A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites, and to the kings of Syria.
Parallel Translations
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A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty shekels; and so they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites, and to the kings of Syria.
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And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
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And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Aram, did they bring them out by their means.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 10:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.
- 2 Kings 7:6-7 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.” Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
- Hosea 12:10 I have also spoken to the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets I have used parables.
- Malachi 1:1 A revelation, Yahweh’s word to Israel by Malachi.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hebrew, hands.
Hebrew, hands.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 10:29 And a chariot came up and went…
1Ki 10:29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring [them] out by their means.
Ver. 29. And a chariot came up.] A chariot with four horses. The custom of six horses in a coach with a postilion, began among us but in King James’s days by the duke of Buckingham, that king’s favourite.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A chariot: this is not to be understood of…
A chariot: this is not to be understood of the chariots and horses themselves, (for then all horses had been set at an equal price, which is most absurd,) but by a metonymy, for the lading of chariots and horses, which consisting of fine linen and silk, &c., were of great value; and the king’s custom, together with the charges of the journey, amounted to these sums.
The Hittites; a people dwelling principally in the northern and eastern parts of Canaan, Jos 1:4, whom the Israelites, contrary to their duty, spared, and suffered to live among them, Jdg 3:5, who afterwards, it seems, grew numerous and potent, and, it may be, they sent out colonies (after the manner of the ancient times) into some parts of Syria and Arabia and possibly these kings of the Hittites may be some of those kings of Arabia, 1Ki 10:15.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Chariot - This is not to be understood of…
Chariot - This is not to be understood of the chariots and horses themselves, but for the lading of chariots and horses, which consisting of fine linen and silk, were of great value: and the king's custom, together with the charges of the journey, amounted to these sums. Hittites - A people dwelling principally in the northern and eastern parts of Canaan, Josh. i, 4, whom the Israelites, contrary to their duty, suffered to live amongst them, Judg. iii, 5, who afterwards grew numerous and potent, and, it may be, sent out colonies (after the manner of the ancient times) into some parts of Syria and Arabia. And possibly, these kings of the Hittites may be some of those kings of Arabia, ver. 15.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 29. A chariot came up - for six…
Verse 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.
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MR. BRUCE'S ACCOUNT OF SOLOMON'S VOYAGE TO OPHIR
"WE are not to wonder, if the prodigious hurry and flow of business, and the immensely valuable transactions they had with each other, had greatly familiarized the Tyrians and Jews with their correspondents, the Cushites and shepherds, on the coast of Africa. This had gone so far as, very naturally, to create a desire in the queen of Azab, the sovereign of that country, to go herself and see the application of the immense treasures that had been exported from her country for a series of years, and the prince who so magnificently employed them. There can be no doubt of this expedition; as Pagan, Arab, Moor, Abyssinian, and all the countries around, vouch for it nearly in the terms of Scripture.
"Her name, the Arabs say, was Belkis; the Abyssinians, Maqueda. Our Saviour calls her queen of the south, without mentioning any other name, but gives his sanction to the truth of the voyage. 'The queen of the south (or Saba, or Azab) shall rise up in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold a greater than Solomon is here.' No other particulars, however, are mentioned about her in Scripture; and it is not probable that our Saviour would have said she came from the uttermost parts of the earth, if she had been an Arab, and had near fifty degrees of the continent behind her. But when we consider that the boundaries of the known land, to the southward, were at that time Raptum or Prassum, as we have just seen, these, being the uttermost parts of the known earth, were, with great propriety, so styled by our Saviour; and of these she was undoubtedly sovereign. The gold, the myrrh, cassia, and frankincense were all the produce of her own country.
"Whether she was a Jewess or a pagan is uncertain. Sabaism was the religion of all the East; it was the constant attendant and stumbling block of the Jews: but considering the multitude of that people then trading from Jerusalem, and the long time it continued, it is not improbable she was a Jewess. 'And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions,' 1Kgs 10:1; 2Ch 9:1. Our Saviour moreover speaks of her with praise, pointing her out as an example to the Jews. And in her thanksgiving before Solomon, she alludes to God's blessing on the seed of Israel for ever, which is by no means the language of a pagan, but of a person skilled in the ancient history of this nation.
