1 Kings 9:27

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And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. (ASV)

Pro

How much did Huram/Hiram send to Solomon?

420?

1 Kings 9:27 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

1 Kings 9:28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.


Or 450?

2 Chronicles 8:18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched from thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.


Oh BTW, are we talking about the same person?


--Opercularis 14:07, 6 Feb 2006 (CST)

Con

We have two accounts of gold being provided to King Solomon. The issue is whether the two accounts accurately describe two separate events or mis-characterize a single event.

Solomon used substantial amounts of gold for construction of the Temple and other purposes. We are told that, "The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,..." (1 Kings 10:14)

King Hiram was providing Solomon with gold. "Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold, as much as he desired,..." (1 Kings 9:11) "[Solomon] had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys." (1 Kings 10:22)

With this as background, we read two verses where Hiram is instrumental in bringing gold to Solomon.

2 Chronicles 8
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom.
18 And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew
the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and acquired four hundred
and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
1 Kings 9
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath
on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
27 Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work
with the servants of Solomon.
28 And they went to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold
from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

One account (Chronicles) tells us that Hiram brought 450 talents of gold to Solomon. The other account (Kings) says that Hiram brought 420 talents of gold to Solomon. Given that Hiram was providing Solomon with as much gold as Solomon wanted, then it is not unreasonable to conclude that these verses are describing two separate events.

We can identify specific differences between the two accounts.

In the Chronicles account:

1. King Solomon goes to Ezion Geber (probably sends his servants) presumably to meet Hiram's servants.

2. King Hiram sends his ships by the hands of his servants to Ezion Geber.

3. Together, the servants of Solomon and Hiram travel to Ophir (possibly India or Southern Africa) returning with 450 talents of gold.

In the Kings account:

1. King Solomon builds his own fleet of ships.

2. King Hiram sends his servants to work with the servants of Solomon presumably to build Solomon's ships.

3. Together, they travel on just Solomon's ships, or on both Hiram's and Solomon's ships, to Ophir and return with 420 talents of gold.

We find enough here to support the position that two different events are described in these verses. Both events occur after we are told that the temple is finished and prior to the visit by the Queen of Sheba. Given the considerable amounts of gold that Hiram is supplying to Solomon that would require many trips to Ophir, there is no reason to conclude, a priori, that only one event is being described by these verses. The evidence from the verses is that the different accounts are describing two distinct and separate events. A conclusion that an error exists because the accounts must be describing the same event is unwarranted.

JW: Ahh, just what I Am looking for. While I think it's clear that the Texts attempt to describe the same event and the main thing you are doing is identifying additional differences in the same story, you used the Text, rather than only speculation, to create doubt as to whether it is the same story. Very good.

--JoeWallack 13:03, 17 Feb 2008 (CST)

Neutral

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