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Selected Verse: 1 Chronicles 22:14 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
1Ch 22:14	Strong Concordance	Now, behold, in my trouble [06040] I have prepared [03559] for the house [01004] of the LORD [03068] an hundred [03967] thousand [0505] talents [03603] of gold [02091], and a thousand [0505] thousand [0505] talents [03603] of silver [03701]; and of brass [05178] and iron [01270] without weight [04948]; for it is in abundance [07230]: timber [06086] also and stone [068] have I prepared [03559]; and thou mayest add [03254] thereto.
	King James	Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.

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Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
In my trouble - See the margin. David refers to the manifold troubles of his reign, which had prevented him from accumulating very much treasure. An hundred thousand talents of gold ... - We do not know the value of the Hebrew talent at this period, and therefore these numbers may be sound. But in that case we must suppose an enormous difference between the pre-Babylonian and the post-Babylonian talents. According to the value of the post-Babylonian Hebrew talent, the gold here spoken of would be worth more than 1 billion of our British pounds sterling, while the silver would be worth ahove 400 million pounds. Accumulations to anything like this amount are inconceivable under the circumstances, and we must therefore either suppose the talents of David's time to have been little more than the 100th part of the later talents, or regard the numbers of this verse as augmentcd at least a hundredfold by corruption. Of the two the latter is certainly the more probable supposition.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

In my trouble - See the margin. David refers to the manifold troubles of his reign, which had prevented him from accumulating very much treasure.