"She likewise appears to have been a person of learning, and of that sort of learning which was then almost peculiar to Palestine, not to Ethiopia; for we know that one of the reasons of her coming was to examine whether Solomon was really the learned man he was said to be. She came to try him in allegories or parables, in which Nathan had instructed him.
"The annals of the Abyssinians, being very full upon this point, have taken a middle opinion, and by no means an improbable one. They say she was a pagan when she left Azab, but, being full of admiration at Solomon's works, she was converted to Judaism in Jerusalem, and bore him a son whom he called Menilek, and who was their first king.
"The Abyssinians, both Jews and Christians, believe the forty-fifth Psalm to be a prophecy of the queen's voyage to Jerusalem; that she was attended by a daughter of Hiram's from Tyre to Jerusalem; and that the last part of it contains a declaration of her having a son by Solomon, who was to be a king over a nation of the Gentiles.
"To Saba or Azab, then, she returned with her son Menilek; whom, after keeping him some years, she sent back to his father to be instructed. Solomon did not neglect his charge; and he was anointed and crowned king of Ethiopia in the temple of Jerusalem, and at his inauguration took the name of David. After this he returned to Azab, and brought with him a colony of Jews, among whom were many doctors of the law of Moses, particularly one of each tribe, to make judges of in his kingdom; from whom the present umbares, or supreme judges (three of whom always attended the king) are said and believed to be descended. With these came also Azarias, the son of Zadok the priest, and brought with him a Hebrew transcript of the law, which was delivered into his custody, as he bore the title of nebret, or high priest; and this charge, though the book itself was burnt with the church of Axum in the Moorish war of Adel, is still continued, as it is said, in the lineage of Azarias, who are nebrets, or keepers of the church of Axum, at this day. All Abyssinia was thereupon converted, and the government of the church and state modelled according to what was then in use at Jerusalem.
"By the last act of the queen of Saba's reign, she settled the mode of succession in her country for the future. First, she enacted, that the crown should be hereditary in the family of Solomon for ever. Secondly, that, after her, no woman should be capable of wearing that crown, or being queen; but that it should descend to the heir male, however distant, in exclusion of all heirs female, however near; and that these two articles should be considered as the fundamental laws of the kingdom, never to be altered or abolished. And, lastly, that the heirs male of the royal house should always be sent prisoners to a high mountain, where they were to continue till their death, or till the succession should open to them.
"The queen of Saba having made these laws irrevocable by all her posterity, died after a long reign of forty years, in 986 before Christ, placing her son Menilek upon the throne, whose posterity, the annals of Abyssinia would teach us to believe, have ever since reigned. So far, indeed, we must bear witness to them that this is no new doctrine, but has been steadfastly and uniformly maintained from their earliest account of time; first, when Jews, then in later days, after they had embraced Christianity. We may farther add, that the testimony of all the neighbouring nations is with them on this subject, whether friends or enemies. They only differ in the name of the queen, or in giving her two names.
"I shall therefore now give a list of their kings of the race of Solomon, descended from the queen of Saba, whose device is a lion passant, proper, upon a field gules; and their motto, Mo Anbasa am Nizilet Solomon am Negade Juda; which signifies 'The lion of the race of Solomon and tribe of Judah hath overcome.'
List of the kings of Abyssinia, from Maqueda,
Queen of Saba, to the Nativity
Reigned yrs.
Reigned Yrs.
Menilek, or David I.
4
Katzina . . .
9
Hendedya,or Zagdur
1
Wazeha . . .
1
Awida . . .
11
Hazer . . .
2
Ausyi . . .
3
Kalas . . .
6
Sawe . . .
31
Solaya . . .
16
Gesaya . . .
15
Falaya . . .
26
Katar . . .
15
Aglebu . . .
3
Mouta . . .
