1 Kings 10:21

1Ki 10:21 And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels [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 nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

Ver. 21. And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold.] This was both for state and wholesomeness, if that be true which is reported, viz., that if poison be put into a cup of pure gold it hisseth, and so discovereth itself to be poison. Of Prester John, the lord of Africa, it is reported, that as for his scutcheon of arms (guard) he hath a lion standing, and holding in his paw a cross lifted up: so in his greatest solemnities, he causeth to be carried before him a golden cup filled within with dirt, and without also bedaubed therewith, yet so as that the gold appeareth; near unto this cup is carried a rich crucifix: and all to set forth the condition of man, who did once and should still shine as gold, but it is both within and without polluted with sin, till restored by Christ crucified, &c. {a} It is fore-prophesied by Zechariah, that in the days of the gospel every pot and bowl in Jerusalem shall be "holiness to the Lord." {Zec 14:20-21} This is "better than gold, yea, than fine gold."

It was nothing accounted of.] It was well accounted of, {1Ki 10:22; 1Ki 10:25} but nothing so much as in other lands, and as now-a-days amongst us: where money beareth the mastery, and few such Medes are to be found as regard not silver, and as for gold they delight not in it. {Isa 13:17}

{a} Selneccer., Paedagog. Christian., pars ii. p. 118.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 10:21. It was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon — Comparatively, and about his palace; for it is not to be supposed that all his subjects had so much gold as to make no account of silver. But if gold in abundance would make silver seem so despicable, shall not wisdom and grace, and the foretastes of heaven, make gold seem much more so?

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(21) None were of silver . . .—See 2Ch_9:27, “The king made silver in Jerusalem as stones.” The importation of silver (see 1Ki_10:22) was by the navy of Tarshish; and the mention of the plentifulness of silver seems the reason for noticing the existence of this navy.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. all king Solomon’s drinking vessels] The LXX. here leaves out the defining word, merely putting σκεύη = vessels, but adds afterwards, what has nothing to represent it in our Hebrew, καὶ λουτῆρες χρυσοῖ, ‘and golden la vers.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold,.... Such quantities of it were brought to him from Ophir, and paid to him in tribute, and given him as presents:

and all the vessels of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; not only what were used in his palace at Jerusalem, but in his country house at some little distance:

none were of silver; it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon; to make plate of; or silver plate was but little esteemed, and scarce any use of it made in Solomon's palace, if at all: though doubtless it was elsewhere, and especially silver as money.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

No silver vessels, (Calmet) though there was a great abundance of that metal, ver. 27. It was not deemed worthy to be admitted at the king’s table. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Comparatively; such hyperbolical expressions being frequent, both in Scripture and other authors.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And king Solomon"s drinking vessels were of gold as were those of Assyria and Babylon. This lavish display of wealth was characteristic of Oriental courts. Rawlinson quotes Chardin"s description of the splendour of the court of Persia, Tout est d"or massif," etc., and adds, "Both Symes and Yule note a similar use of gold utensils by the king of Ava (Symes, p. 372; Yule, p. 84)", and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold rWgs, see on 1Ki_6:20.

LXX crusiw sugkekleismena. This immense quantity of gold is quite paralleled in the accounts of profane writers. "Sardanapalus, when Nineveh was besieged, had 150 golden bedsteads, 150 golden tables, a million talents of gold, ten times as much silver, etc. (Ctesias, ap. Athenaeus, 12. p. 29). No less than 7170 talents of gold were used for the vessels andstatues of the temple of Bel in Babylon.. Alexander"s pillage of Ectabana was estimated at 120, 000 talents of gold," etc. (Bahr, in loc.); none were of silver Heb. none silver. The Marg., "there was no silver in them," i.e., they were unalloyed, is a misapprehension of the true meaning: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Nothing - Comparatively. Such hyperbolical expressions are frequent both in scripture and other authors. But if gold in abundance, would make silver seem so despicable, shall not wisdom and grace, and the foretastes of heaven, make gold seem much more so?

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The drinking vessels of Solomon also were all of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon of costly gold (סגוּר: see at Kg1 6:20). Silver was counted as nothing, because the Tarshish fleet arrived once in three years, bringing gold, silver, etc. (see at Kg1 9:28).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon

"the house called the House of the Lebanon Forest." See how you translated this in 1 Kings 7:2.

ivory

Ivory is the hard, white substance from the tusks or teeth of large animals. See how you translated this in 1 Kings 10:18. (See: Translate Unknowns)

apes and baboons

These animals live wild in Africa. At the ends of their four limbs are what look like human hands and feet, and they have long tails. Some people consider baboons a type of ape. (See: Translate Unknowns)

translationWords

king

Solomon

gold

silver

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

None of them were made of silver, as [silver] was not considered of value. There was no silver in any of them because it was not valuable.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.