2 Chronicles 9:13–31

Matthew Henry. 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. The honour which the queen of Sheba did to Solomon, in the visit she made him to hear his wisdom (Ch2 9:1-12). Never any prince had such presents brought him by all his neighbours as Solomon had: All the kings of Arabia, and governors of the country, brought him gold and silver (Ch2 9:14), not as tribute which he extorted from them, but as freewill offerings to procure his favour, or in a way of exchange for some of the productions of his husbandry, corn or cattle. Never any prince was so renowned for wisdom, so courted, so consulted, so admired (Ch2 9:23): The kings of the earth (for it was too great a favour for common persons to pretend to) sought to hear his wisdom - his natural philosophy, or his skill in physic, or his state policy, or his rules of prudence for the conduct of human life, or perhaps the principles of his religion, and the reasons of it. But I may observe that the most illustrious of them were famed for their wars, whereas Solomon reigned forty years in profound peace. He had 200 targets and 300 shields, all of beaten gold, carried before him (Ch2 9:15, Ch2 9:16), and sat upon a most stately throne, Ch2 9:17-19. Here is Solomon reigning in wealth and power, in ease and fulness, such as, for aught I know, could never since be paralleled by any king whatsoever. The application which they then made to Solomon to hear his wisdom will aggravate, shame, and condemn, men's general contempt of Christ and his gospel. All the kings of the earth brought him presents, that is, all in those parts of the world (Ch2 9:24, Ch2 9:28), because they coveted his acquaintance and friendship. We have here Solomon in his throne, and Solomon in his grave; for the throne would not secure him from the grave. Never any prince had greater plenty of gold and silver, though there were no gold or silver mines in his own kingdom. The lustre wherein he appeared was typical of the spiritual glory of the kingdom of the Messiah and but a faint representation of his throne, which is above every throne.

Jamieson–Fausset–Brown. HIS RICHES. (2Ch. 9:13-28) Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year--(See on 1Ki. 10:14-29). six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold--The sum named is equal to £3,646,350; and if we take the proportion of silver (Ch2 9:14), which is not taken into consideration, at one to nine, there would be about £200,000, making a yearly supply of nearly £6,000,000, being a vast amount for an infant effort in maritime commerce [NAPIER]. the king's ships went to Tarshish--rather, "the king's ships of Tarshish went" with the servants of Huram. ships of Tarshish--that is, in burden and construction like the large vessels built for or used at Tarshish [CALMET, Fragments]. Supposing that ten were put together in one part, this would make forty thousand. But more recent critics reject this mode of solving the difficulty, and, regarding the four thousand stalls as in keeping with the general magnificence of Solomon's establishments, are agreed in considering the text in Kings as corrupt, through the error of some copyist. According to this theory of explanation, the historian in Kings refers to horses [see Kg1 10:26]; while the historian in Chronicles speaks of the stalls in which they were kept. Solomon had four thousand stalls--It has been conjectured [GESENIUS, Hebrew Lexicon] that the original term may signify not only stall or stable, but a number of horses occupying the same number of stalls. His completion of the grand work, the centralizing of the national worship at Jerusalem, whither the natives went up three times a year, has given his name a prominent place in the history of the ancient church. But his reign had a disastrous influence upon "the peculiar people," and the example of his deplorable idolatries, the connections he formed with foreign princes, the commercial speculations he entered into, and the luxuries introduced into the land, seem in a great measure to have altered and deteriorated the Jewish character. Solomon undoubtedly carried the Hebrew kingdom to its highest pitch of worldly glory.