Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 10:16
And king Solomon made two hundred targets [of] beaten gold: six hundred [shekels] of gold went to one target.
16. two hundred targets of beaten gold ] The ‘targets’ here spoken of appear, from the gold consumed in them, to have been much larger than the ‘shields’ mentioned in the next verse. Both the names imply ‘protection,’ ‘covering,’ but give us no clue to their form. The LXX. makes these ‘targets’ three hundred in number, and gives three hundred shekels of gold to each.
six hundred shekels of gold ] It was not unusual in Hebrew where it was well known what word ought to be supplied to omit the word ‘shekels’ as is done here. So Gen 24:22; Exo 30:23. No Englishman misunderstands such an expression as ‘three hundred a year.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The targets seem to have been long shields protecting the whole body, while the shields of the next verse were bucklers of a smaller size, probably round, and much lighter. They may be compared with the Assyrian long shield, and the ordinary Assyrian round shield. As the amount of gold used in each of the larger shields was only 600 shekels – worth from 650 to 700 of our money – and that used in the smaller ones was only half as much it is evident that the metal did not form the substance of the shields, but was laid as a coating or plating over them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold] I have already conjectured that the tsinnah might resemble the Highland targe or target, with a dagger projecting from the UMBO or centre.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For pomp and magnificence, and (as may be thought from the use of the brazen shields, 1Ki 14:27,28) to be carried before him by his guard when he went abroad.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16, 17. two hundred targets, sixhundred shekelsThese defensive arms were anciently made ofwood and covered with leather; those were covered with fine gold. 600shekels were used in the gilding of each target300 for eachshield. They were intended for the state armory of the palace (see1Ki 14:26).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And King Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold,…. Which were a larger sort of shields, which covered the whole body; and these were made of gold beaten with the hammer, or drawn into plates, being melted like wax; so the Poeni or Carthaginians made shields of gold m:
six hundred shekels of gold went to one target; which is to be understood not of the weight, but of the price or value of them, which amounted to four hundred and fifty pounds of our money; so Brerewood n.
m Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 35. 3. n Ut supra. (De Ponder. & Pret. c. 5.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Solomon had 500 ornamental shields made, 200 larger ones ( , scuta, targets), and 300 smaller ( , clypei). These shields, like all the shields of the ancients, were made of wood or basket-work, and covered with gold plate instead of leather (see my bibl. Archol. ii. pp. 296ff.). does not mean aurum jugulatum , i.e., gold mixed with metal of a different kind, but, as Kimchi has shown, aurum diductum , beaten gold, from , to stretch; since Solomon would certainly use pure gold for these ornamental shields. “Six hundred shekels of gold he spread upon one target,” that is to say, he used for gilding one target. Six hundred shekels would weigh about 17 1/2 lbs., so that the value of the gold upon a target would be more than 5000 thalers (750 ), supposing that the Mosaic shekel is meant. But this is rendered doubtful by the fact that the gold upon the small shields is estimated at three minae. If, for example, the three minae are equal to three hundred shekels, according to 2Ch 9:16, as is generally assumed, a hundred shekels are reckoned as one mina; and as the mina only contained fifty Mosaic shekels, according to Eze 45:12, the reference must be to shekels after the king’s weight (2Sa 14:26), which were only half the sacred shekels (see my bibl. Archol. ii. p. 135). Consequently the gold plate upon one target was not quite 9 lbs., and that upon a shield not quite 4 1/2 lbs. These shields were intended for the body-guard to carry on state occasions (1Ki 14:27-28; 2Ch 12:10), and were kept in the house of the forest of Lebanon (1Ki 7:2).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(16, 17) The shields overlaid with goldthe larger called targets, and the lesser called shieldswere evidently used for ornamenting the kings palace, and (as we may gather from the notice in 2Ch. 12:11, of the brazen shields which superseded them) taken down and borne before the king on solemn occasions, as when he went to the house of the Lord. We have notices of shields of gold among the Syrians of Zobah (2Sa. 8:7; 1Ch. 18:7), and of shields hung on the walls of Tyre (Eze. 27:10-11). The use of such ornaments argues a plethora of gold, too great to be absorbed either in currency or in personal and architectural decorations.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Targets Large oblong shields, to cover or defend the whole body.
Six hundred shekels About eighteen pounds.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 10:16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets [of] beaten gold: six hundred [shekels] of gold went to one target.
Ver. 16. Two hundred targets of beaten gold. ] Which were carried before him by his guard, as 1Ki 14:27-28 , being more for pomp than service; and therefore so soon became a prey to the enemy through God’s just indignation.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
two hundred: Mr. Reynolds computes that these 200 targets were worth 28,131 16s. 9d.; and that the 300 shields were worth 210,976 7s. 7d. 1Ki 14:26-28, 2Ch 9:15, 2Ch 9:16, 2Ch 12:9, 2Ch 12:10
Reciprocal: Exo 25:36 – beaten 1Sa 17:6 – target of brass 2Sa 8:7 – shields 1Ch 18:7 – shields 2Ch 1:14 – Solomon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 10:16-17. Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold For pomp and magnificence, and to be carried before him by his guard when he went abroad. The Roman magistrates had rods and axes carried before them, in token of their power to correct the bad; but Solomon shields and targets, to show he took more pleasure in his power to defend and protect the good. Three hundred shields Smaller than targets. The king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon Where, it is likely, he kept his most precious treasures.