What Does 1 Kings 10:16 Mean in the King James?

And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.

1 Kings 10:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

Here royal splendor takes the shape of shields, and the verse makes its price exact: six hundred shekels of gold for each.

THE MEANING

The verse meets you where abundance becomes a visible sign of rule: gold is shaped into shields and measured at six hundred shekels apiece. Security is given a weight and displayed through what the ruler can put into it.

THE ROOT

שְׁלֹמֹה

Shelomoh

GROWS FROM

ש־ל־ם

sh-l-m

To be whole or complete; wholeness and peace.

Solomon’s name belongs to the same root family as shalom, wholeness. The verse places that name beside shields made of immense, carefully measured wealth, letting royal wholeness and visible security sit together in the same image.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: Wholeness, well-being, peace.

שָׁלוֹם

This is the familiar root-family word carried in Solomon’s name; it brings the idea of wholeness into the verse’s royal image.

shalem: Whole, complete, intact.

שָׁלֵם

This adjective makes the root’s sense of wholeness concrete, adding depth to the name beside the shields that signify security.

THE PATTERN

Power becomes visible when wealth is shaped into objects that promise security.

And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

1 Kings 10:17 · KJVThe next verse repeats the pattern, measuring the gold in each shield and showing the objects placed in the royal house.

And Hezekiah had exceeding much riches and honour: and he made himself treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all manner of pleasant jewels;

2 Chronicles 32:27 · KJVHere a ruler’s riches become visible in stored treasure and shields, joining abundance with the signs of security.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

Psalm 20:7 · KJVThe verse names military objects as places where people locate security, exposing the trust that visible defenses can carry.

THE THREAD

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

Psalm 122:6 · KJV

The word translated “peace” is shalom, from the same ⁨ש־ל־ם⁩ root family carried by Solomon’s name. The psalm opens the name’s sense of wholeness beside this verse’s golden shields, giving security a deeper dimension than visible defense.

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