An hundred thousand talents of gold ... - We do not know the value of the Hebrew talent at this period, and therefore these numbers may be sound. But in that case we must suppose an enormous difference between the pre-Babylonian and the post-Babylonian talents. According to the value of the post-Babylonian Hebrew talent, the gold here spoken of would be worth more than 1 billion of our British pounds sterling, while the silver would be worth ahove 400 million pounds. Accumulations to anything like this amount are inconceivable under the circumstances, and we must therefore either suppose the talents of David's time to have been little more than the 100th part of the later talents, or regard the numbers of this verse as augmentcd at least a hundredfold by corruption. Of the two the latter is certainly the more probable supposition.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
In conclusion (Ch1 22:14-16), David mentions what materials he has prepared for the building of the temple. בּעניי, not, in my poverty (lxx, Vulg., Luth.), but, by my painful labour (magna molestia et labore, Lavat.); cf. Gen 31:42, and the corresponding בּכל־כּוחי, Ch1 29:2. Gold 100,000 talents, and silver 1,000,000 talents. As the talent was 3000 shekels, and the silver shekel coined by the Maccabees, according to the Mosaic weight, was worth about 2s. 6d., the talent of silver would be about 375, and 1,000,000 talents 375,000,000. If we suppose the relative value of the gold and silver to be as 10 to 1,100,000 talents of gold will be about the same amount, or even more, viz., about 450,000,000, i.e., if we take the gold shekel at thirty shillings, according to Thenius' calculation. Such sums as eight hundred or eight hundred and twenty-five millions of pounds are incredible. The statements, indeed, are not founded upon exact calculation or weighing, but, as the round numbers show, only upon a general valuation of those masses of the precious metals, which we must not think of as bars of silver and gold, or as coined money; for they were in great part vessels of gold and silver, partly booty captured in war, partly tribute derived from the subject peoples. Making all these allowances, however, the sums mentioned are incredibly great, since we must suppose that even a valuation in round numbers will have more or less correspondence to the actual weight, and a subtraction of some thousands of talents from the sums mentioned would make no very considerable diminution. On the other hand, it is a much more important circumstance that the above estimate of the value in our money of these talents of silver rests upon a presumption, the correctness of which is open to well-founded doubts. For in that calculation the weight of the Mosaic or holy shekel is taken as the standard, and it is presumed that the talents weighed 3000 Mosaic shekels. But we find in Sa2 14:26 mention made in David's time of another shekel, "according to the kings' weight," whence we may with certainty conclude that in common life another shekel than the Mosaic or holy shekel was in use. This shekel according to the king's weight was in all probability only half as heavy as the shekel of the sanctuary, i.e., was equal in weight to a Mosaic beka or half-shekel. This is proved by a comparison of Kg1 10:17 with Ch2 9:16, for here three golden minae are reckoned equal to 300 shekels-a mina containing 100 shekels, while it contained only 50 holy or Mosaic shekels. With this view, too, the statements of the Rabbins agree, e.g., R. Mosis Maimonidis constitutiones de Siclis, quas - illustravit Joa. Esgers., Lugd. Bat. 1718, p. 19, according to which the שלחול שקל or המדינה שׁקל, i.e., the common or civil shekel, is the half of the הקדשׁ שׁקל. That this is the true relation, is confirmed by the fact that, according to Exo 38:26, in the time of Moses there existed silver coins weighing ten gera (half a holy shekel) called beka, while the name beka is found only in the Pentateuch, and disappears at a later time, probably because it was mainly such silver coins of ten gera which were in circulation, and to them the name shekel, which denotes no definite weight, was transferred. Now, if the amounts stated in our verse are reckoned in such common shekels (as in Ch2 9:16), the mass of gold and silver collected by David for the building of the temple would only be worth half the amount above calculated, i.e., about 375,000,000 or 400,000,000. But even this sum seems enormously large, for it is five times the annual expenditure of the greatest European states in our day. (Note: According to Otto Hbner, Statistical Table of all Lands of the Earth, 18th edition, Frankf. a M. 1869, the yearly expenditure of Great Britain and Ireland (exclusive of the extra-European possessions) amounts to a little over 70,000,000; of the French Empire, to 85,000,000; of Russia, to about 78,000,000; of Austria and Hungary, to 48,500,000.) Yet the calculation of the income or expenditure of modern states is no proper standard for judging of the correctness of probability of the statements here made, for we cannot estimate the accumulation of gold and silver in the states and chief cities of Asia in antiquity by the budgets of the modern European nations. In the capitals of the Asiatic kingdoms of antiquity, enormous quantities of the precious metals were accumulated. Not to mention the accounts of Ktesias, Diodor. Sic., and others, which sound so fabulous to us now, as to the immense booty in gold and silver vessels which was accumulated in Nineveh and Babylon (see the table in Movers, die Phnizier, ii. 3, S. 40ff.), according to Varro, in Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxii. 15, Cyrus obtained by the conquest of Asia a booty of 34,000 pounds of gold, besides that which was wrought into vessels and ornaments, and 500,000 talents of silver; and in this statement, as Movers rightly remarks, it does not seem probable that there is any exaggeration. In Susa, Alexander plundered the royal treasury of 40,000, according to other accounts 50,000 talents, or, as it is more accurately stated, 40,000 talents of uncoined gold and silver, and 9000 talents in coined darics. These he caused to be brought to Ecbatana, where he accumulated in all 180,000 talents. In Persepolis he captured a booty of 120,000 talents, and in Pasargada 6000 talents (see Mov. loc cit. S. 43). Now David, it is true, had not conquered Asia, but only the tribes and kingdoms bordering on Canaan, including the kingdom of Syria, and made them tributary, and had consecrated all the gold and silver taken as booty from the conquered peoples, from the Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, Amalekites, and Hadadezer the king of Zobah (Sa2 8:11.), to Jahve. Now, in consequence of the ancient connection between Syria and the rich commercial countries of the neighbourhood, great treasures of silver and gold had very early flowed in thither. According to Sa2 8:7, the servants (i.e., generals) of King Hadadezer had golden shields, which David captured; and the ambassadors of King Toi of Hamath brought him vessels of silver, gold, and copper, to purchase his friendship. (Note: Apropos of the riches of Syria even in later times, Movers reminds us, S. 45, of the rich temple treasures - of the statue of Jupiter in Antioch, which was of pure gold and fifteen yards high, and of the golden statues in the temple at Hierapolis - and adds: "Even Antiochus the Great had immense treasures in his possession. The private soldiers in his army had their half-boots studded with gold nails, and their cooking utensils were of silver." See the proofs, loc cit.) The other peoples whom David overcame are not to be regarded as poor in the precious metals. For the Israelites under Moses had captured so large a booty in gold rings, bracelets, and other ornaments from the nomadic Midianites, that the commanders of the army alone were able to give 16,750 shekels (i.e., over 5 1/2 talents of gold, according to the Mosaic weight) to the sanctuary as a consecrating offering (Num 31:48.). We cannot therefore regard the sums mentioned in our verse either as incredible or very much exaggerated, (Note: As Berth. for example does, expressing himself as follows: "In our verse, 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, - a sum with which the debts of the European nations might almost be paid! It is absolutely inadmissible to take these at their literal value, and to consider them as a repetition, though perhaps a somewhat exaggerated one, of actual historical statements. They can have been originally nothing else than the freest periphrasis for much, an extraordinary quantity, such as may even yet be heard from the mouths of those who have not reflected on the value and importance of numbers, and consequently launch out into thousands and hundreds of thousands, in an extremely unprejudiced way." On this we remark: (1) The assertion that with the sums named in our verse the debts of the European nations could be paid, is an enormous exaggeration. According to O. Hbner's tables, the national debt of Great Britain and Ireland alone amounts to 809,000,000, that of France to 564,000,000, that of Russia to 400,000,000, that of Austria to 354,000,000, and that of the kingdom of Italy to 258,000,000; David's treasures, consequently, if the weight be taken in sacred shekels, would only have sufficed to pay the national debt of Great Britain and Ireland. (2) The hypothesis that the chronicler, without reflecting on the value and importance of numbers, has launched out into thousands and hundreds of thousands, presupposes such a measure of intellectual poverty as is irreconcilable with evidences of intellect and careful planning such as are everywhere else observable in his writing.) nor hold the round sums which correspond to the rhetorical character of the passage with certainty to be mistakes. (Note: As proof of the incorrectness of the above numbers, it cannot be adduced "that, according to Kg1 10:14, Solomon's yearly revenue amounted to 666 talents of gold, i.e., to about 3,000,000 in gold; that the queen of Sheba presented Solomon with 120 talents of gold, Kg1 10:10; Ch2 9:9; and King Hiram also gave him a similar amount, Kg1 9:14; all of which sums the context shows are to be considered extraordinarily great" (Berth.). For the 666 talents of gold are not the entire annual income of Solomon, but, according to the distinct statement of the Biblical historian, are only the annual income in gold, exclusive of the receipts from the customs, and the tributes of the subject kings and tribes, which were probably more valuable. The 120 talents of the queen of Sheba are certainly a very large present, but Solomon would give in return not inconsiderable presents also. But the quantities of silver and gold which David had collected for the building of the temple had not been saved out of his yearly income, but had been in great part captured as booty in war, and laid up out of the tribute of the subject peoples. A question which would more readily occur than this is, Whether such enormous sums were actually necessary for the temple? But the materials necessary to enable us to arrive at even a proximate estimate of this building are entirely wanting. The building of a stone temple from 60 to 70 yards long, 20 yards broad, and 30 yards high, would certainly not have cost so much, notwithstanding that, as we read in Ch2 3:8., 650 talents of gold were required to gild the inner walls of the Holy Place, and at the same rate 2000 talents must have been required to gild the inside of the Sanctuary, which was three times as large; and notwithstanding the great number of massive gold vessels, e.g., the ten golden candlesticks, for which alone, even if they were no larger and heavier than the candlesticks in the tabernacle, ten talents of gold must have been required. But there belonged to the temple many subordinate buildings, which are not further described; as also the colossal foundation structures and the walls enclosing the temple area, the building of which must have swallowed up millions, since Solomon sent 70,000 porters and 80,000 stone-hewers to Lebanon to procure the necessary materials. Consul Rosen has recently indeed attempted to show, in das Haram von Jerusalem und der Tempelplatz des Moria, Botha (1866), that there is reason to suppose that the temple area was enlarged to the size it is known to have had, and surrounded by a wall only by Herod; but he has been refuted by Himpel in the Tbinger theol. Quartalschr. 1867, S. 515f., who advances very weighty reasons against his hypothesis. Finally, we must have regard to the statement in Kg1 7:51 and Ch2 5:1, that Solomon, after the building was finished, deposited the consecrated silver and gold collected by his father David among the temple treasures. Whence we learn that the treasures collected by David were not intended merely for the building of the House of God.) Brass and iron were not weighed for abundance; cf. Ch1 22:3. Beams of timber also, and stones - that is, stones hewed and squared - David had prepared; and to this store Solomon was to add. That he did so is narrated in 2 Chr. 2. Ch1 22:15-16 David then turns to the workmen, the carpenters and stone-cutters, whom he had appointed (Ch1 22:2) for the building. חצבים, properly hewers, in Ch1 22:2 limited to stone-hewers, is here, with the addition ועץ אבן חרשׁי, used of the workers in stone and wood, stonemasons and carpenters. כּל־חכם, all manner of understanding persons in each work, in contradistinction to מלעכה עשׁי, includes the idea of thorough mastery and skill in the kind of labour. These workmen, whom David had levied for the building of the temple, are mentioned by Solomon, Ch2 2:6. - In Ch1 22:16 all the metals, as being the main thing, are again grouped together, in order that the exhortation to proceed with the erection of the building may be introduced. The ל before each word serves to bring the thing once more into prominence; cf. Ew. 310, a. "As for the gold, it cannot be numbered." "Arise and be doing! and Jahve be with thee" (Ch1 22:17-19).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

