1 Kings 10:19

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁴The weight of gold that came to Solomon each year was 666 talents, ¹⁵not including the revenue from the merchants, traders, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land. ¹⁶King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. ¹⁸Additionally, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. ¹⁹The throne had six steps and a rounded top at the back of the throne. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.²⁰Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any kingdom. ²¹All of King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. ²²For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram's fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ²³So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

behind: Heb. on the hinder part thereof

stays: Heb. hands. 1 Kings 10:19

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 2:4 - I builded

Cross-References

Genesis 10:1
This is the account of Noah's sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.

Genesis 10:2
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Genesis 10:7
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

Genesis 10:8
And Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth.

Genesis 10:10
His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:15
Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,

Genesis 10:17
the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,

Genesis 10:18
the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans were scattered

Genesis 10:21
And sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth; Shem was the forefather of all the sons of Eber.

Genesis 10:24
And Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The throne had six steps,.... Up to the footstool of the throne, which was of gold, 2 Chronicles 9:18 and was high, that everyone in court might see him, and the better hear the sentence he gave:

and the top of the throne was round behind; had a semicircle at the top of it, like an alcove:

and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat; or "hands" q, such as the arms of a chair, to lean and rest upon:

and two lions stood beside the stays; which were not only ornamental, and for support of the stays, but expressive of majesty, and of undaunted courage and resolution to do justice, and of the danger such expose themselves to, who oppose magistrates in the discharge of their office; and in which Solomon was a type of Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah; and for the same reasons were the like portraits on the steps, as follows.

q ידת "manus", V. L. Montanus, &c. αγκωνες "brachiola", Sept. in 2 Chron. ix. 18.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Representations of thrones are frequent in the Egyptian and Assyrian sculptures. They have no steps up to them, but frequently stand upon square bases. The back appears to be flat at the top, not rounded. Assyrian thrones have “stays” or arms on either side, and they stand generally upon lion’s feet. They are always accompanied by a footstool.

Lions stood beside the stays - The arms of Assyrian thrones are occasionally supported by figures of animals. The throne of Rameses II at Medinet Abou has a sphinx at the side and a lion below the sphinx. The figure of the lion is naturally adopted by any imaginative race as an emblem of sovereignty. In the present case its adoption seems to have grown directly out of the poetic imagery of inspired prophets, who, living before the time of Solomon, had compared Israel Numbers 23:24; Numbers 24:9, and more particularly Judah Genesis 49:9, to a lion. The “twelve lions” of 1 Kings 10:20 were probably intended to be emblematic of the twelve tribes. Josephus adds to the description of Solomon’s throne here given, that the seat was supported by a golden ox or bull, with its head turned over its shoulder. As the lion was especially emblematic of Judah, so was the ox or bull of Ephraim. (Hosea 4:16; Hosea 10:11; Jeremiah 31:18, etc.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 10:19. The throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side — This description seems to indicate that the throne was in the form of one of our ancient round-topped, two-armed chairs. This throne or chair of state was raised on a platform, the ascent to which consisted of six steps. What we call stays is in the Hebrew ידת yadoth, hands, which serves to confirm the conjecture above.