“And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.”
My Notes
What Does 1 Kings 10:21 Mean?
"All king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold... none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon." Silver — a precious metal by any standard — is considered worthless during Solomon's reign. Not rare. Not valuable. Nothing. The abundance of gold has made silver irrelevant. What was precious in any other era is nothing in Solomon's.
The phrase "nothing accounted of" (lo nechshav le-me'umah — not reckoned as anything) means silver doesn't even register on the value scale. The wealth has reached a level where the second-most-valuable metal in the ancient world is treated like a common material. The abundance has recalibrated the economy's entire value system.
The drinking vessels being gold means even casual dining uses the finest material. Not just Temple utensils. Not just ceremonial objects. Drinking cups. The everyday vessels from which the king drinks water are gold. The mundane function receives the ultimate material.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What are you treating as 'nothing' because of your current abundance?
- 2.How does extreme prosperity recalibrate your value scale in potentially dangerous ways?
- 3.What does gold drinking-vessels for everyday use teach about wealth reaching the mundane?
- 4.Is your abundance producing gratitude or the amnesia Deuteronomy warns about?
Devotional
Silver was nothing. In Solomon's kingdom, the metal most people considered precious was too common to count. The abundance of gold had made silver irrelevant. The second-best was treated like the worst. The entire value scale had been recalibrated by excess.
The drinking vessels detail grounds the wealth in everyday life: gold cups for water. Not gold censers for the Temple. Gold cups for Tuesday afternoon's drink. The extravagance reaches the most mundane function. The wealth doesn't stay in the treasury or the sanctuary. It shows up at the dinner table.
The 'nothing accounted of' is the economic absurdity: silver — genuinely valuable, genuinely precious, genuinely rare by any normal standard — is worthless in this kingdom. The baseline has shifted so dramatically that what counts as wealth elsewhere doesn't register here. Solomon's economy operates on a different scale than anyone else's.
The theological question beneath the economic detail is whether this abundance is blessing or warning: God promised Solomon wealth (3:13). The wealth arrived. But the abundance that makes silver worthless can also make wisdom worthless. The kingdom that doesn't need silver might think it doesn't need God either. The prosperity-as-amnesia warning from Deuteronomy 8:11-14 applies here: when everything is gold, you forget who provided it.
What abundance in your life has recalibrated your value scale — making you treat as 'nothing' what should still be valued? What 'silver' are you dismissing because the 'gold' is so abundant?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And all King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold,.... Such quantities of it were brought to him from Ophir, and paid…
We have here a further account of Solomon's prosperity.
I. How he increased his wealth. Though he had much, he still…
all king Solomon's drinking vessels The LXX. here leaves out the defining word, merely putting σκεύη = vessels, but adds…