1.
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.
queen of Sheba. Compare 2 Chronicles 9:1 .
Sheba , a grandson of Cush, settled in Ethiopia (Genesis 10:7 ): i.e. Nubia and North Abyssinia, where female sovereigns were not unusual. Compare Acts 8:27 .
heard = kept hearing. By the commercial intercourse of 1 Kings 9:26-28 . Compare 2 Chronicles 8:17 ; 2 Chronicles 9:1 . Note her seven steps: heard (1 Kings 10:1 ); came (1 Kings 10:2 ); communed (1 Kings 10:2 ); saw (1 Kings 10:4 ); said (1 Kings 10:6 ); gave (1 Kings 10:10 ); returned (1 Kings 10:13 ).
fame = report.
hard = abstruse, or difficult.
2.
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
she came. Note the use of this made by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 12:42 .Luke 11:31 .
Solomon. Some codices, with four early printed editions, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "King Solomon".
3.
And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.
4.
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,
5.
And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.
sitting = seated assembly.
attendance = standing.
ascent. The covered stairway connecting Mount Zion (Jebus) with Mount Moriah. Compare 2 Kings 16:18 . Ascent is the word for burnt or "ascending offering", by the merits of which we ascend now.
spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-9 .
6.
And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
acts = words.
7.
Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .
8.
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
9.
Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
delighted. See note on Numbers 14:8 . 2 Samuel 15:26 .
justice = righteousness.
10.
And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
11.
And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.
navy also of Hiram. Joined with Solomon (1 Kings 10:22 ; 1 Kings 9:27 , 1 Kings 9:28 ).
Ophir. See note on 2 Chronicles 8:18 .
12.
And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.
13.
And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
of his royal bounty. Hebrew according to the hand of king Solomon.
14.
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold.
came. Probably in tariffs.
six hundred threescore and six = 666. Symbolical of the height or essence of man's desire, but all vanity ( App-10 ). Compare Ecclesiastes 2:8 , Ecclesiastes 2:11 . 1 Timothy 6:10 .
15.
Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.
16.
And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.
17.
And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
shields. Taken away by Shishak in the reign of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:26 ).
18.
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.
the best = pure.
19.
The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.
top = canopy.
stays = supports. Literally hands.
20.
And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.
21.
And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
22.
For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
navy of Tharshish = Tharshish ships, a name for large ocean-going ships (like English "East-Indiamen"). When mentioned as a place it is identified by Oppert with Tartessis = the Andalusia of to-day, noted for silver (not gold), iron, tin, and lead (Jeremiah 10:9 . Ezekiel 27:12 ). They sailed from Tyre to the West Mediterranean, and from Ezion-geber to Ophir (Arabia, India, and East Africa), 1 Kings 9:26-28 and 1 Kings 10:11 .
ivory = elephants' tusks.
apes, and peacocks. The Hebrew for these are Indian words (Tamil).
23.
So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
24.
And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
25.
And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
brought = kept bringing.
26.
And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
27.
And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.
sycomore. Not English, but Eastern; a kind of fig, or mulberry.
28.
And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
horses. Compare Isaiah 31:1 ; Isaiah 36:9 . Also Ezekiel 17:15 .
linen yarn. Probably = by strings, or droves (i.e. the horses).
29.
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.
kings of the Hittites. Compare 1 Samuel 26:6 . 2 Kings 7:6 . These passages alleged to be unhistoric! but they are confirmed by the discoveries made in 1874 throughout Asia Minor and North Syria, which identify them with the "sons of Heth" (Genesis 23:3 , Genesis 23:5 , Genesis 23:7 ; Genesis 25:10 ; Genesis 27:46 ; Genesis 49:32 ), the Khatta of the Accadian and the Kheta of the Egyptian records. They contended on equal terms with Assyria and Egypt. Crushed by Sargon II, 717 B.C. Chief centers, Carchemish on the Euphrates and Kadesh on the Upper Orontes.
by their means. Hebrew by their hand. Hand put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6 , for what is done by it: by means of Solomon's merchants.