1 Chronicles 29:1-7

The People Contribute to the Project

29:1 King David said to the entire assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is just an inexperienced young man, ¹  and the task is great, for this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. 29:2 So I have made every effort ²  to provide what is needed for the temple of my God, including the gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, ³  as well as a large amount of onyx, settings of antimony and other stones, all kinds of precious stones, and alabaster. 29:3 Now, to show my commitment to the temple of my God, I donate my personal treasure of gold and silver to the temple of my God, in addition to all that I have already supplied for this holy temple. 29:4 This includes 3,000 talents ⁴  of gold from Ophir and 7,000 talents of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings, 29:5 for gold and silver items, and for all the work of the craftsmen. Who else wants to contribute to the Lord today?”

29:6 The leaders of the families, the leaders of the Israelite tribes, the commanders of units of a thousand and a hundred, and the supervisors of the king’s work contributed willingly. 29:7 They donated for the service of God’s temple 5,000 talents ⁵  and ten thousand darics ⁶  of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.

[29:1]  ¹ tn Heb “a young man and tender.”

[29:2]  ² tn Heb “and according to all my strength.”

[29:2]  ³ tn Heb “the gold for the gold, and the silver for the silver, and the bronze for the bronze, and the iron for the iron, and the wood for the wood.”

[29:4]  ⁴ tn See the note on the word “talents” in 19:6. Using the “light” standard talent of 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg) as the standard for calculation, David had supplied 101 tons (91,800 kg) of gold and 235.5 tons (214,200 kg) of silver.

[29:7]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “talents” in 19:6. Using the “light” standard talent of 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg) as the standard for calculation, the people donated 168.3 tons (153,000 kg) of gold, 336.5 tons (306,000 kg) of silver, 605.7 tons (550,800 kg) of bronze, and 3,365 tons (3,060,000 kg) of iron.

[29:7]  ⁶ tn On the “daric” as a unit of measure, see BDB 204 s.v. דַּרְכְּמוֹן. Some have regarded the daric as a minted coin, perhaps even referring to the Greek drachma, but this is less likely.