📖WEB · 1 Kings 9:28
What does 1 Kings 9:28 mean?
"They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon."
— 1 Kings 9:28 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to Yahweh three times per year, burning incense with them, on the altar that was before Yahweh. So he finished the house.
King Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
Hiram sent in the fleet his servants, sailors who had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
Explanation
This verse concludes a brief account in 1 Kings 9:26-28 describing a major maritime trading venture undertaken by King Solomon. In plain terms, it says that ships sailed to a place called Ophir and returned with an enormous quantity of gold—four hundred twenty talents, which by ancient weights would have amounted to many tons of precious metal—and delivered it to Solomon. This was the tangible result of a fleet Solomon built at Ezion-geber, a port on the Red Sea, with the help of experienced sailors provided by King Hiram of Tyre, since Israel itself was not primarily a seafaring nation.
The historical context is Solomon's reign, a period the biblical text repeatedly characterizes as marked by extraordinary wealth, international alliances, and ambitious building projects, including the Temple in Jerusalem. Hiram of Tyre was a Phoenician king who had already partnered with Solomon in supplying materials and skilled labor for the Tem
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