In conclusion (Ch1 22:14-16), David mentions what materials he has prepared for the building of the temple. בּעניי, not, in my poverty (lxx, Vulg., Luth.), but, by my painful labour (magna molestia et labore, Lavat.); cf. Gen 31:42, and the corresponding בּכל־כּוחי, Ch1 29:2. Gold 100,000 talents, and silver 1,000,000 talents. As the talent was 3000 shekels, and the silver shekel coined by the Maccabees, according to the Mosaic weight, was worth about 2s. 6d., the talent of silver would be about 375, and 1,000,000 talents 375,000,000. If we suppose the relative value of the gold and silver to be as 10 to 1,100,000 talents of gold will be about the same amount, or even more, viz., about 450,000,000, i.e., if we take the gold shekel at thirty shillings, according to Thenius' calculation. Such sums as eight hundred or eight hundred and twenty-five millions of pounds are incredible. The statements, indeed, are not founded upon exact calculation or weighing, but, as the round numbers show, only upon a general valuation of those masses of the precious metals, which we must not think of as bars of silver and gold, or as coined money; for they were in great part vessels of gold and silver, partly booty captured in war, partly tribute derived from the subject peoples. Making all these allowances, however, the sums mentioned are incredibly great, since we must suppose that even a valuation in round numbers will have more or less correspondence to the actual weight, and a subtraction of some thousands of talents from the sums mentioned would make no very considerable diminution. On the other hand, it is a much more important circumstance that the above estimate of the value in our money of these talents of silver rests upon a presumption, the correctness of which is open to well-founded doubts. For in that calculation the weight of the Mosaic or holy shekel is taken as the standard, and it is presumed that the talents weighed 3000 Mosaic shekels. But we find in Sa2 14:26 mention made in David's time of another shekel, "according to the kings' weight," whence we may with certainty conclude that in common life another shekel than the Mosaic or holy shekel was in use. This shekel according to the king's weight was in all probability only half as heavy as the shekel of the sanctuary, i.e., was equal in weight to a Mosaic beka or half-shekel. This is proved by a comparison of Kg1 10:17 with Ch2 9:16, for here three golden minae are reckoned equal to 300 shekels-a mina containing 100 shekels, while it contained only 50 holy or Mosaic shekels. With this view, too, the statements of the Rabbins agree, e.g., R. Mosis Maimonidis constitutiones de Siclis, quas - illustravit Joa. Esgers., Lugd. Bat. 1718, p. 19, according to which the שלחול שקל or המדינה שׁקל, i.e., the common or civil shekel, is the half of the הקדשׁ שׁקל. That this is the true relation, is confirmed by the fact that, according to Exo 38:26, in the time of Moses there existed silver coins weighing ten gera (half a holy shekel) called beka, while the name beka is found only in the Pentateuch, and disappears at a later time, probably because it was mainly such silver coins of ten gera which were in circulation, and to them the name shekel, which denotes no definite weight, was transferred. Now, if the amounts stated in our verse are reckoned in such common shekels (as in Ch2 9:16), the mass of gold and silver collected by David for the building of the temple would only be worth half the amount above calculated, i.e., about 375,000,000 or 400,000,000. But even this sum seems enormously large, for it is five times the annual expenditure of the greatest European states in our day.

