1 Kings 10:15
Ver. 15. Besides that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffic of the spice merchants,.... What they paid him as a duty or custom for the importation of their goods:
and of all the kings of Arabia; who were subject to him, and paid him a yearly tribute, or at least made presents, see 1Ki 4:21
and of the governors of the country; who were viceroys or deputy governors of countries conquered by his father, and who collected tribute from the people, and paid it to him. 1 Kings 10:16Ver. 16. And King Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold,.... Which were a larger sort of shields, which covered the whole body; and these were made of gold beaten with the hammer, or drawn into plates, being melted like wax; so the Poeni or Carthaginians made shields of gold {m}:six hundred shekels of gold went to one target; which is to be understood not of the weight, but of the price or value of them, which amounted to four hundred and fifty pounds of our money; so Brerewood {n}.{m} Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 35. 3. {n} Ut supra. (De Ponder. & Pret. c. 5.) 1 Kings 10:17Ver. 17. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold,.... Which were a lesser sort:three pounds of gold went to one shield; or three hundred shekels, as in 2Ch 9:16 a hundred shekels made one pound; so that these were but half the value of the former, and one of them was worth but two hundred and twenty five pounds: Eupolemus {o}, an Heathen writer, makes mention of those golden shields Solomon made, and which were made for show, and not for war, as follows:and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon; one part of which was made an armoury of, see So 4:4.{o} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 34. 1 Kings 10:18Ver. 18. Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory,.... To sit on and judge his people; and ivory being white, may denote the purity, justice, and equity with which he judged; the white throne in Re 20:11 may be an allusion to this; the ivory he had from Tarshish, 1Ki 10:22and overlaid it with the best gold; for the greater splendour and majesty of it; not that he covered it all over, for then the ivory would not be seen, but interlined it, or studded it with it, whereby it appeared the more beautiful and magnificent. Such a throne of gold and ivory was decreed to Caesar by the Romans {p}.{p} Appian. Alex. l. 2. 1 Kings 10:19Ver. 19. The throne had six steps,.... Up to the footstool of the throne, which was of gold, 2Ch 9:18 and was high, that everyone in court might see him, and the better hear the sentence he gave:and the top of the throne was round behind; had a semicircle at the top of it, like an alcove:and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat; or "hands" {q}, such as the arms of a chair, to lean and rest upon:and two lions stood beside the stays; which were not only ornamental, and for support of the stays, but expressive of majesty, and of undaunted courage and resolution to do justice, and of the danger such expose themselves to, who oppose magistrates in the discharge of their office; and in which Solomon was a type of Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah; and for the same reasons were the like portraits on the steps, as follows.{q} tdy "manus", V. L. Montanus, &c. agkwnev "brachiola", Sept. in 2 Chron. ix. 18. 1 Kings 10:20Ver. 20. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps,.... There was a lion on each side of every step, a symbol of royal power, as before observed; so the Egyptians placed lions under the throne of Orus {r}:there was not the like made in any kingdom; for the matter and form of it, for its grandeur and magnificence; there was none at least at that time, whatever has been since; for this is the first throne of ivory we read of.{r} Hori Apoll. Hieroglyph, l. 1. c. 17. 1 Kings 10:21Ver. 21. And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold,.... Such quantities of it were brought to him from Ophir, and paid to him in tribute, and given him as presents:and all the vessels of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; not only what were used in his palace at Jerusalem, but in his country house at some little distance:none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon; to make plate of; or silver plate was but little esteemed, and scarce any use of it made in Solomon's palace, if at all: though doubtless it was elsewhere, and especially silver as money. 1 Kings 10:22Ver. 22. For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish, with the navy of Hiram,.... Tharshish was not the place the navy went from, but whither it went to, as appears from 2Ch 9:21 and designs not Tarsus in Cilicia; nor Tartessus in Spain, or Gades, or which was however near it; though it appears from Strabo {s} and Mela {t} that the Phoenicians were acquainted with those parts, and were possessed of them; and particularly, according to Velleius Paterculus {u}, the navy of Tyre traded thither before the days of Solomen; and Vitringa {w} is clear in it, that these were ships that traded to Tartessus, with the ships of Tyre; and it is more likely that that place is meant than Carthage, now called Tunis, in Africa; though the Targum here calls it the navy, the navy of Africa; but as Tharshish is sometimes used for the sea in general, here it may signify a particular sea, so called: and which Josephus {x} names the Tarsic sea, the same with the Indian sea; and points to the same country where Ophir was, which was washed by it, and to which the two fleets joined were bound. This is observed, to account for it how Solomon came by so much gold:once in