Bible Strands
1 Kings 10:27
The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrative reports Solomon’s actions immediately after listing his military force of 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. The text functions as a historical record rather than direct speech, placing royal wealth within a broader account of political and economic power.
The words — הַ/מֶּ֧לֶךְ (ha./Me.lekh) = the king, and כָּ/אֲבָנִ֑ים (ka./'a.va.Nim) = like stones. These terms establish the grammatical basis for the claim that the monarch treated precious metal and imported timber as routine building materials.
The thread — The identical statement is recorded in 2 Chronicles 1:15 and 2 Chronicles 9:27. Deuteronomy 17:17 provides the legal boundary by forbidding the king from accumulating large amounts of silver.
Why it lands — The text demands a reader to note how economic abundance is measured against ordinary objects and to observe its placement directly beside military logistics. It requires the reader to weigh the reported reality of royal wealth against the explicit prohibition in Deuteronomy 17:17.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 17:17 He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
- 2 Chronicles 1:15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.
- 2 Chronicles 9:27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.
- Job 22:24 and consign your gold to the dust and the gold of Ophir to the stones of the ravines,