(Note: According to Otto Hbner, Statistical Table of all Lands of the Earth, 18th edition, Frankf. a M. 1869, the yearly expenditure of Great Britain and Ireland (exclusive of the extra-European possessions) amounts to a little over 70,000,000; of the French Empire, to 85,000,000; of Russia, to about 78,000,000; of Austria and Hungary, to 48,500,000.)

Yet the calculation of the income or expenditure of modern states is no proper standard for judging of the correctness of probability of the statements here made, for we cannot estimate the accumulation of gold and silver in the states and chief cities of Asia in antiquity by the budgets of the modern European nations. In the capitals of the Asiatic kingdoms of antiquity, enormous quantities of the precious metals were accumulated. Not to mention the accounts of Ktesias, Diodor. Sic., and others, which sound so fabulous to us now, as to the immense booty in gold and silver vessels which was accumulated in Nineveh and Babylon (see the table in Movers, die Phnizier, ii. 3, S. 40ff.), according to Varro, in Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxii. 15, Cyrus obtained by the conquest of Asia a booty of 34,000 pounds of gold, besides that which was wrought into vessels and ornaments, and 500,000 talents of silver; and in this statement, as Movers rightly remarks, it does not seem probable that there is any exaggeration. In Susa, Alexander plundered the royal treasury of 40,000, according to other accounts 50,000 talents, or, as it is more accurately stated, 40,000 talents of uncoined gold and silver, and 9000 talents in coined darics. These he caused to be brought to Ecbatana, where he accumulated in all 180,000 talents. In Persepolis he captured a booty of 120,000 talents, and in Pasargada 6000 talents (see Mov. loc cit. S. 43). Now David, it is true, had not conquered Asia, but only the tribes and kingdoms bordering on Canaan, including the kingdom of Syria, and made them tributary, and had consecrated all the gold and silver taken as booty from the conquered peoples, from the Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Philistines, Amalekites, and Hadadezer the king of Zobah (Sa2 8:11.), to Jahve. Now, in consequence of the ancient connection between Syria and the rich commercial countries of the neighbourhood, great treasures of silver and gold had very early flowed in thither. According to Sa2 8:7, the servants (i.e., generals) of King Hadadezer had golden shields, which David captured; and the ambassadors of King Toi of Hamath brought him vessels of silver, gold, and copper, to purchase his friendship.