three years came the navy of Tharshish; it returned in such a space of time; navigation not being improved as now, and sailing by coasts, and what with their stay abroad to sell and purchase goods, and to refit their ships, as well as sometimes contrary winds, they were so long in performing this voyage, which is now done in a few months:bringing gold and silver; so that silver was accounted of, and used for some purposes, though not for the king's plate:ivory, and apes, and peacocks; ivory is the elephant's tooth, as the word signifies; some of those are of an almost incredible size; some are said to be of ninety, others one hundred and twenty five pounds weight; Vartomannus {y} says, he saw in Sumatra, where some place Ophir, one that weighed three hundred and thirty pounds; though, according to the Ethiopians {z} the ivory is from the horns; and so say {a} Pausanias and others, see Eze 27:15 but it is commonly supposed to be of the two teeth in the upper jaw that stands out; and whether they are called horns or teeth, they are the same of which ivory is: of elephants there were large numbers in India, bigger and stronger than those in Africa; which latter were afraid of the former, as Diodorus Siculus {b}, Curtius {c}, and Pliny {d} relate; so Virgil {e} speaks of ivory as fetched from India and Horace {f} also, which must be East India, for there are no ivory nor apes in the West Indies {g}: "apes" or "monkeys" were then, as now, brought from those parts. Strabo {h} reports, that when the Macedonians under Alexander were there, such a vast number of them came out of the woods, and placed themselves on the open hills, that they took them for an army of men set in battle array to fight them. Vartomannus {i} speaks of monkeys in the country of Calecut, of a very small price: near Surat apes are in great esteem, nor will they suffer them to be killed on any account {k}. There are various sorts of apes, some more like to goats, others to dogs, others to lions, and some to other animals, as Philostorgius {l} relates; and who also says the sphinx is one sort of them, and which he describes on his own sight of it as resembling mankind in many things, and as a very subtle animal; and so Solinus {m} reckons such among apes; but what come nearest in name and sound to the "kuphim" of Solomon here are those Pliny {n} calls "cephi", whose fore feet he says are like the hands of men, and their hinder feet like the feet and thighs of men; and Strabo {o} describes a creature found in Ethiopia, called by him "ceipus" or "cepus", which has a face like a satyr, and the rest of it is between a dog and a bear. There is a creature called "cebus" by Aristotle {p}, and is described as having a tail, and all the rest like a man; according to Ludolf {q}, "cephus" is the "orangoutang" of the Indians. The word for peacocks should rather be rendered "parrots", so Junius; which are well known to come from India {r}, and from thence only, according to Pausanias {s}; Vartomannus {t} says, that at Calecut there are parrots of sundry colours, as green and purple, and others of mixed colours, and such a multitude of them, that men are appointed to keep them from the rice in the fields, as we keep crows from corn; and that they are of a small price, one is sold for two pence, or half a souse; and the number of them may be accounted for, because the Brachmans, the priests, reckon them sacred, and therefore the Indians eat them not {u}. Curtius {w} designs these, when he says, in India are birds, which are taught to imitate man's voice; and Solinus {x} says, that India only produces the green parrot, that is, the East Indies, the West Indies not being then discovered; though some {y} think they were, and that it was thither Solomon's navy went: certain it is there are parrots of various colours in the West Indies, which P. Martyr of Angleria frequently makes mention of in his Decades. Huetius {z} derives the Hebrew word here used from hkt, which he says signifies to "join" or "adhere" to anything, as these birds will; cling to, and hang by their bills and nails on a branch of a tree, &c. so that they are not easily separated from it; the word is used inDe 33:3 and, according to some, in this sense. But, after all, if it should be insisted on, as it is by many, that "peacocks" are meant, these also are found in India. Alexander the great first saw them in this country, which so amazed him, that he threatened to punish those severely that should kill any of them {a}. Vartomannus {b} makes mention of them as in great numbers in some parts of India; and they are caught and sold at an easy rate at Surat {c}, and make part both of their game, and of their grand entertainments {d}; Aeianus {e} often speaks of them as in India in great numbers, and in great esteem.{s} Geograph. l. 3. p. 104. {t} De Situ Orbis, l. 2. c. 6. {u} Hist. l. 1. in principio. {w} Comment. in Jesaiam, c. 23. 1. {x} Antiqu. l. 8. c. 7. sect. 2. {y} Navigat. l. 6. c. 22. {z} Ludolf. Ethiop. Hist. l. 1. c. 10. {a} Eliac. 1. p. 308, 309. Vid. Plin. l. 8. c. 3. Aelian. Hist. Animal. l. 4. c. 21. & 7. 2. & 11. 37. & 14. 