And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon.
The chapter ends at sea. Solomon's ships sail to a distant port and come back loaded for the king. Two questions sit behind the verse. Where was Ophir? And what does a cargo of 420 talents have to do with God's kingdom?
Where Ophir Was
No one ever fixed the location of Ophir. Guesses have ranged across three continents.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinOphir has been variously located. Peru, the Molucca Islands, Armenia, Arabia and parts of Africa have been suggested. All these statements show the great prosperity of the kingdom.
Skill Israel Did Not Have
Solomon owned the fleet, but he could not crew it. The verse says "they went to Ophir." That "they" was a mixed crew.
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe Israelites were not a seafaring people. Solomon had a "navy of ships" at Ezion Geber, on the eastern branch of the Red Sea. But Hiram sent his shipmen, "who had knowledge of the sea," to sail with the servants of Solomon.
Gold Carried to the King
Notice where the gold stops. It goes to Solomon. One writer reads the whole arrangement through Hiram's part in it.
H. L. RossierIn verses 26-28 we again see Solomon's relationship with Hiram, here in view of the glory and outward affairs of the kingdom. Gold flows into Jerusalem. Hiram is the Gentile friend, always ready to serve the greatness of the king who sits on Jehovah's throne. His good will toward the house of the Lord reaches the wealth and prosperity of the kingdom too.
Four Hundred and Twenty Talents
The figure is huge. One writer turns it into an uncomfortable question about taxes.
Leslie M. GrantIt was not a long trip to Ophir, in Saudi Arabia. At that time there was much gold there, though now, people report, none can be found there at all. Perhaps Solomon took all the gold that was there. The amount was 420 talents, which comes to 55,000 pounds! Having such wealth, why did he tax the people so heavily? (1 Kings 12:4)
What the Gold Stood For
Gold in Solomon's reign is more than wealth. One writer counts the kinds of gold in the temple and compares them with the earlier tabernacle.
George DavisonLooking again at the temple Solomon built, we read that he used seven kinds of gold in it. In the tabernacle only two kinds of gold appear. But for what Solomon built we read of gold; pure gold; fine gold; perfect gold; best gold; gold of Parvaim and gold of Ophir. Why do we see such rich detail in temple days, and not in tabernacle days? I take it to suggest the distinct rays of the glory of God that will shine out in the day of display.
A Shadow Over the Treasure
Commentators differ on how to read this prosperity. Some see only the splendour of the kingdom. Others point to the law God gave Israel's kings about these very things.
C. H. MackintoshHow remarkable that the greatest and wisest of Israel's kings did the very three things the king was told not to do — and did them on a large scale... "And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones… And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt… But King Solomon loved many foreign women."
Another writer sees the same drift in Solomon himself.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe horses out of Egypt mentioned here, and his multiplying of horses and seeking the gold of Ophir, show that he became lifted up.
A Faint Picture of a Greater Reign
These voyages went out again and again, with foreign help each time. One writer sees a preview in that.
Leslie M. GrantEvery three years Solomon sent ships to Tarshish, with the help of Hiram's servants, to bring back gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. In this way he had Gentile cooperation in such efforts, as will be true in the future kingdom of Israel. So Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, though he gives only a faint picture of the greater glory of "the world kingdom" of the Lord Jesus.
Summary
- Destination — Ophir's site was never settled. Guesses run from Peru to Arabia to Africa. What stands is the wealth of the kingdom.
- Crew — Israel was not a seafaring nation. Hiram supplied men who knew the sea, and they sailed with Solomon's servants.
- Cargo — Gold carries meaning as well as weight. Gold of Ophir is one of seven kinds used in the temple — a hint of glory on display.
- Delivery — The gold does not stay abroad. It flows into Jerusalem, to the king who sits on the Lord's throne.
- Warning — The law told Israel's kings not to gather these things. Some read the fleet, the gold and the horses as the start of a king lifted up. The same wealth that pictures a coming kingdom also exposes the man who gathered it.