1 Kings 10:29

29 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver, and horses for 150 pieces of silver. They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

1 Kings 10:29 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 10:29

And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred
shekels of silver
Which, reckoning at two shillings and six pence a shekel, amounted to seventy five pounds; but a shekel was not worth more than two shillings and four pence farthing:

and an horse for one hundred and fifty;
and this being the fourth part of the above sum, the Jews gather from hence that there were four horses in a chariot; the horses must be reckoned one with another, the whole collection of them, or otherwise no doubt but one horse was better than another; and it was a pretty large price to give for a horse in those times; which, taking a shekel at the lowest rate, must be upwards of ten pounds; and which is too great a sum still for a custom or tribute to be paid for them, whether to Pharaoh or Solomon, as some understand it:

and so for all the kings of the Hittites;
perhaps the same with the kings of Arabia, ( 1 Kings 10:15 ) and for the kings of Syria; those of Damascus, Zobah

did they bring them out by their means;
that is, by the means of Solomon's merchants, who bought them out of Egypt, and sold them to these kings.

1 Kings 10:29 In-Context

27 The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.
28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Cilicia ; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price.
29 At that time chariots from Egypt could be purchased for 600 pieces of silver, and horses for 150 pieces of silver. They were then exported to the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew 600 [shekels] of silver, about 15 pounds or 6.8 kilograms in weight.
  • [b]. Hebrew 150 [shekels], about 3.8 pounds or 1.7 kilograms in weight.
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