Solomon and the AntiChrist

[Henoch]

I was casually reading 1 Kings 10 and the 14th verse says this
"Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold"
Does the number have a spiritual significance of him departing from God's law and commandments- namely the king being prohibited from amassing too much gold and silver(Deuteronomy 17)? And taking the number of the beast in that sense?

 

[Jake]

That passage did have to do with the fall of Solomon and it is the only non "round" number there, so it is possible there is significance. It's hard to say for sure.

Adonikam also had 666 sons (Ezra 2:13) which seems even less likely to be significant, so it's also possible it came by ordinary prevalence of numbers. I'm hesitant to read too much into it.

 

[Poimen]

I was casually reading 1 Kings 10 and the 14th verse says this
"Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold"
Does the number have a spiritual significance of him departing from God's law and commandments- namely the king being prohibited from amassing too much gold and silver(Deuteronomy 17)? And taking the number of the beast in that sense?

There is a difference between "greatly" multiplying wealth for oneself (Deuteronomy 17:17) and the receiving of wealth by the providence or appointing of God.

In 1 Kings 3:13 God promised to give Solomon riches so, even in this respect, we are not required to believe that wealth has any negative connotations in chapter 10. Indeed vs. 14 says this wealth "came to Solomon" even as did Sheba, when hearing of his fame. By comparison Israel herself would become rich (Deuteronomy 8:13) but of God's blessing (vs. 10) and for their good.

Moreover, the following chapter in 1 Kings tells us that his wives were the occasion for his falling away.

Additional reflection:

As such, we may conclude that wealth here is ominous only in that or when its end is perverted. Indeed the beast is said to mimic God and his ways by appearing as a lamb (vs. 11), requiring worship (vs. 15), and giving the mark (vs. 17), the latter which is parallel to the sealing of God's servants (7:3).

 

[Henoch]

That passage did have to do with the fall of Solomon and it is the only non "round" number there, so it is possible there is significance. It's hard to say for sure.

Adonikam also had 666 sons (Ezra 2:13) which seems even less likely to be significant, so it's also possible it came by ordinary prevalence of numbers. I'm hesitant to read too much into it.

There's a famous Puritan Hugh Broughton who thought Adonikam(Lord standing) is the name of Antichrist
"the mans name may soone be found by 666. for onely ADONIKAM of a man hath that number. Now the wisedome standeth in the nation of Adonikam: how the beast that hath hornes like a Lambe is fitted to that. Let vs haue our stories, to shew how the Pope is fitted to this. Innocentius the third bragged to Emperor Philip, that he would take from him the Diademe of the King, or he should take from him"

A reuelation of the holy Apocalyps. By Hugh Broughton.. | Early English Books Online | University of Michigan Library Digital Collections

And the Pulpit commentary(just saw it now) "says smth similar regarding this passage too
The correspondence with the number of the Beast (Revelation 13:18; cf. Ezra 2:13) is in all probability not altogether accidental.
It is possible, i.e., that the number of the beast is a reminiscence of this number of talents. For we may surely see in this statement of Solomon's prodigious wealth an indication of his worldliness, the turning point, perhaps, in his estrangement from God. "The love of money" may have been the root of all his evil. It is certainly remarkable that from this time forward his career is one of steady declension. It is also remarkable that while he is here represented to us as a "royal merchant," the mark of the beast is on the buyers and sellers (Revelation 13:17)".
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But yes as you guys said I'm not sure if the writer of the book intended such a meaning for the original audience

 

[bdavidc]

I was casually reading 1 Kings 10 and the 14th verse says this
"Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold"
Does the number have a spiritual significance of him departing from God's law and commandments- namely the king being prohibited from amassing too much gold and silver(Deuteronomy 17)? And taking the number of the beast in that sense?

That’s a good question. But let’s answer it solely based on the Bible, not speculation or numerology.

1 Kings 10:14 says, “Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold.” That’s 666 talents, the same number we see in Revelation 13:18, but the context and purpose are completely different.

In 1 Kings 10, the verse is giving a historical account of Solomon’s wealth, not making a spiritual judgment about the number 666 itself. Scripture does not say that this number caused Solomon’s downfall. However, you are right to connect it to Deuteronomy 17:17, which says that the king “shall not multiply to himself silver and gold.” That is where Solomon sinned, not because of the number 666, but because he disobeyed God's clear command not to accumulate excessive wealth, horses from Egypt, or many wives (Deuteronomy 17:16–17). All three warnings were broken by Solomon (1 Kings 10:28–29, 11:1–8).

So yes, there is spiritual significance to Solomon’s accumulation of gold, but the focus should be on his disobedience to God’s law, not the symbolic use of the number 666. The Bible itself never links the 666 talents in Solomon’s day to the “number of the beast” in Revelation. That connection is not made anywhere in Scripture.

In Revelation 13:18, the number 666 is described as the number of a man, arithmos gar anthrōpou estin (ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν), meaning it relates to human identity, not divine truth. The number there is tied to the beast, a future global leader empowered by Satan, not to Solomon’s gold. God does not randomly assign spiritual meaning to numbers without explanation, and where Scripture is silent, we should be silent too.

So to conclude, yes, Solomon’s accumulation of gold violated God’s law in Deuteronomy, and it was part of his spiritual decline. But no, Scripture does not link that to the number of the beast in Revelation. Any such connection is reading into the text beyond what God has revealed. Stick to what is written, not what seems symbolic (Proverbs 30:6, 1 Corinthians 4:6).