Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 9:20
All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The chronicler addresses a post-exilic community, inserting a material inventory of Solomon’s palace complex immediately after describing the throne’s carved lions and before noting the recurring Tarshish fleet.
The words — The text emphasizes זָהָב (zahav, gold) and כּלֵי (kelei, vessels/utensils) to state that every drinking cup and household implement in the House of the Forest of Lebanon was constructed of pure gold.
The thread — This inventory runs parallel to 1 Kings 10:21, while the noted worthlessness of silver anticipates 2 Chronicles 9:27, which later records silver becoming as common as stones, and aligns with the royal banquet customs described in Esther 1:7.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how extreme wealth can temporarily invert economic value, requiring the reader to observe that material abundance does not equate to enduring stability or divine favor.
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 all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 10:21 All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.
- 2 Chronicles 9:27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as abundant as sycamore in the foothills.
- Esther 1:7 Beverages were served in an array of goblets of gold, each with a different design, and the royal wine flowed freely, according to the king’s bounty.
- Isaiah 2:22 Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Jeremiah 31:5 Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant and enjoy the fruit.
- Daniel 5:2 Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.