Hiram’s gift of 120 Talents of Gold to Solomon

Hiram gave Solomon 120 Talents of Gold. That gift points at the timing of the gift of gold in the New Testament, the gift of the Magi to Joseph and Mary. This report explores the math.

Background

The following is the relevant text:

¹⁰At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings -- the temple of the LORD and the royal palace -- ¹¹King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and pine and gold he wanted. ¹²But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ¹³"What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?" he asked. And he called them the Land of Cabul, a name they have to this day. ¹⁴Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold. 1 Kings 9:10-14

(1 Kings 9:10-14 NIV)

Hiram gave Solomon a gift of 120 Talents of Gold. The math works like this: Talents are groups of 3000 shekels, so the total gift is 120 * 3000 = 360,000 shekels of gold. A shekel is a day’s wage, so the time referred to by this gift is 360,000 days of labor.

This is one "Creation week year" and can be seen by inspection on the printed charts to link the period after the completion of Solomon’s Temple and Palace to the birth of Jesus. What is odd about this story is the precision indicated by the story: 360,000 days.

Without a start date at the beginning of the interval we cannot use the interval as a day-accurate predictor. Since the dates in Solomon’s reign are not given with precision we’ll work the story backwards here, and establish the exact date of the gift using the Magi visit as a reference.

Magi Visit to Joseph and Mary

The earliest date the Magi could have visited Jesus, Joseph, and Mary was the 8th day after Jesus was born. We have established this date through other means and recount that date here:

Report on Jesus’ 8th Day
Jesus’ Birthday
Fri	10989-08-29 AA	16 Feb 1 NS	17 Feb 754 AUC	4008629 AAN
Fri	1489-08-29 FE	18 Feb 0 OS	17 Feb 1 AD	1721472 JDN
Jesus’ 8th Day
Fri	10989-09-06 AA	23 Feb 1 NS	24 Feb 754 AUC	4008636 AAN
Fri	1489-09-06 FE	25 Feb 0 OS	24 Feb 1 AD	1721479 JDN

Gift Date

To figure out the date of the gift, 360,000 days earlier, we simply subtract 360,000 from the day number, the AA Number, given in the report above for Jesus’ 8th day.

Latest Hiram’s Gift to Solomon Date
Jesus’ 8th day
Fri	10989-09-06 AA	23 Feb 1 NS	24 Feb 754 AUC	4008636 AAN
Fri	1489-09-06 FE	25 Feb 0 OS	24 Feb 1 AD	1721479 JDN
Candidate Hiram’s Gift Date
Mon	10002-10-06 AA	3 Jul -985 NS	4 Mai 310 BAUC	3648636 AAN
Mon	502-10-06 FE	12 Jul -985 OS	4 Mai 1063 BC	1361479 JDN

Back another 70 weeks

For the curious, we run the previous date back another 490 days. This is the earliest predicted date surrounding the time of Jesus.

This math is based on the idea that the gift may be pointing at Zechariah and his visit with Gabriel instead. If this is so, then the start date for the gift must be earlier by 490 days. (70 weeks.)

Earliest Hiram Gift to Solomon Date
Hiram’s Gift Date (Latest)
Mon	10002-10-06 AA	3 Jul -985 NS	4 Mai 310 BAUC	3648636 AAN
Mon	502-10-06 FE	12 Jul -985 OS	4 Mai 1063 BC	1361479 JDN
Hiram’s Gift Date (Earliest)
Mon	10001-05-26 AA	28 Feb -986 NS	30 Six 312 BAUC	3648146 AAN
Mon	501-05-26 FE	9 Mar -987 OS	30 Six 1065 BC	1360989 JDN

The result in this table is very interesting since the year 10,001 AA is at the millennial break in Solomon’s Era, this break was the break that Solomon was building his temple for, and the temple dedication happened quite close to this time.

Hiram’s gift may be spanning the time from Solomon’s temple and dedication until the time of Gabriel’s visit with Zechariah in the temple.

Phil Stone 2008-10-01