(Note: Apropos of the riches of Syria even in later times, Movers reminds us, S. 45, of the rich temple treasures - of the statue of Jupiter in Antioch, which was of pure gold and fifteen yards high, and of the golden statues in the temple at Hierapolis - and adds: "Even Antiochus the Great had immense treasures in his possession. The private soldiers in his army had their half-boots studded with gold nails, and their cooking utensils were of silver." See the proofs, loc cit.)

The other peoples whom David overcame are not to be regarded as poor in the precious metals. For the Israelites under Moses had captured so large a booty in gold rings, bracelets, and other ornaments from the nomadic Midianites, that the commanders of the army alone were able to give 16,750 shekels (i.e., over 5 1/2 talents of gold, according to the Mosaic weight) to the sanctuary as a consecrating offering (Num 31:48.).

We cannot therefore regard the sums mentioned in our verse either as incredible or very much exaggerated,

(Note: As Berth. for example does, expressing himself as follows: "In our verse, 100,000 talents of gold, 1,000,000 talents of silver, - a sum with which the debts of the European nations might almost be paid! It is absolutely inadmissible to take these at their literal value, and to consider them as a repetition, though perhaps a somewhat exaggerated one, of actual historical statements. They can have been originally nothing else than the freest periphrasis for much, an extraordinary quantity, such as may even yet be heard from the mouths of those who have not reflected on the value and importance of numbers, and consequently launch out into thousands and hundreds of thousands, in an extremely unprejudiced way." On this we remark: (1) The assertion that with the sums named in our verse the debts of the European nations could be paid, is an enormous exaggeration. According to O. Hbner's tables, the national debt of Great Britain and Ireland alone amounts to 809,000,000, that of France to 564,000,000, that of Russia to 400,000,000, that of Austria to 354,000,000, and that of the kingdom of Italy to 258,000,000; David's treasures, consequently, if the weight be taken in sacred shekels, would only have sufficed to pay the national debt of Great Britain and Ireland. (2) The hypothesis that the chronicler, without reflecting on the value and importance of numbers, has launched out into thousands and hundreds of thousands, presupposes such a measure of intellectual poverty as is irreconcilable with evidences of intellect and careful planning such as are everywhere else observable in his writing.)

nor hold the round sums which correspond to the rhetorical character of the passage with certainty to be mistakes.

(Note: As proof of the incorrectness of the above numbers, it cannot be adduced "that, according to Kg1 10:14, Solomon's yearly revenue amounted to 666 talents of gold, i.e., to about 3,000,000 in gold; that the queen of Sheba presented Solomon with 120 talents of gold, Kg1 10:10; Ch2 9:9; and King Hiram also gave him a similar amount, Kg1 9:14; all of which sums the context shows are to be considered extraordinarily great" (Berth.). For the 666 talents of gold are not the entire annual income of Solomon, but, according to the distinct statement of the Biblical historian, are only the annual income in gold, exclusive of the receipts from the customs, and the tributes of the subject kings and tribes, which were probably more valuable. The 120 talents of the queen of Sheba are certainly a very large present, but Solomon would give in return not inconsiderable presents also. But the quantities of silver and gold which David had collected for the building of the temple had not been saved out of his yearly income, but had been in great part captured as booty in war, and laid up out of the tribute of the subject peoples. A question which would more readily occur than this is, Whether such enormous sums were actually necessary for the temple? But the materials necessary to enable us to arrive at even a proximate estimate of this building are entirely wanting. The building of a stone temple from 60 to 70 yards long, 20 yards broad, and 30 yards high, would certainly not have cost so much, notwithstanding that, as we read in Ch2 3:8., 650 talents of gold were required to gild the inner walls of the Holy Place, and at the same rate 2000 talents must have been required to gild the inside of the Sanctuary, which was three times as large; and notwithstanding the great number of massive gold vessels, e.g., the ten golden candlesticks, for which alone, even if they were no larger and heavier than the candlesticks in the tabernacle, ten talents of gold must have been required. But there belonged to the temple many subordinate buildings, which are not further described; as also the colossal foundation structures and the walls enclosing the temple area, the building of which must have swallowed up millions, since Solomon sent 70,000 porters and 80,000 stone-hewers to Lebanon to procure the necessary materials. Consul Rosen has recently indeed attempted to show, in das Haram von Jerusalem und der Tempelplatz des Moria, Botha (1866), that there is reason to suppose that the temple area was enlarged to the size it is known to have had, and surrounded by a wall only by Herod; but he has been refuted by Himpel in the Tbinger theol. Quartalschr. 1867, S. 515f., who advances very weighty reasons against his hypothesis. Finally, we must have regard to the statement in Kg1 7:51 and Ch2 5:1, that Solomon, after the building was finished, deposited the consecrated silver and gold collected by his father David among the temple treasures. Whence we learn that the treasures collected by David were not intended merely for the building of the House of God.)

