And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house
of the Lord, and for the king's house
Or terraces, as in ( 2 Chronicles 9:11 ) , causeways; and means the ascent or causeway he made from his own house to the temple; the pavement of which, as Jarchi interprets the word here, was made of the wood of these trees; or the supports of it, or rather the rails on each side, on which men might stay themselves as they passed along, as Ben Gersom; and since this ascent was admired by the queen of Sheba, it is particularly observed what wood it was made of, and from whence it came:
harps also, and psalteries for singers;
these musical instruments were made of the same wood; Josephus F9 says of amber, and that their number was 400,000:
there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day;
not in the land of Israel, neither before nor since, see ( 2 Chronicles 9:11 ) .