1 Kings 10:18

a great throne of ivory Like Ahab's ivory house, mentioned later on (1 Kings 22:39), the throne was no doubt only inlaid with ivory, in such a way that where the gold did not cover the framework there the ivory appeared. And we may suppose that the ivory was a very conspicuous part of the structure, or else the throne would not be called from it.

with the best gold R.V. -finest gold." The Hebrew participle (which occurs in no other place) is from a root which signifies -to refine," -to purge." Hence the rendering of R.V. is preferable. The Hebrew word is -muphaz," and the excessive rarity of its occurrence has led some to conjecture that the reading here ought to be as in Jeremiah 10:9 -ma-uphaz," i.e. -from Uphaz." Uphaz is thought to be a later form of the word Ophir. It is found also in Daniel 10:5. But though the participle in the text is rare, there is a cognate word of frequent occurrence, meaning -fine gold," so that we need not doubt about the sense in this passage.