Is there a connection between 666 and Solomon?

Question

There is another question here that asks for the significance of the number 666.

Most of the answers relate it to papacy, Nero or some other apocalyptic event.

I have read several prophetic websites and they do the same thing. Sum up the numeric value of the alphabets in somebody's name. Multiply it by 2, divide by 3 and it comes to 666.

However I was reading my Bible was surprised to find the following verse -

1 Kings 10:14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,

2 Chronicles 9:13 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,

My question is how did everyone over look this? Could it be that the number has nothing to do with papacy or Nero.

There seems to be some sort of connection with Solomon. If so what is it?

Answer 1

I strongly suspect coincidence.

You comment that, "The Bible is interconnected in many other places. Such as gospels quoting the Old testament". True, but there's a big difference. Most of these quotes are explicitly identified as quotes. Like Matthew 4:4, "But He answered and said, It is written, ..." There's no question of it being a coincidence. But nowhere does the Bible say, "As the number of the Beast is 666, so Solomon collected 666 talents of gold." Nor is there any clear connection. One is counting letter values in a name; the other is counting pieces of gold. One is identified as evil; the other is simply stated as a matter of fact with no moral judgement. Etc. The only apparent connection is the number.

"Random coincidences do not occur like that. In a country if two people die at the same time by the same kind of weapon it probably is coincidence. If that happens in same neighborhood you'd expect some sort of connection." Exactly. As you add matching facts and conditions, the probability that it is a random coincidence goes down. But the only connection that I can see here is the number. I'm not sure how many numbers there are in the Bible. I just did a text search in an on-line Bible on the word "hundred" and got 559 hits. So assuming that means there are 559 numbers in at least the right general range, and that the probability that one of them would be 666 by pure chance is 1/1000, then the probability that at least one of those numbers would be 666 turns out to be ... punch calculator ... 43%. That's not particularly unlikely.

Answer 2

I don't think it's too much of a stretch.

If we look back at the law for kings in Deuteronomy 17, It prohibits the king from multiplying horses and chariots, wives, and wealth. This is exactly what Solomon is doing in 1 Kings 10-11. Chapter ten begins by commending his great wisdom, but then steps through his decline - that is, he begins violating the rules for kings by multiplying gold (666 talents a year), multiplying horses and chariots, and finally multiplying wives who turn his heart away from following Yahweh. He sets up centers of false worship for all the foreign gods of his wives. So, the number 666 is associated with Solomon in his fall, his abuse of power, and his turning away from true worship of Yahweh.

In Revelation, Jesus sets up worship interactions under the symbol of business transactions - buying and selling.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

This is picked up in chapter 13 with reference to worship in the false temple - the image set up by the beast which must be worshiped on pain of death. Everyone must worship the image, but no one may do so without the mark. The buying and selling referred to here is of the same kind established by Jesus in chapter 3. It is worship - spiritual transactions.

This kind of forced worship of an image set up also has ties back to Nebuchadnezzar.

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits... And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.”

Nebuchadnezzar is acting as a beast (and later, even more so) and sets up an image to be worshiped. Again, we have six and sixty associated with worship of a false image on pain of death.

All of this comes together in the name and number of the man - 666. This sums up man in his fallen state. The number carries with it the fallen glory of Solomon, his degraded wisdom, his failure to follow the word of God, his abuse of power, and his allowing himself to be turned aside to the worship of impotent gods.

Don't be afraid of symbolism; it's good for you :)

Answer 3

I have added a post to your other question What is the significance of the number 666?, so I can apply it to this question. My post is identical with Narnian’s only largely expanded.

Our understanding of what 666 might mean with respect to the weight of Gold that Solomon received annually depends on how we think we are allowed to interpret the Old Testament, in light on the New Testament. For myself** I prefer to avoid reading too much into the symbolism in the Old Testament, unless it is completely supportive of the plain meaning, verified by the New Testament, and admits are certain amount of uncertainty.** The reason why I feel admitted uncertainty about potential symbolism in the Old Testament is good practice is because we are trying to identify the edge of a shadow, which by nature is obscure. Only in Christ do we see the certain meaning of anything that might be argued as an Old Testament type.

Having put forth my view, I think I can provide an uncertain possible connection between 666 and this reference without irreverently mangling the plain, literal and intended primary sense. The literal sense from the context seems to simply show how magnificent and wealthy Solomon had become. However it also seems to be a transition point at which his own wealth became a snare to him and he verges into extravagance, lust and assumes ‘many wives’ in the next chapter. Something God was not pleased with. Therefore regarding spiritual types, we have a conflict of types. On one hand Solomon’s wealth represents Messiah as risen Lord, while David might represent Messiah on earth. On the other hand, Solomon’s failure and sinfulness might ‘possibly’ slightly be hinted at by 666.

If we assume this uncertain connection, but a connection nevertheless we might imagine that the entire weakness of the image of Solomon and indeed all the types of the Old Testament is being witnessed. Not only do the huge failures of David and Solomon indicate that Messiah must be something far exceeding from those types, but the entire covenant of law is ‘fallen-short, fallen-short, fallen-short’ in terms of its ability to save and bring wealth. Rather a law of grace can only remove the human nature, and the blood of animals can’t cleanse sin. The same imagery is indicated by the Tablets of the law being broken Moses as soon as they were first made, they were never meant to provide what they shadowed but were established as a renewed covenant of works destined to fail due to the weakness of 666. The Law was added so that sin, or the sinful nature (666) would ‘increase’ according to Romans 5:20. The annual inflow of 666 could indicate this increase of the sinful nature under the shadows of the Law leading to Solomon’s ultimate failure. Clearly as all types of Messiah in the Old Testament he was nothing more than a mere imperfect shadow of a future Christ, proven by the wealth, mirroring Christ's glory, only caused extravagence and a leading to idolatry (like the Roman beast / emporer worship system) to occur.

He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. (NIV 1 Kings 11:3-4)

In this symbol of Solomon's wealth still prefigures Christ, but the weakness of those symbols as not having any saving power in themselves, but fully falling short, is seamlessly maintained.

Some might think I am stretching the meaning too far, but that is a fair comment that I would accept, while at the same time believing I may have found a little hidden nugget of scripture because you brought it to my attention. Thank you very much, I like it.