And they went to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
Parallel translations
- WEB They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
- KJV And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
- BSB They sailed to Ophir and imported gold from there—420 talents—and delivered it to Solomon.
- NASB And they went to Ophir and received 420 talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
- NLT They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons of gold.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The fleet returned from Ophir with about 420 talents of gold for Solomon. It illustrates the immense wealth flowing into his kingdom.
Overview
Ophir, a famed but unidentified source of fine gold, yielded an enormous quantity that enriched the king. This wealth signaled God's blessing on Solomon's reign and the fulfillment of the riches God had promised him (3:13). Yet the steady accumulation of gold also drifts toward the very abundance the law warned kings against, setting the stage for the spiritual dangers that prosperity can breed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Chr 29:4even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, with which to overlay the walls of the houses;
- 2 Chr 8:18Huram sent him ships and servants who had knowledge of the sea by the hands of his servants; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and brought from there four hundred fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
- Job 22:24Lay your treasure in the dust, the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks.
- 1 Kgs 10:11The fleet of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, also brought in from Ophir great quantities of almug trees and precious stones.
- Ps 45:9Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.
- Job 28:16It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
- Isa 13:12I will make people more rare than fine gold, even a person than the pure gold of Ophir.
- Gen 10:29Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
- 2 Chr 9:10The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 9:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.