject of 1 Kin... [ Continue Reading ]