Solomon’s Renown. ^9 (A)Moreover, God gave Solomon wisdom, exceptional understanding, and knowledge, as vast as the sand on the seashore. ¹⁰ Solomon’s wisdom surpassed that of all the peoples of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. ¹¹ He was wiser than anyone else—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, or Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the musicians—and his fame spread throughout the neighboring peoples. ¹² Solomon also uttered three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. ¹³ He spoke of plants, from the cedar on Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall, and he spoke about beasts, birds, reptiles, and fishes. ^14 (B)People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

Preparations for the Temple.^[a]

^14 (A)The gold that came to Solomon in one year weighed six hundred and sixty-six gold talents, ¹⁵ in addition to what came from the tolls on travelers, from the traffic of merchants, and from all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country. ^16 (B)King Solomon made two hundred shields of beaten gold (six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield) ¹⁷ and three hundred bucklers of beaten gold (three minas of gold went into each buckler); and the king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸ The king made a large ivory throne, and overlaid it with refined gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, a back with a round top, and an arm on each side of the seat, with two lions standing next to the arms, ²⁰ and twelve other lions standing there on the steps, two to a step, one on either side of each step. Nothing like this was made in any other kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the utensils in the house of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, for in Solomon’s time silver was reckoned as nothing. ²² For the king had a fleet of Tarshish ships^[a] at sea with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the fleet of Tarshish ships would come with a cargo of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

Solomon’s Renown. ²³ Thus King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²⁴ And the whole world sought audience with Solomon, to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart. ²⁵ They all brought their yearly tribute: vessels of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules—what was due each year.

Solomon’s Riches: Chariots and Horses. ^26 (C)Solomon amassed chariots and horses; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses; these he allocated among the chariot cities and to the king’s service in Jerusalem. ^27 (D)The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as numerous as the sycamores of the Shephelah. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Cilicia, where the king’s merchants purchased them. ²⁹ A chariot imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, a horse one hundred and fifty shekels; they were exported at these rates to all the Hittite and Aramean kings.