2 Chronicles 9:13

Solomon’s Wealth

9:13 Solomon received 666 talents ¹  of gold per year, ² 

2 Chronicles 22:2

22:2 Ahaziah was twenty-two ³  years old when he became king and he reigned for one year in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah, the granddaughter ⁴  of Omri.

¹ tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold Solomon received annually was 44,822 lbs. (20,380 kg).

² tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 units of gold.”

³ tc Heb “forty-two,” but the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 8:26 reads “twenty-two” along with some mss of the LXX and the Syriac.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term בַּת (bat, “daughter”) can refer, as here, to a granddaughter. See HALOT 165-66 s.v. I בַּת 1.