- Series:History, Transcript English
1 Kings 6:22
“And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house.”
Scripture tells us that Solomon’s temple was overlaid with gold inside – the walls, the ceiling and even the floor! Solomon even decorated the Temple with gold, including over two U.S. tons of golden shields. Given the dimensions of the rooms, this would take a huge amount of gold.
For this reason, many modern scholars have expressed doubt about what the Bible reports. Scripture does report that Solomon’s annual income was 25 tons of gold. We know that other world rulers in the ancient world held huge amounts of gold. We have all seen the golden treasures that were found in King Tut’s tomb. Reliable Greek sources report that Alexander the Great discovered a hoard of 1,180 tons of gold in Susa. So there was obviously a great deal of gold in the ancient world. But what happened to all of Solomon’s gold? The Bible records that after Solomon’s death Shishak, king of Egypt, invaded Jerusalem and hauled away the Temple treasure. After his death a year later, his son Osorkon I became king. Three years later, Osorkon made an offering to the gods of Egypt of 383 tons of gold. Was some of that from Solomon’s Temple?
There is no reason to doubt the Bible’s lavish descriptions of Solomon’s Temple. There was more than enough gold in the ancient world to do the job.
Prayer:
Lord, You are the generous giver of all good gifts. Help me always to hold Your Word as the greatest treasure. Amen.
Notes:
Biblical Archaeology Review, 5-6/89, pp. 20-34, Alan R. Millard, “Does the Bible Exaggerate King Solomon’s Golden Wealth?” Photo: Tuthankamen’s famous burial mask, on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Courtesy of Bjørn Christian Tørrissen. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
