They came to Ophir, and fetched from there gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 28. Ophir, in the East Indies; ( Menochius.) an island called Taprobana, or Sumatra; (Salien) or a country near the heads of the Euphrates and Tigris. Calmet. Dissert.—The variety of opinions is astonishing. Huet fixes upon Sophola, on the eastern coast of Africa; and supposes that the fleet of Hiram might proceed down a canal, which seems to have been formerly opened for a communication between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Strabo i. 17. and ii. D.—The various commodities might be procured either in Africa, or, on the voyage, in other countries. Bible.—Twenty. Par. reads fifty. The letter c (20) and n (50) may easily have been mistaken. Huet.—The thirty talents might be the value of other parts of the cargo, or might be spent in repairs and wages. Calmet.—The sum here mentioned might be also refined gold. Menochius.
A talent is about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds or 965 Troy ounces, so 420 talents is about 12.6 metric tons