420
27 And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.
28 They went to Ophir and took four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
1 Kings 9:27-28 NASB
450
16 …So the house of the Lord was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth on the seashore in the land of Edom.
18 And Huram by his servants sent him ships and servants who knew the sea; and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and took from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought them to King Solomon.
2 Chronicles 8:16-18 NASB
Bible Contradiction?
Who is right? 1 Kings with 420 talents, or 2 Chronicles with 450 talents?
Solomon’s building activities
King Solomon, having built the temple of Israel within a period of seven years, decided to also build a royal palace for himself. This project took about thirteen years. His father king David had accumulated a lot of wealth to build the temple, and there was plenty of money for that. But …
Solomon’s financial problem
Where could Solomon get the investments he needed to build his palace? His friend king Hiram from Tyrus was very kind to lend him 120 talents of gold (1 Kings 9:14), but it was not enough for Solomon’s desires. And so, already in an early stage, Solomon came to the conclusion that it would be profitable to organize a fleet on the Mediterranean (2 Chronicles 9:21) and on the Indian Ocean for trade affairs (2 Chronicles 8:16-18).
Continued benefits
Of course Solomon didn’t make the investment of shipbuilding in Ezion-geber and Eloth for only one expedition. Certainly, it was a great event each time the merchant fleet arrived, returning from Ophir. We are not informed how much time it took for an expedition (e.g., was it carried out annually?). Did it take two or even three years as did the expeditions on the Mediterranean (2 Chronicles 9:21)? Anyway it is not difficult to explain the different figures of 450 and 420 talents – they are simply separate expeditions.
Solution
We know that the first expedition was that of 2 Chronicles 8:17, “Then Solomon went to Ezion-geber …” (Hebrew: ‘Az’, then …), that is immediately after the completion of the temple. This resulted in 450 talents. The expedition of 1 Kings took place at a later point of time with the result of 420 talents. Instead of ‘Az’, the conjunction ‘W-’ is used, meaning ‘And’, referring to an indefinite period of time after the former subject; “And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet…”.
Conclusion: No Bible Contradiction
Remark
South Africa is the greatest gold-producing nation in the world; accounting for two thirds of the world’s gold production since 1880. This observation makes it a possibility to identify Ophir with Africa, maybe South Africa?