1 Kings 10:18 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

The king made a great throne of ivory— The porch in which this throne was placed is mentioned, chap. 1 Kings 7:7 and it was by far the most magnificent of all the rest, inasmuch as it was both the king's seat of judgment and the public audience, where he shewed himself either to the nobles, or to the strangers who resorted to him. It was placed in the midst of rich pillars of cedar, curiously carved and covered, or rather inlaid, with gold: the throne itself, which was in the fashion of a niche, was covered with ivory, inlaid and intermixed with curious ornaments in gold: the ascent to it was by six steps, each step being supported on either side by a small lion, and the arms of the seat with two others as large as the life. All these, and even the steps themselves, were covered with ivory and gold. We never read of ivory till about Solomon's time; who, perhaps, brought elephants out of India, or, at least, took care to have a great deal of ivory imported from thence; for in after ages we read of ivory beds and ivory palaces: at this time, however, it was nearly as precious as gold. The text says, the like to this throne was not made in any kingdom, (1 Kings 10:20.) 1:e. in those days; for we read in afterages, that the throne of the Parthian kings was of gold, encompassed with four golden pillars, adorned with precious stones; and that the Persian kings sat in judgment under a golden vine, and other trees of gold, the bunches of whole grapes and other fruits were made of several sorts of precious stones.