Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 29:4
[Even] three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses [withal]:
4. gold of Ophir ] Solomon brought much gold from Ophir. ( 2Ch 8:18 ; 2Ch 9:10 = 1Ki 9:28; 1Ki 10:11), which is probably to be identified with some part of the south-east coast of Arabia. LXX. gives , i.e. perhaps India. For the amount see note on 1Ch 22:14.
to overlay ] Cp. 2Ch 3:4-8.
the houses ] i.e. the porch, the greater house, and the most holy house; 2Ch 3:4-5; 2Ch 3:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The numbers here have also suffered to some extent from the carelessness of copyists (compare the 1Ch 22:14 note). The amount of silver is not indeed improbable, since its value would not exceed three millions of our money; but as the gold would probably exceed in value thirty millions, we may suspect an error in the words three thousand.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The gold of Ophir was accounted the best and purest gold; of which see Job 22:24; 28:16; Isa 13:12; by which it appears that those hundred thousand talents mentioned before, 1Ch 22:14, were a coarser and impurer sort of gold.
To overlay the walls of the houses withal; the walls of the temple with gold, and of the rooms adjoining to it with silver beaten out into plates, and put upon the other materials here and there as it was thought fit.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Even three thousand talents of gold,…. Which, according to Scheuchzer c, amount to 36,660,000 ducats of gold; and, according to Brerewood d, 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 e has shown; so Eupolemus f, 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, abounding with gold, and from thence fetched it, See Gill on 1Ki 9:28, and that he was able to give so great a sum out of his own substance, Dr. Prideaux g 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 h, to 31,500,000 imperials, or rix dollars; and, according to Brerewood i, 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.
c Physica Sacra, vol. 4. p. 631. d De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 5. e Phaleg. l. 2. c. 27. col. 140. f Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 30. p. 447. g Connection, par. 1. p. 5, 6. h Ut supra. (Physica Sacra, vol. 4. p. 631.) i Ut supra. (De Ponder. & Pret. Vet. Num. c. 5.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Gold 3000 talents, i.e., about 13 1/2, or, reckoning according to the royal shekel, 6 3/4 millions of pounds; 7000 talents of silver, circa 2 1/2 or 1 1/4 millions of pounds: see on 1Ch 22:14. Gold of Ophir, i.e., the finest, best gold, corresponding to the pure silver. , to overlay the inner walls of the houses with gold and silver leaf. as in 1Ch 28:11, the different buildings of the temple. The walls of the holy place and of the most holy, of the porch and of the upper chambers, were overlaid with gold (cf. 2Ch 3:4-6, 2Ch 3:8-9), and probably only the inner walls of the side buildings.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(4) Three thousand talents of gold.Comp. 1Ch. 22:14. The sum would be about 18,000,000 sterling.
Gold of Ophir.Indian gold, from Abhra, at the mouth of the Indus.
Seven thousand talents of refined silver.About 2,800,000 sterling.
To overlay.Strictly, to besmear (Isa. 44:18).
The houses.The chambers (1Ch. 28:11; see 2Ch. 3:4-9). The Syriac and Arabic have a thousand thousand talents of gold, and twice a thousand thousand talents of silver.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Ophir See the note on 1Ki 9:28. Here it appears that “the gold of Ophir” was brought (probably by Arabian merchants) to Israel in the days of David.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ch 29:4
Ver. 4. To overlay the walls. ] Ad in crastandos parietes. The walls of the temple were overlaid with gold, and the walls of the other buildings adjoining to the temple, with silver.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
houses. Compare 1Ch 28:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
gold of Ophir: 1Ki 9:28, Job 28:16
Reciprocal: Num 7:85 – two thousand Jos 11:22 – only in Gaza 1Ch 1:23 – Ophir 1Ch 22:14 – an hundred thousand
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
29:4 [Even] {c} three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses [withal]:
(c) He shows what he had of his own store for the Lord’s house.