Brass and iron were not weighed for abundance; cf. Ch1 22:3. Beams of timber also, and stones - that is, stones hewed and squared - David had prepared; and to this store Solomon was to add. That he did so is narrated in 2 Chr. 2.

Ch1 22:15-16

David then turns to the workmen, the carpenters and stone-cutters, whom he had appointed (Ch1 22:2) for the building. חצבים, properly hewers, in Ch1 22:2 limited to stone-hewers, is here, with the addition ועץ אבן חרשׁי, used of the workers in stone and wood, stonemasons and carpenters. כּל־חכם, all manner of understanding persons in each work, in contradistinction to מלעכה עשׁי, includes the idea of thorough mastery and skill in the kind of labour. These workmen, whom David had levied for the building of the temple, are mentioned by Solomon, Ch2 2:6. - In Ch1 22:16 all the metals, as being the main thing, are again grouped together, in order that the exhortation to proceed with the erection of the building may be introduced. The ל before each word serves to bring the thing once more into prominence; cf. Ew. 310, a. "As for the gold, it cannot be numbered." "Arise and be doing! and Jahve be with thee" (Ch1 22:17-19).

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Trouble - This he alleges as a reason why he could do no more, because of the many wars, whereby much of his treasures were exhausted. Talents - A talent of Gold in the first constitution was three thousand shekels, as may be gathered from Exo 38:24-26, and so this amounts to a vast sum, yet not impossible for David to get, considering how many and great conquests he made, and what vast spoils and presents he got; and that he endeavoured by all honourable ways to get as much as he could, out of zeal for God's house. And whereas some object, that this quantity of gold and silver was sufficient, tho' the whole fabrick of the temple had consisted of massy gold and silver, it is to be considered, that all this treasure was not spent upon the materials of the temple, but a great part of it upon the workmen, who were nigh two hundred thousand, whereof a great number were officers, and what was not employed in the building of the temple, was laid up in the sacred treasures.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
In my trouble I have prepared - Notwithstanding ail the wars in which I have been engaged, all the treacheries with which I have been surrounded, all the domestic troubles with which I have been overwhelmed, I never lost sight of this great object, the building of a house for God, that his worship might be established in the land. I have curtailed my expenses, and have lived in comparative poverty that I might save all I possibly could for this building. A hundred thousand talents of gold - A talent of gold weighed three thousand shekels, and was worth five thousand and seventy-five pounds, fifteen shillings, and seven pence half-penny. One hundred thousand such talents would therefore amount to five hundred and seven millions, five hundred and seventy-eight thousand, one hundred and twenty-five pounds sterling. These sums are variously computed by several writers. A thousand thousand talents of silver - A talent of silver weighed three thousand shekels, and was worth three hundred and fifty-three pounds, eleven shillings, and ten pence. A thousand thousand, or a million, of such talents would amount to the immense sum of three hundred and fifty-three millions, five hundred and ninety-one thousand, six hundred and sixty-six pounds, thirteen shillings, and four pence, sterling; both sums amounting to eight hundred and sixty-one millions, one hundred and sixty-nine thousand, seven hundred and ninety-one pounds, thirteen shillings, and four pence. Thou mayest add thereto - Save as I have saved, out of the revenues of the state, and thou mayest also add something for the erection and splendor of this house. This was a gentle though pointed hint, which was not lost on Solomon.