20
Asisena . . .
1
Bahas . . .
9
Brus . . .
29
Kawida . . .
2
Mohesa . . .
1
Kanaza . . .
10
Bazen . . .
16
Bruce's Travels, vol. ii., p. 395.
Mr. Bruce justly finds fault with this table as being defective; several kings must necessarily have been lost out of this list. It is probably a late invention, the genealogical tables having been lost or destroyed; and no wonder when we consider the numerous predatory wars in which the people of Abyssinia have been frequently engaged.
l need scarcely add that the very learned Samuel Bochart has endeavoured to prove by arguments not to be despised, that the Scripture Ophir is the island Taprobanes or Serendib, now called Ceylon. With any other opinions on this subject I think it unnecessary to trouble the reader. That the voyage which Mr. Bruce describes would take up three years, I think he has satisfactorily proved; but on other points and resemblances many readers will doubtless hesitate, while some may suppose his theory is the most plausible of any yet offered to the public on this very obscure subject.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 1Ki 10:29. A chariot came up — out of…
1Ki 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 Asia and the neighbouring nations; and perhaps he fixed this tribute so high, not only for the sake of gain, but to be a means of preventing the neighbouring nations from increasing their cavalry and chariots of war to too formidable a degree. Poole, however, thinks that this great price is not to be understood as paid for the chariots and horses themselves, but for the lading of the chariots and horses, which, consisting of fine linen and silk, was of great value: and that the king’s custom, together with the charges of the journey, amounted to these sums. And so for all the kings of the Hittites — A people dwelling principally in the northern and eastern parts of Canaan, (Jos 1:4) the posterity of those Hittites who were driven out by the Israelites, and who afterward increased and grew potent, and, it may be, sent out colonies, after the manner of ancient times, into some parts of Syria and Arabia.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Taking the shekel at about three shillings of our…
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 are not chariot-horses, but chargers for the cavalry.
The kings of the Hittites - See 2Ki 7:6 note. The kings intended were probably Solomon’s vassals, whose armies were at his disposal if he required their aid.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Fifty, upon an average. --- Hethites: some had retired,…
Fifty, upon an average. --- Hethites: some had retired, and built Lusa; (Judges i. 26.) others dwelt beyond Libanus, 4 Kings vii. 4. These kings sold horses to Solomon; or, according to the Hebrew, the Jews had the traffic of horses in their own hands. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "and so for all the kings....did they bring them out by their means." Septuagint, "thus to all the kings....of Syria, on the seashore, they came out." (Haydock) --- The merchants sold horses to these kings, at 150 sicles a piece. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 29. Six hundred shekels of silver — According to…
29. Six hundred shekels of silver — According to Keil about thirty-five pounds sterling, or one hundred and seventy-five dollars.
A hundred and fifty — About forty-five dollars. The object of the writer was to show that horses and chariots were so multiplied in Solomon’s day as to be obtained at a very small price.
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And so for all the kings of the Hittites, and… of Syria — That is, the Canaanitish and Syrian kings, who were tributary to Solomon, received the same advantage from this extensive traffic in horses and chariots that the great king himself did. They too had opportunity to purchase horses and chariots of Solomon’s traders at the same low price. But this commerce with Egypt, though for a time seeming to aggrandize the empire of Solomon, was helping to lay the foundation of its fall.
By their means — That is, by means of Solomon’s horse-merchants. Literally, by their hand they brought them forth. The traders brought them (horses and chariots) out of Egypt for the vassal kings of Palestine and Syria.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 29. And a chariot] The word is used (Exo_14:25;…
29. And a chariot] The word is used (Exo_14:25; Jos_11:6; Jos_11:9, &c.) for a ‘chariot employed in war,’ and that is probably the sense here. These also Solomon’s merchants supplied from Egypt, and in this verse we have the notice of their retail trade. It may be that these traders did not pay to the king according to their profits, but paid him a duty for the privilege of trading; but this does not appear.
The Hebrew word for ‘shekels’ is omitted here as in 1Ki_10:16 above. See note there.
