Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 9:22
So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator concludes a section on Solomon’s economic operations by summarizing his historical standing. This statement follows the report of the three-year Tarshish fleet voyages and precedes the account of foreign rulers seeking his audience.
The words — וַ/יִּגְדַּל (va/yigdal) literally means “and he became great,” while לְ/עֹשֶׂר (le/’osher) and וְ/חָכְמָה (ve/ḥokmah) specify the exact domains of that greatness as wealth and wisdom.
The thread — The dual emphasis on wealth and wisdom directly fulfills the divine grant recorded in 2 Chronicles 1:12 and 1 Kings 3:12, and parallels the earlier comparative claim in 1 Kings 4:30 regarding his intellectual superiority.
Why it lands — The text states plainly that Solomon’s preeminence was measured by material accumulation and intellectual capacity. It asks a reader to recognize that these two metrics form the baseline for understanding why foreign kings subsequently sought him out.
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 king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
Cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 1:12 therefore wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will also give you riches and wealth and honor unlike anything given to the kings before you or after you.”
- 1 Kings 3:12 behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been another like you, nor will there ever be.
- 1 Kings 4:30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than that of all the men of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
- Psalms 89:27 I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
- 1 Kings 10:23 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
- Matthew 12:42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.
- Colossians 2:2 that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,