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¹⁷ David [01732] also commanded [06680] all the princes [08269] of Israel [03478] to help [05826] Solomon [08010] his son [01121], saying,
¹⁸ Is not the LORD [03068] your God [0430] with you? and hath he not given you rest [05117] on every side [05439]? for he hath given [05414] the inhabitants [03427] of the land [0776] into mine hand [03027]; and the land [0776] is subdued [03533] before [06440] the LORD [03068], and before [06440] his people [05971].
¹⁹ Now set [05414] your heart [03824] and your soul [05315] to seek [01875] the LORD [03068] your God [0430]; arise [06965] therefore, and build [01129] ye the sanctuary [04720] of the LORD [03068] God [0430], to bring [0935] the ark [0727] of the covenant [01285] of the LORD [03068], and the holy [06944] vessels [03627] of God [0430], into the house [01004] that is to be built [01129] to the name [08034] of the LORD [03068].

¹⁶ Of the gold [02091], the silver [03701], and the brass [05178], and the iron [01270], there is no number [04557]. Arise [06965] therefore, and be doing [06213], and the LORD [03068] be with thee.

⁶ But who is able [06113] [03581] to build [01129] him an house [01004], seeing the heaven [08064] and heaven [08064] of heavens [08064] cannot contain [03557] him? who am I then, that I should build [01129] him an house [01004], save only [0518] to burn sacrifice [06999] before [06440] him?

² And David [01732] commanded [0559] to gather together [03664] the strangers [01616] that were in the land [0776] of Israel [03478]; and he set [05975] masons [02672] to hew [02672] wrought [01496] stones [068] to build [01129] the house [01004] of God [0430].

¹⁵ Moreover there are workmen [06213] [04399] with thee in abundance [07230], hewers [02672] and workers [02796] of stone [068] and timber [06086], and all manner of cunning men [02450] for every manner of work [04399].
¹⁶ Of the gold [02091], the silver [03701], and the brass [05178], and the iron [01270], there is no number [04557]. Arise [06965] therefore, and be doing [06213], and the LORD [03068] be with thee.

³ And David [01732] prepared [03559] iron [01270] in abundance [07230] for the nails [04548] for the doors [01817] of the gates [08179], and for the joinings [04226]; and brass [05178] in abundance [07230] without weight [04948];

¹ Thus all the work [04399] that Solomon [08010] made [06213] for the house [01004] of the LORD [03068] was finished [07999]: and Solomon [08010] brought [0935] in all the things [06944] that David [01732] his father [01] had dedicated [06944]; and the silver [03701], and the gold [02091], and all the instruments [03627], put [05414] he among the treasures [0214] of the house [01004] of God [0430].

⁵¹ So was ended [07999] all the work [04399] that king [04428] Solomon [08010] made [06213] for the house [01004] of the LORD [03068]. And Solomon [08010] brought in [0935] the things which David [01732] his father [01] had dedicated [06944]; even the silver [03701], and the gold [02091], and the vessels [03627], did he put [05414] among the treasures [0214] of the house [01004] of the LORD [03068].

⁸ And he made [06213] the most [06944] holy [06944] house [01004], the length [0753] whereof was according to [06440] the breadth [07341] of the house [01004], twenty [06242] cubits [0520], and the breadth [07341] thereof twenty [06242] cubits [0520]: and he overlaid [02645] it with fine [02896] gold [02091], amounting to six [08337] hundred [03967] talents [03603].

¹⁴ And Hiram [02438] sent [07971] to the king [04428] sixscore [03967] [06242] talents [03603] of gold [02091].

⁹ And she gave [05414] the king [04428] an hundred [03967] and twenty [06242] talents [03603] of gold [02091], and of spices [01314] great [03966] abundance [07230], and precious [03368] stones [068]: neither was there any such spice [01314] as the queen [04436] of Sheba [07614] gave [05414] king [04428] Solomon [08010].

¹⁰ And she gave [05414] the king [04428] an hundred [03967] and twenty [06242] talents [03603] of gold [02091], and of spices [01314] very [03966] great store [07235], and precious [03368] stones [068]: there came [0935] no more such [01931] abundance [07230] of spices [01314] as these which the queen [04436] of Sheba [07614] gave [05414] to king [04428] Solomon [08010].

