Monopoly
Summary
Exclusive control over a commodity or trade, practiced by Solomon in the commerce of horses and chariots.
☩Solomon's Horse Trade
Solomon established a monopoly on horses and chariots between Egypt and Syria: 'Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt... and a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means' (1 Kings 10:28-29). Solomon controlled this lucrative trade route, profiting as middleman.
☩Linen Trade
Solomon's merchants also monopolized the linen trade from Egypt: 'And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and from Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price' (1 Kings 10:28 ESV). This control of essential commodities enriched the royal treasury but concentrated economic power in the crown.
☩Moral Implications
Scripture's general economic ethic opposes oppressive monopolies. The prophets condemned those who 'join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place' (Isaiah 5:8). The law's provisions for Jubilee land restoration and protections for the poor worked against permanent concentration of resources. True prosperity flows from justice and generosity, not exploitation.