Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Chronicles 8:18

"And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched from thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon." — 2 Chronicles 8:18 (ASV)

It has been suggested that these ships were transported from Tyre to Ezion-geber in one of two ways:

1. Around the continent of Africa.
2. Across the Isthmus of Suez.

However, the writer probably only means that Hiram gave ships to Solomon at this time in connection with the Ophir enterprise. These vessels may have been delivered at Joppa, where they were carefully studied by the Jewish shipwrights. Then, assisted by Phoenicians, the shipwrights proceeded to Ezion-geber and constructed new ships based on that pattern.

Four hundred and fifty talents. This is contrasted with the "four hundred and twenty talents" mentioned in 1 Kings 9:28. One of the two texts has suffered from the kind of corruption to which numbers are especially liable.