5. Varro apud Schindler. Lexic Pentaglott. col. 1905. {b} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 121. So Polybius, Hist. l. 5. {c} Hist. l. 8. c. 9. {d} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 9. {e} "India mittit ebur". Georgic. l. 1. ver. 57. {f} "---Non aurum et ebur Indicum". Carmin. l. 1. Ode 31. indogenouvelefantov Manetho. Apotelesm. ver. 297. & l. 4. ver. 149. Philo. de Praemiis, p. 924. {g} Manasseh Spes Israelis, sect. 2. p. 21. Ortel. Thesaur. Geograh. Varrerius de Ophyra. {h} Geograph. l. 15. p. 480. {i} Navigat. l. 5. c. 20. {k} Ovington's Voyage to Sarat, p. 360, 361, 596. {l} Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 11. {m} Polyhist. c. 40. {n} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 19. {o} Ut supra, (Geograph.) l. 17. p. 559. {p} Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 8, 9. {q} Ethiop. Hist. l. 1. c. 10. {r} Aelian. de Animal. l. 16. c. 2. "Psittacus eois ales mihi missus ab India". Ovid. Amor. l. 2. Eleg. 6. {s} Corinthiaca, sive, l. 2. p. 136. {t} Ut supra. (Navigat. l. 5. c. 20.) {u} Aelian de Animal. l. 13. c. 18. {w} Ut supra. (Hist. l. 8. c. 9.) {x} Polyhistor. c. 65. {y} Erasm. Schmid. de America Orat. ad. Calc. Pindari, p. 261. Vatablus in loc. & in c. 9. 28. Hornius de Gent. Americ. l. 2. c. 6, 7, 8. {z} De Navigat. Solomon. c. 7. sect. 6. {a} Aelian. ut supra, (de Animal. l. 16. c. 2.) & l. 5. c. 21. Curtii Hist. l. 9. c. 1. {b} Navigat. l. 6. c. 7. {c} Ovington's Voyage to Surat, p. 268, 269. {d} lbid. p. 398. {e} De Animal. l. 11. c. 33. & l. 13, 18. & l. 16. c. 2. 1 Kings 10:23Ver. 23. So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. In which he was an eminent type of Christ; see Eph 3:8. 1 Kings 10:24Ver. 24. And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. For it was all of God, a peculiar gift of his; by "all the earth" is meant the inhabitants of it, and only them, and those the more principal; who came from the several parts of it, hearing the fame of his wisdom, to know the truth of it, and to improve themselves by it. 1 Kings 10:25Ver. 25. And they brought every man his present,.... To recommend them, and introduce them into his presence:vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules, a rate year by year; everyone brought according to the commodities of his country; and they did yearly, out of great respect to him, and in veneration of him for his wisdom, and for the advantages they received by his wise counsels and instructions; besides, it was the custom of the eastern countries not to pay a visit, especially to great personages, without carrying a present. 1 Kings 10:26Ver. 26. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen,.... Both for war; for though it was a time of peace, he provided against the worst, lest an enemy should come upon him suddenly, and when unprepared:and he had one thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; of the latter See Gill on "1Ki 4:26"whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem; some of the horsemen were quartered in the cities where the chariots were placed, and some of them in Jerusalem, to be near the king's person, and to be a guard to him on occasion. Josephus {f} says, half of them were in Jerusalem about the king, and the rest were dispersed through the king's villages.{f} Antiqu l. 8. c. 2. sect. 4. 1 Kings 10:27Ver. 27. And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones,.... By the vast quantity he received from Tarshish; this is an hyperbolical expression:and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are the vale for abundance; not by the growth of them, but by the importation of them from the dominion of Hiram; this is said in the same figurative way; of the sycamore trees, Rauwolff says {g}, they are what the Moors and Arabians calls "mumeitz"; which he describes to be as large and as high as white mulberry trees, and having almost the same leaves, but rounder, and their fruit not unlike our figs, only sweeter, and no little seeds within, and not so good; and are therefore not esteemed, and are commonly sold to the poorer sort, and that they grow in all fields and grounds; of which See Gill on "Am 7:14".{g} Travels, par. 1. c. 4. p. 37. 1 Kings 10:28Ver. 28. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt,.... To mount his horsemen with, and draw his chariots; which seems contrary to the command in De 17:16and linen yarn; the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price; or rather linen itself; or linen garments, as Ben Gersom; linen being the staple commodity of Egypt, see Isa 19:9, but no mention is made of yarn in 2Ch 9:28, and the word rendered "linen yarn" signifies a confluence or collection of waters and other things; and the words may be rendered, "as for the collection, the king's merchants received the collection at a price"; that is, the collection of horses, a large number of them got together for sale; these they took at a price set upon them {h}, which is as follows.{h} Vid. Braunium de Vest. Sacerdot. Heb. l. 1. c. 8. sect. 9, 10, 11. 1 Kings 10:29Ver. 29. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver,.... Which, reckoning at two shillings and six pence a shekel, amounted to seventy five pounds; but a shekel was not worth more than two shillings and four pence farthing:and an horse for one hundred and fifty; and this being the fourth part of the above sum, the Jews gather from hence that there were four horses in a chariot; the horses must be reckoned one with another, the whole collection of them, or otherwise no doubt but one horse was better than another; and it was a pretty large price to give for a horse in those times; which, taking a shekel at the lowest rate, must be upwards of ten pounds; and which is too great a sum still for a custom or tribute to be paid for them, whether to Pharaoh or Solomon, as some understand it:and so for all the kings of the Hittites; perhaps the same with the kings of Arabia, 1Ki 10:15 and for the kings of Syria; those of Damascus, Zobah, &c.did they bring them out by their means; that is, by the means of Solomon's merchants, who bought them out of Egypt, and sold them to these kings.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.