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for all the kings of the Hittites] The Hittites were divided into numerous small kingdoms, situated in the country between the Euphrates on one side and Hamath and Damascus on the other. Their two chief cities were Carchemish and Kadesh. In the early times some Hittite settlements were made in southern Palestine, and we read of these people in the days of the patriarchs (Gen_26:34, &c.).
and for the kings of Syria] Syria (Heb. Aram) is the name given in the Old Test. to all the country north-east of Phœnicia and extending beyond the Euphrates and Tigris. Sometimes the term includes the Hittite country. Mesopotamia is distinguished (Gen_24:10; Deu_23:5, &c.) as Aram-Naharaim (i.e. Syria of the two rivers), and is sometimes called Padan-Aram (Gen_25:20). Other portions were known by distinctive names, as Aram-Maachah (1Ch_19:6), Arambeth-Rehob (2Sa_10:6), Aram-Zobah (2Sa_10:6; 2Sa_10:8). It was for the princes of these districts that Solomon’s merchants brought up horses and chariots from Egypt. All these small kingdoms became afterwards subject to Damascus.
by their means] Literally ‘in their hand.’ That is, these merchants were the agents through whom the various princes obtained their supplies. In 2Ch_9:28 it is not only from Egypt, but from all lands, that horses for Solomon’s trade were brought, but 2Ch_1:16-17 is word for word the same as the account in this chapter.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (29) A chariot.—This is the chariot and its team…
(29) A chariot.—This is the chariot and its team of two or three horses; the “horse” is the charger. The price (though so far considerable as to indicate a large expenditure on the whole) shows that the supply was large, and the commerce regular.
The kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Syria—evidently allies or tributaries of Solomon, who were allowed, or compelled, to purchase their horses and chariots through his merchants. Of all the earlier inhabitants of Palestine the Hittites alone are mentioned as having existed in power after the conquest (as here and in 2Ki_7:6); and this statement is curiously confirmed by both Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions, describing a powerful confederacy of Hittites in the valley of the Orontes in Syria, not far from Phœnicia, with whom both empires waged war. The possession of horses and chariots by the northern confederacy round Hazor is especially noted in the history of the Conquest (Jos_11:4-6).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And a chariot including perhaps the two or three…
And a chariot including perhaps the two or three horses (see note on 1Ki_5:6) usually attached to a chariot, and the harness. bk,r, is used (2Sa_8:4 2Sa_10:18; Eze_39:20) for chariot and horses came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver about (Wordsworth, 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 duty, or the profits after reckoning all expenses (Ewald) paid on chariots and horses, but must represent the actual price), and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites. We can hardly see in these Hittites representatives of the seven nations of Canaan (Wordsworth, al.), though the term "Hittite" is sometimes undoubtedly used as a nomen generale for Canaanites (Jos_1:4; Eze_16:3) for the Canaanitish bes had been reduced to bond service, the Hittites amongst them. (1Ki_9:20) The word is probably used somewhat loosely of the semi-independent tribes bordering on Palestine, the Khatti of the Assyrian inscriptions (Dict. Bib. 1:819), with whom Solomon had a sort of alliance.
It is a curious coincidence that we find horses and chariots associated in popular estimation with the Hittites, at a later period of the history. (2Ki_7:6) Nor are we justified in supposing that these horses and chariots were furnished as cavalry to "Solomon"s vassals, whose armies were at his disposal, if he required their aid" (Rawlinson), for the kings of Syria are mentioned presently, and some of these at least were enemies to Solomon. Probably all we are to understand is that neighbouring nations received their supply of horses from Egypt the home of horses and chariots (Exo_14:6 Exo_15:1; Deu_17:16; Isa_31:1; Jer_46:2-4) largely through the instrumentality of Solomon"s merchants, and for the kings of Syria "who became the bitterest enemies of Israel" (Wordsworth): one fruit of a worldly policy, did they bring them out by their means. Heb. by their hand they brought them out, i.e., they exported them through Solomon"s traders.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.