What is the meaning of 2 Chronicles 1:17? A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver • Scripture records that “Solomon accumulated chariots and horses” (2 Chronicles 1:14), and here we learn the going price—about six hundred shekels per chariot. • This shows real, measurable wealth. Six hundred shekels equaled roughly fifteen pounds of silver, underscoring the prosperity God granted Solomon in fulfillment of 1 Kings 3:13. • The detail also highlights extensive trade links with Egypt, mirroring 1 Kings 10:28-29. While factual, that connection pokes at the warning in Deuteronomy 17:16 not to “multiply horses” or send people back to Egypt. Prosperity is a gift, yet it comes with potential spiritual drift if dependence shifts from the Lord to military assets (Psalm 20:7). and a horse for a hundred and fifty • A horse cost one-quarter the price of a chariot. The numbers read like an ancient price list, reminding us the text is historical, not mythical. • Solomon’s stables (2 Chronicles 9:25; 1 Kings 4:26) required thousands of horses, so the totals represented a sizeable treasury outlay and a visible sign of power. • Yet God had said Israel’s king must “not acquire great numbers of horses” (Deuteronomy 17:16). The verse therefore hints at a slow slide from wholehearted trust in God to confidence in resources. Zechariah 9:10 later foretells a day when God “will cut off the chariot…and the warhorse,” restoring reliance on Him alone. Likewise, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites • Israel was not only buying; it was selling. Positioned along major trade routes, the nation became a regional arms broker. This recalls God’s promise in Deuteronomy 28:12 that obedience would make Israel the lending—not borrowing—nation. • The “kings of the Hittites” likely refer to northern Syrian and Anatolian rulers (see Joshua 1:4), people who had longstanding interactions with Israel. Commerce offered influence, yet it also meant military technology flowing outward. By 2 Chronicles 8:7-8 Solomon was conscripting remnant peoples; now he is outfitting foreign kings, a move that could come back to haunt future generations (compare 2 Kings 7:6, where God terrifies the Arameans with “the noise of chariots and horses”). and to the kings of Aram • Aram (Syria) would soon become a primary adversary (1 Kings 11:23-25; 2 Chronicles 16:1). Ironically, Solomon’s trade may have strengthened the very armies that later attacked Israel. • The line illustrates how material success can create unintended consequences. What seems like shrewd economics can sow seeds of future conflict when divorced from wholehearted obedience (Proverbs 14:12). • Still, the chronicler includes the fact without embellishment, confirming both the blessing of God-given wisdom that drew international attention (1 Kings 10:24) and the creeping compromises that foreshadow Israel’s later troubles. summary 2 Chronicles 1:17 is a snapshot of Solomon’s era, revealing literal prices, extensive trade, and God-granted prosperity. It affirms the accuracy of Scripture while quietly echoing Deuteronomy’s caution: trust must remain in the Lord, not in chariots, horses, or profitable alliances. |
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