---

I. THE VASTNESS OF HIS WEALTH. (Vers. 13, 14, 21, 24.)

1. Its sources.

(1) The contributions of merchants and traders towards the imperial revenues (ver. 14);

(2) the presents of kings and governors in Arabia and elsewhere; and

(3) the cargoes brought by his fleets from Ophir yearly (ver. 10), and from Tartessus, or Tarsus, in Spain, every three years (ver. 21).

2. Its amount. 666 talents of gold per annum, not reckoning the silver as abundant as stones (ver. 27). Estimating a talent at £5475 sterling, the gold would reach the immense total of £3,646,350 sterling per annum.

3. Its use. It was employed:

(1) In making state shields - 200 larger, to each of which 600 shekels of gold were devoted; and 300 smaller, to each of which 300 shekels were assigned. The shields, probably made of wood and covered with gold instead of leather, were hung in Solomon's palace, "the house of the forest of Lebanon" (1 Kings 7:2), where they remained until plundered by Shishak (2 Chronicles 12:9; 1 Kings 14:26).

(2) In fashioning a state throne, made of ivory and overlaid with pure gold (ver. 17); i.e. the woodwork, not the ivory, was covered with the metal. The throne had six steps and a golden footstool (ver. 18); each step had on either side a lion, probably of cast metal gilded. On each side of the seat was an arm or stay, beside which sat another lion. Thus there were in all fourteen gilt lions. No wonder the historian adds, "there was nothing like it in any kingdom." Yet many modern thrones surpass it in splendour.

(3) In constructing state cups or drinking-vessels for the palace. All were made of pure gold - gold of Ophir, Tarshish, or Parvaim; "not one of silver, which was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon."

4. Its credibility. The above account is rendered trustworthy by comparing it with well-known recorded facts. "When Nineveh was besieged, Sardanapalus had 150 golden bedsteads, 150 golden tables, 1,000,000 talents of gold, ten times as much silver, while 3000 talents had been previously distributed among his sons. No less than 7170 talents of gold were used for the statues and vessels of the temple of Bel in Babylon. Alexander's pillage of Ecbatana was valued at 120,000 talents of gold; Cyrus's pillage was 34,000 pounds of gold and 500,000 petards of silver, besides an immense number of golden vessels" (Bahr, in loco, Lange's series).

II. THE EXCELLENCE OF HIS WISDOM. (Vers. 22, 23.) Solomon's wisdom was excellent in respect of:

1. Origin. It was God-inspired. All wisdom proceeds from the same source (Job 32:8), and "a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven" (John 3:27); but in Solomon's case wisdom was a special endowment (2 Chronicles 1:12).

2. Measure. Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in the quantity as well as quality of his wisdom - not easy to do. The Queen of Sheba was a proof that royal personages in that era were not fools; while the monumental histories of Egypt and Assyria have revealed the existence of wise and powerful princes long before Solomon. There were brave men before Agamemnon.

3. Manifestation. Solomon's wisdom expressed itself in a variety of ways: in temple-building and other architectural undertakings; in the pronouncing of judgments and the utterance of apothegms; in the acquisition of knowledge, and more especially of natural history; and in literary compositions both prosaic and poetical (1 Kings 4:29-33).

4. Fame. It spread abroad through all countries, and attracted kings and queens to his court to hear his oracular utterances and make trial of his insight, as well as to gaze upon the splendour of his court and the magnificence of his person (1 Kings 4:34).

III. THE EXTENT OF HIS EMPIRE. (Ver. 26.)

1. Its eastern boundary - the Syrian desert, in which Tadmor or Palmyra was situated.

2. Its western - the Mediterranean, or, more correctly, Phoenicia and the country of the Philistines, with the strip of Mediterranean coast between.

3. Its northern - the river - the Euphrates, in its upper reaches, from Tiphsah, or Thapsacus, a large and populous town on the west bank, a place where armies crossed over the stream, and where was a quay for landing and shipping wares coming from or going to Babylon (Winer, 2. p. 612).

4. Its southern - the border of Egypt (1 Kings 4:24). Within these limits he either exercised sovereign power directly, as over his own subjects in Palestine, or indirectly through receiving tribute from the reigning kings who expressed their fealty to him by bringing, year by year, every man his present - vessels of silver and vessels of gold and raiment, harness and spices, horses and mules (ver. 24).

IV. THE DURATION OF HIS REIGN. (Ver. 30.) Forty years.

1. A great privilege. Long life a mark of special favour under the old dispensation (Proverbs 3:16); under the new, a valuable blessing to those who enjoy it (Ephesians 6:2).

2. A large opportunity. Life not for personal enjoyment merely, but for religious and philanthropic activity. A long life means a long time for doing good. What benefits Solomon might have conferred upon his people during that extended period!

3. A high responsibility. "To whomsoever much is given," etc. That Solomon did less than he might with his great wisdom, vast riches, immense power, extended fame, and protracted life, entailed upon him deeper guilt.

4. An evident mercy. Considering the bad use Solomon made of his numerous years, declining in his old age through love of women into debasing idolatries (1 Kings 11:1-8), it was a proof of the Divine patience and long-suffering that he was not earlier cut off.

V. THE CLOSE OF HIS CAREER. (Vers. 29, 31.)

1. His biography was written by the hand of prophets. (Ver. 29.) Nathan the prophet, who bad announced his birth to David (2 Samuel 7:12-14; 1 Chronicles 17:11), and who had called him, when a child, Jedidiah, "Beloved of the Lord" (2 Samuel 12:25), in all probability began it; Ahijah the Shilonite (i.e. inhabitant of, or prophet from, Shilo, an Ephraimite town), who predicted the division of the kingdom (1 Kings 11:29), it may be supposed, carried it on; and Iddo the seer, a contemporary of Rehoboam and Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 12:15 and 2 Chronicles 13:22), finished it. Being prophets of the Lord, these writers would "nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice," but would deliver "a plain unvarnished tale" of the great monarch's acts and words, of his wise speeches and foolish deeds.

2. His corpse was buried in the tomb of his father. (Ver. 31.) It was well that he had a tomb to lie in; better men than he have had none. He had sat upon his father's throne, worn his father's crown, extended his father's kingdom, improved upon his father's vices, declined from his father's piety; now his lifeless dust was consigned to rest in his father's sepulchre.

3. His throne was filled by his own son. No man likes to be succeeded by a stranger. It must have been a comfort to the old monarch that Rehoboam was to wear his crown. Learn:

1. The vanity of earthly glory - the magnificence of Solomon unequal to the raiment of a lily (Matthew 6:29).

2. The worthlessness of all earthly things without religion: Solomon had everything that could satisfy ambition, and yet he declined from the worship of Jehovah (Matthew 19:20);

3. The certainty of death: if a Solomon could not evade the king of terrors, how shall common men? (Ecclesiastes 8:8). - W.

---

---

KJV: Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

WEB: Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,