1 Chronicles 29:4

4 three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses,

1 Chronicles 29:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 29:4

Even three thousand talents of gold
Which, according to Scheuchzer ^F3, amount to 36,660,000 ducats of gold; and, according to Brerewood ^F4, to 13,500,000 pounds of our money:

of the gold of Ophir;
which was reckoned the best gold; not Ophir in India, which was not known till Solomon's time, but in Arabia, as Bochart ^F5 has shown; so Eupolemus ^F6, an Heathen writer, says, that David having built ships at Achan, a city of Arabia, sent miners to Urphe (supposed to be the same with Ophir) in the island of the Red sea,(See Gill on :) and that he was able to give so great a sum out of his own substance, Dr. Prideaux ^F7 thinks, can only be accounted for by his great returns from this traffic; since these 3000 talents, according to him, amounted to 21,600,000 pounds sterling:

and seven thousand talents of refined silver;
amounting, according to Scheuchzer ^F8, to 31,500,000 imperials, or rix dollars; and, according to Brerewood ^F9, to 2,625,000 pounds of our money:

to overlay the walls of the houses withal;
the gold was to overlay the walls of the holy and most holy place, the silver to overlay the walls of the chambers built around the temple.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Physica Sacra, vol. 4. p. 631.
F4 De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 5.
F5 Phaleg. l. 2. c. 27. col. 140.
F6 Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447.
F7 Connection, par. 1. p. 5, 6.
F8 Ut supra. (Physica Sacra, vol. 4. p. 631.)
F9 Ut supra. (De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 5.)

1 Chronicles 29:4 In-Context

2 and with all my power I have prepared for the house of my God, the gold for [things of] gold, and the silver for [those of] silver, and the brass for [those of] brass, the iron for [those of] iron, and the wood for [those of] wood, shoham stones, and settings, and stones of painting and of diverse colours, and all [kinds of] precious stone, and stones of white marble, in abundance.

3 `And again, because of my delighting in the house of my God, the substance I have -- a peculiar treasure of gold and silver -- I have given for the house of my God, even over and above all I have prepared for the house of the sanctuary:

4 three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses,

5 even gold for [things of] gold, and silver for [those of] silver, and for all the work by the hand of artificers; and who [is] he that is offering willingly to consecrate his hand to-day to Jehovah?'

6 And the heads of the fathers, and the heads of the tribes of Israel, and the heads of the thousands, and of the hundreds, even to the heads of the work of the king, offer willingly.