¹⁴ Now the weight [04948] of gold [02091] that came [0935] to Solomon [08010] in one [0259] year [08141] was six [08337] hundred [03967] threescore [08346] and six [08337] talents [03603] of gold [02091],

⁴⁸ And the officers [06485] which were over thousands [0505] of the host [06635], the captains [08269] of thousands [0505], and captains [08269] of hundreds [03967], came near [07126] unto Moses [04872]:

⁷ And David [01732] took [03947] the shields [07982] of gold [02091] that were on the servants [05650] of Hadadezer [01909], and brought [0935] them to Jerusalem [03389].

¹¹ Which also king [04428] David [01732] did dedicate [06942] unto the LORD [03068], with the silver [03701] and gold [02091] that he had dedicated [06942] of all nations [01471] which he subdued [03533];

¹⁶ And three [07969] hundred [03967] shields [04043] made he of beaten [07820] gold [02091]: three [07969] hundred [03967] shekels of gold [02091] went [05927] to one [0259] shield [04043]. And the king [04428] put [05414] them in the house [01004] of the forest [03293] of Lebanon [03844].

²⁶ A bekah [01235] for every man [01538], that is, half [04276] a shekel [08255], after the shekel [08255] of the sanctuary [06944], for every one that went [05674] to be numbered [06485], from twenty [06242] years [08141] old [01121] and upward [04605], for six [08337] hundred [03967] thousand [0505] and three [07969] thousand [0505] and five [02568] hundred [03967] and fifty [02572] men.

¹⁷ And he made three [07969] hundred [03967] shields [04043] of beaten [07820] gold [02091]; three [07969] pound [04488] of gold [02091] went [05927] to one [0259] shield [04043]: and the king [04428] put [05414] them in the house [01004] of the forest [03293] of Lebanon [03844].

²⁶ And when he polled [01548] his head [07218], (for it was at every year's [03117] [03117] end [07093] that he polled [01548] it: because the hair was heavy [03513] on him, therefore he polled [01548] it:) he weighed [08254] the hair [08181] of his head [07218] at two hundred [03967] shekels [08255] after the king's [04428] weight [068].

² Now I have prepared [03559] with all my might [03581] for the house [01004] of my God [0430] the gold [02091] for things to be made of gold [02091], and the silver [03701] for things of silver [03701], and the brass [05178] for things of brass [05178], the iron [01270] for things of iron [01270], and wood [06086] for things of wood [06086]; onyx [07718] stones [068], and stones to be set [04394], glistering [06320] stones [068], and of divers colours [07553], and all manner of precious [03368] stones [068], and marble [07893] stones [068] in abundance [07230].

⁴² Except [03884] the God [0430] of my father [01], the God [0430] of Abraham [085], and the fear [06343] of Isaac [03327], had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away [07971] now empty [07387]. God [0430] hath seen [07200] mine affliction [06040] and the labour [03018] of my hands [03709], and rebuked [03198] thee yesternight [0570].

¹⁴ Now, behold, in my trouble [06040] I have prepared [03559] for the house [01004] of the LORD [03068] an hundred [03967] thousand [0505] talents [03603] of gold [02091], and a thousand [0505] thousand [0505] talents [03603] of silver [03701]; and of brass [05178] and iron [01270] without weight [04948]; for it is in abundance [07230]: timber [06086] also and stone [068] have I prepared [03559]; and thou mayest add [03254] thereto.
¹⁵ Moreover there are workmen [06213] [04399] with thee in abundance [07230], hewers [02672] and workers [02796] of stone [068] and timber [06086], and all manner of cunning men [02450] for every manner of work [04399].
¹⁶ Of the gold [02091], the silver [03701], and the brass [05178], and the iron [01270], there is no number [04557]. Arise [06965] therefore, and be doing [06213], and the LORD [03068] be with thee.

²⁴ All the gold [02091] that was occupied [06213] for the work [04399] in all the work [04399] of the holy [06944] place, even the gold [02091] of the offering [08573], was twenty [06242] and nine [08672] talents [03603], and seven [07651] hundred [03967] and thirty [07970] shekels [08255], after the shekel [08255] of the sanctuary [06944].
²⁵ And the silver [03701] of them that were numbered [06485] of the congregation [05712] was an hundred [03967] talents [03603], and a thousand [0505] seven [07651] hundred [03967] and threescore and fifteen [07657] [02568] shekels [08255], after the shekel [08255] of the sanctuary [06944]:
²⁶ A bekah [01235] for every man [01538], that is, half [04276] a shekel [08255], after the shekel [08255] of the sanctuary [06944], for every one that went [05674] to be numbered [06485], from twenty [06242] years [08141] old [01121] and upward [04605], for six [08337] hundred [03967] thousand [0505] and three [07969] thousand [0505] and five [02568] hundred [03967] and fifty [02572] men.