2 Chronicles 9:29 Kommentar

Solomon here continues to appear great both at home and abroad. We had this account of his grandeur, 1 Kings 10. Nothing is here added; but his defection towards his latter end, which we have there (ch. 11), is here omitted, and the close of this chapter brings him to the grave with an unstained reputation. Perhaps none of the chapters in the Chronicles agree so much with a chapter in the Kings as this does with 1 Kings 10 verse for verse, only that the first two verses there are put into one here, and Ch2 9:25 here is taken from Kg1 4:26, and the last three verses here from Kg1 11:41-43. Here is, I. The honour which the queen of Sheba did to Solomon, in the visit she made him to hear his wisdom (Ch2 9:1-12). II. Many instances given of the riches and splendour of Solomon's court (v. 13-28). III. The conclusion of his reign (Ch2 9:29-31).

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 9 The ninth chapter is the same with Kg1 10:1 excepting Ch2 9:26, which agrees with Kg1 4:21, the same with Kg1 11:41, only in Ch2 9:29 it is more largely expressed that the acts of Solomon's reign were written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nebat; or rather "concerning Jeroboam", as the Septuagint and some other versions (b), in which Iddo is called Joel; and by Theodoret said to be the same that prophesied of Jeroboam and his altar, See Gill on Kg1 13:1; the books mentioned are since lost. (b) Sept. de, Junius & Tremellias, Piscator.

The queen of Sheba visits Solomon, and is sumptuously entertained by him, Ch2 9:1-12. His great riches, Ch2 9:13, Ch2 9:14. He makes targets and shields of beaten gold, and a magnificent ivory throne, and various utensils of gold, Ch2 9:15-20. His navigation to Tarshish, and the commodities brought thence, Ch2 9:21. His magnificence and political connections, Ch2 9:22-28. The writers of his life, Ch2 9:29. He reigns forty years, and is succeeded by his son Rehoboam, Ch2 9:30, Ch2 9:31.

Nathan the prophet - These books are all lost. See the account of Solomon, his character, and a review of his works, at the end of Kg1 11:43 (note). I. By the kindness of a learned friend, who has made this kind of subjects his particular study, I am able to give a more correct view of the value of the talent of gold and the talent of silver than that which I have quoted Kg1 10:17, from Mr. Reynold's State of the Greatest King. 1. To find the equivalent in British standard to an ounce troy of pure gold, valued at eighty shillings, and to a talent of the same which weighs one thousand eight hundred ounces troy. The ounce contains four hundred and eighty grains, and the guinea weighs one hundred and twenty-nine grains, or five pennyweights and nine grains. (1) As 129 grains: 21 shillings:: 480, the number of grains in an ounce: 78.1395348s. or 3l. 18s. 1d. 2.69767q.; the equivalent in our silver coin to one ounce of standard gold. (2) As 78.1395348 shillings, the value of an ounce of standard gold,: 80 shillings, the value of an ounce troy of pure gold,:: 80 shillings: 81.9047619 shillings, the equivalent in British standard to one ounce of pure gold. Instead of the preceding, the following proportions may be used: - (1) As 21.5 shillings: 21 shillings:: 80 shillings: 78.1395348 shillings. This multiplied by 1800, the number of troy ounces in a Hebrew talent, gives 140651.16264s. or 7032l. 11s. 1d. 3.8q., the equivalent to one talent of standard gold. (2) As 21 standard: 21.5 pure:: 80 pure: 81.9047619 standard. This multiplied by 1800 gives 147428.67142s. or 7371l. 8s. 6d. 3.4q., the equivalent to one talent of pure gold. 2. To find the equivalent in British standard to a talent of pure silver, which is valued at four hundred and fifty pounds sterling, or five shillings the ounce troy. The pound troy is 240 pennyweights; and our silver coin has 18 pennyweights of alloy in the pound. From 240 pennyweights take 18, and there will remain 222 pennyweights, the pure silver in the pound. Now as 240 pennyweights: 222 pennyweights:: 20 pennyweights, the weight of a crown piece,: 18 1/2 pennyweights, the weight of the pure silver in the crown. Then, as 18.5 pennyweights: 6 shillings:: 36000, the number of dwts. in a talent,: 9729.729729729729 shillings, or 486 9s. 8 3/4d., the equivalent in our coin to a talent of pure silver. Example 1. To find the equivalent in British standard to the one hundred and twenty talents of gold which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon, Ch2 9:9. 147428.57142 s. equivalent to one talent of pure gold, 120 number of talents [as found above]. 17691428.5704 = 884,571 8 s. 6 3/4 d., the equivalent to 120 talents. Example 2. To find the equivalent in British standard to Solomon's two hundred targets of beaten gold, each six hundred shekels; and to his three hundred shields, each three hundred shekels, Ch2 9:15, Ch2 9:16. A talent is three thousand shekels; therefore six hundred shekels are one-fifth, and three hundred are one-tenth of a talent. -

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITS SOLOMON; SHE ADMIRES HIS WISDOM AND MAGNIFICENCE. (Ch2 9:1-12) when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon--(See on Kg1 10:1-13). It is said that among the things in Jerusalem which drew forth the admiration of Solomon's royal visitor was "his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord." This was the arched viaduct that crossed the valley from Mount Zion to the opposite hill. In the commentary on the passage quoted above, allusion was made to the recent discovery of its remains. Here we give a full account of what, for boldness of conceptions for structure and magnificence, was one of the greatest wonders in Jerusalem. "During our first visit to the southwest corner of the area of the mosque, we observed several of the large stones jutting out from the western wall, which at first seemed to be the effect of a bursting of the wall from some mighty shock or earthquake. We paid little regard to this at the moment; but on mentioning the fact not long after to a circle of our friends, the remark was incidentally dropped that the stones had the appearance of having once belonged to a large arch. At this remark, a train of thought flashed across my mind, which I hardly dared to follow out until I had again repaired to the spot, in order to satisfy myself with my own eyes as to the truth or falsehood of the suggestion. I found it even so. The courses of these immense stones occupy their original position; their external surface is hewn to a regular curve; and, being fitted one upon another, they form the commencement or foot of an immense arch which once sprung out from this western wall in a direction towards Mount Zion, across the Tyropœon valley. This arch could only have belonged to the bridge, which, according to JOSEPHUS, led from this part of the temple to the Xystus (covered colonnade) on Zion; and it proves incontestably the antiquity of that portion from which it springs" [ROBINSON]. The distance from this point to the steep rock of Zion ROBINSON calculates to be about three hundred and fifty feet, the probable length of this ancient viaduct. Another writer adds, that "the arch of this bridge, if its curve be calculated with an approximation to the truth, would measure sixty feet, and must have been one of five sustaining the viaduct (allowing for the abutments on either side), and that the piers supporting the center arch of this bridge must have been of great altitude--not less, perhaps, than one hundred and thirty feet. The whole structure, when seen from the southern extremity of the Tyropœon, must have had an aspect of grandeur, especially as connected with the lofty and sumptuous edifices of the temple, and of Zion to the right and to the left" [ISAAC TAYLOR'S EDITION OF TRAILL'S JOSEPHUS].

The visit of the queen of Sheba. Cf. Kg1 10:1-13. - This event is narrated as a practical proof of Solomon's extraordinary wisdom. The narrative agrees so exactly in both texts, with the exception of some few quite unimportant differences, that we must regard them as literal extracts from an original document which they have used in common. For the commentary on this section, see on Kg1 10:1-13.

Conclusion of Solomon's history. - Ch2 9:29. Sources; see the introduction. Ch2 9:30-31 The length of his reign, his death and burial, and his successor, as in Kg1 11:42.