What Does 1 Kings 10:21 Mean in the King James?

And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

1 Kings 10:21 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Hebrew places silver, kesef, beside the verb for longing, kasaf, and here even the thing associated with longing counts as nothing.

THE MEANING

What once feels precious can become weightless when another measure fills your field of vision. Silver remains present, but it no longer counts.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie this undoes is that a thing prized by many must keep the same worth under every measure.

THE ROOT

נֶחְשָׁב

neḥshav

GROWS FROM

חשב

To think, reckon, or devise.

“accounted” in this verse is neḥshav. The same seed names both devising in the mind and reckoning value. Here silver’s being “nothing” lies in how it is counted; the verse exposes the measure behind the metal.

ALSO GROWS

counted: Reckoned or assigned a place in a measure.

Genesis 15:6 uses the same root for trust being counted as alignment, showing that reckoning can recognize something beyond material worth.

deviseth: Plans or forms in thought.

Proverbs 16:9 uses the root for a person’s planning, placing inward thought and outward valuation in the same word family.

כֶּסֶף

kesef

GROWS FROM

כסף

The verb kasaf means to long for or yearn; kesef means silver.

The consonants that name silver also form kasaf, “to long for”: the sought-after material and the act of yearning sit together in Hebrew. The verse places silver at nothing on the scale, showing how abundance can alter what draws desire.

ALSO GROWS

longedst: Yearned for or deeply desired.

Genesis 31:30 uses this root for longing after one’s father’s house, linking the language of silver with the pull of desire.

desire: Long for or yearn toward.

Job 14:15 uses the same root for desire, showing the longing carried in the consonants of kesef.

THE PATTERN

Abundance exposes that material presence and lived value are not the same measure.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 · KJVMore silver does not satisfy the longing attached to it, so possession and fulfillment remain distinct.

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

Luke 12:15 · KJVA person’s life exceeds the abundance of what is possessed, echoing silver’s loss of counting power.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:21 · KJVWhat you count as treasure shapes where your heart settles, exposing the measure beneath material value.

THE THREAD

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨חשב⁩ (ḥashav, “reckon”): here silver is not reckoned as anything; there, trust is counted as alignment. The same act of weighing can empty one thing of value and recognize another.

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