1 Kings 10:29

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Kings 10:14-29

We have here a further account of Solomon's prosperity. I. How he increased his wealth. Though he had much, he still coveted to have more, being willing to try the utmost the things of this world could do to make men happy. 1. Besides the gold that came from Ophir (1 Kgs. 9:28), he brought so much into his country from other places that the whole amounted, every year, to 666 talents (1 Kgs. 10:14), an ominous number, compare Rev. 13:18; Ezra 2:13. 2. He received a great deal in customs from... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 10:29

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Kings 10:29

A chariot came up - for six hundred shekels - This was the ordinary price of a chariot, as a hundred and fifty shekels were for a horse. Kings of the Hittites - These must have been the remains of the original inhabitants of Canaan, who had gone to some other country, probably Syria, and formed themselves into a principality there. It seems that neither horses nor chariots came out of Egypt but by means of Solomon's servants. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 10:14-29

The Decline and Fall of Solomon. The fall of Solomon, in itself one of the most portentous facts in Scripture history, is rendered doubly suggestive and admonitory by a consideration of the way in which it was brought about. It was not that he succumbed to some fierce onslaught of temptation; it was no terrible rush of passion—no sudden guilty love of "fair idolatresses," as some have held—wrought his ruin; on the contrary, his decline in piety was so gradual and slow as to be almost... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Kings 10:29

And a chariot [including perhaps the two or three horses (see note on 1 Kings 5:6 ) usually attached to a chariot, and the harness. רֶכֶב is used ( 2 Samuel 8:4 ; 2 Samuel 10:18 ; Ezekiel 39:20 ) for chariot and horses ] came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver [about £80 (Wordsworth, £35), but, as these figures show, the precise value cannot be ascertained with certainty. But it is quite clear that these amounts cannot have been the custom... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Kings 10:29

Taking the shekel at about three shillings of our money, six hundred silver shekels would be equal to about 90; and 150 shekels to 22 British pounds and 10 shillings. “Average” price seems to be in each case intended; and we may account for the comparatively high price of the chariot by supposing that by “chariot” is intended the entire equipage, including car, harness, and trained horses, of which there would be two at least, if not three. The “horses” mentioned separately from the chariots... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Kings 10:29

1 Kings 10:29. A chariot came up out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, &c. Egypt being then the most famous country in the world for horses and chariots, and all Asia being supplied from thence, Solomon, who possessed, as it were, the gate of Egypt, by being master of that one only passage, the distance between the Red and the Mediterranean sea, took, it seems, an advantage of this, to lay an excessive high tribute on all that were brought out of Egypt that way, to supply... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 10:1-29

Click image for full-size version9:26-11:43 OTHER FEATURES OF SOLOMON’S REIGNTrade, fame and wealth (9:26-10:29)Always alert in business dealings, Solomon saw the opportunity for further profits by cooperating with Hiram in trade transport. Goods from the Mediterranean were received at Hiram’s port of Tyre, taken overland to the Israelite port of Ezion-geber at the northern tip of the Red Sea, then shipped east, possibly as far as India. Since the Israelites were not a seafaring people, Solomon... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Kings 10:29

kings of the Hittites. Compare 1 Samuel 26:6 . 2 Kings 7:6 . These passages alleged to be unhistoric! but they are confirmed by the discoveries made in 1874 throughout Asia Minor and North Syria, which identify them with the "sons of Heth" (Genesis 23:3 , Genesis 23:5 , Genesis 23:7 ; Genesis 25:10 ; Genesis 27:46 ; Genesis 49:32 ), the Khatta of the Accadian and the Kheta of the Egyptian records. They contended on equal terms with Assyria and Egypt. Crushed by Sargon II, 717 B.C. Chief... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Kings 10:29

1 Kings 10:29. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt, &c.— The Egyptian horses were highly acceptable to the Syrian princes, who, it seems, had them brought out of that country by the means of Solomon, at a considerable expence. What made them prize the Egyptian horses so highly, is not easy to determine. It cannot be imagined that they were animals peculiar to Egypt, or not known in that part of Asia, which made them so desirous to transplant such an useful creature into their... read more

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