1 Chronicles 22:14

“Now, behold, in my trouble, etc.] Or affliction, which had attended him, through the greater part of his reign, partly through wars abroad, and partly through rebellions and insurrections at home: or, in my poverty f92; living in a frugal way, as if he had been a poor man, in order to lay up money for this purpose: I have prepared for the house of the Lord; for the building of it, and for things to be used in it: an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; a prodigious sum, be it reckoned as it will; the gold, according to Scheuchzer f93 was answerable to 1,222,000,000 ducats of gold; according to Waserus f94 the talents of gold made six hundred millions…”

“In my trouble - See the margin. David refers to the manifold troubles of his reign, which had prevented him from accumulating very much treasure. An hundred thousand talents of gold ... - We do not know the value of the Hebrew talent at this period, and therefore these numbers may be sound. But in that case we must suppose an enormous difference between the pre-Babylonian and the post-Babylonian talents. According to the value of the post-Babylonian Hebrew talent, the gold here spoken of would be worth more than 1 billion of our British pounds sterling, while the silver would be worth ahove 400 million pounds. Accumulations to anything like this amount are inconceivable under the…”

“Trouble - This he alleges as a reason why he could do no more, because of the many wars, whereby much of his treasures were exhausted. Talents - A talent of Gold in the first constitution was three thousand shekels, as may be gathered from Exo 38:24-26, and so this amounts to a vast sum, yet not impossible for David to get, considering how many and great conquests he made, and what vast spoils and presents he got; and that he endeavoured by all honourable ways to get as much as he could, out of zeal for God's house. And whereas some object, that this quantity of gold and silver was sufficient, tho' the whole fabrick of the temple had consisted of massy gold and silver, it is to be…”

“trouble: or, poverty, Co2 8:2 an hundred thousand: This, at 5,075. 15s. 7+d. the talent, would amount to the sum of 507,578,125. Ch1 29:4-7; Kg1 10:14 thousand thousand talents of silver: This, at 353. 11s. 10d. the talent, would amount to 353,591,666. 13s. 4d.; and both sums would amount to the immense sum of 868,169,791. 13s. 4d. without weight: Ch1 22:3; Kg2 25:16; Jer 52:20 1 Chronicles 22:15”

“In conclusion ( Ch1 22:14-16), David mentions what materials he has prepared for the building of the temple. בּעניי, not, in my poverty (lxx, Vulg., Luth.), but, by my painful labour (magna molestia et labore, Lavat.); cf. Gen 31:42, and the corresponding בּכל־כּוחי, Ch1 29:2. Gold 100,000 talents, and silver 1,000,000 talents. As the talent was 3000 shekels, and the silver shekel coined by the Maccabees, according to the Mosaic weight, was worth about 2s. 6d., the talent of silver would be about 375, and 1,000,000 talents 375,000,000. If we suppose the relative value of the gold and silver to be as 10 to 1,100,000 talents of gold will be about the same amount, or even more, viz., about…”