Solomon acquired lot of Gold during his life time. Listing some of the sources below. Let’s remember 1 talent is 34 kg.
- 1 Kings 9:14 – Hiram sent 120 talents of gold, which is 4,080kg.
- 1 Kings 9:28 – Solomon’s ships brought back 420 talents of gold, which is 14,280 kg.
- 1 Kings 10:10 – Queen Sheba gave 120 talents of gold to Solomon, which is 4,080 kg.
- 1 Kings 10:14 – Solomon received 666 talents of gold per year, which is 22,644 kg/year. Solomon ruled Israel for 40 years. The approximate gold he could have accumulated over the 40 years of his reign could be around 905,760 kgs.
Even if we consider only 1 Kings 10:14 (as other sources could already be included in this) to avoid double counting, the approximate amount of gold Solomon could have accumulated over his 40 years of reign could be around 905 tons, which would have been a major portion of the total gold excavated during the 10th century BC.
For comparison, the amount of gold Switzerland currently holds is approximately 1,040 tons, which is 5.3% of the world’s total current gold reserve. Solomon lived approximately 3,000 years ago.
The total amount of gold excavated during Solomon’s time would have been much lesser than it is today, and hence, the percentage of gold he possibly held should be much higher. The Bible says nothing was made of Silver in Solomon’s days because Silver was considered of little value (1 King 10:21).
In today’s context, the worth of Gold Solomon’s holdings would be 905,760 kg * $39,000 = $35 billion.
Solomon’s Daily Provision:
The daily provision of Solomon was 30 Cors (1 Cor or homer = 34 liters), which is 1,024 liters of finest flour, and sixty cors of meal, which is 2,040 liters. The menu also included twenty cattle, a Hundred sheep, goats, and guzzles. Wonder how many people are required to consume all the food that was cooked!!.
Worth of his wealth, according to Solomon
However, during his old age, Solomon considers everything in life as meaningless. He had everything he wanted and desired and all the riches, more than he needed. Still, he considers everything meaningless, as he can not take anything with him when he leaves the world.
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. – Ecclesiastes 2:17,18
After earning all the gold, silver and riches of this world, Solomon summarized all of his life in the last few words of his wisdom book as below:
Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. – Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT.
It all boils down to fearing god and following him diligently in our lives.
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