2 Chronicles 9:21
For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
The verse belongs to the chronological account of Solomon's reign over the undivided kingdom. It describes the king's ships going to Tarshish with the servants of Huram, making long voyages and coming once every three years bringing gold and silver and ivory and apes and peacocks. It is part of the portrayal of Solomon's great wealth and of the luxury and magnificence of his court.
The bringing in of such curious and uncommon things shows how prosperity led Solomon and his people to set value on strange and rare things that were useless in themselves, fostering luxury and self-indulgence. The cargo links this fleet with the voyage to Ophir for gold and almug trees, and points to Ophir being in India, since the Hebrew names for several of the imported goods were foreign words whose counterparts were native to Sanskrit. The Tarshish voyages that went out on long courses and returned every three years with valuable freight serve as a picture of journeys that come back bringing a rich and valuable return.