And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
1-4. when the queen of Sheba heard
of the fame of Solomon—(See on ). It is said that among the things in Jerusalem which
drew forth the admiration of Solomon's royal visitor was "his
ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord." This was
the arched viaduct that crossed the valley from Mount Zion to the
opposite hill. In the commentary on the passage quoted above,
allusion was made to the recent discovery of its remains. Here we
give a full account of what, for boldness of conceptions for
structure and magnificence, was one of the greatest wonders in
Jerusalem. "During our first visit to the southwest corner of
the area of the mosque, we observed several of the large stones
jutting out from the western wall, which at first seemed to be the
effect of a bursting of the wall from some mighty shock or
earthquake. We paid little regard to this at the moment; but on
mentioning the fact not long after to a circle of our friends, the
remark was incidentally dropped that the stones had the appearance of
having once belonged to a large arch. At this remark, a train of
thought flashed across my mind, which I hardly dared to follow out
until I had again repaired to the spot, in order to satisfy myself
with my own eyes as to the truth or falsehood of the suggestion. I
found it even so. The courses of these immense stones occupy their
original position; their external surface is hewn to a regular curve;
and, being fitted one upon another, they form the commencement or
foot of an immense arch which once sprung out from this western wall
in a direction towards Mount Zion, across the Tyropoeligon valley.
This arch could only have belonged to the bridge, which, according to
JOSEPHUS, led from this
part of the temple to the Xystus (covered colonnade) on Zion; and it
proves incontestably the antiquity of that portion from which it
springs" [ROBINSON].
The distance from this point to the steep rock of Zion ROBINSON
calculates to be about three hundred and fifty feet, the probable
length of this ancient viaduct. Another writer adds, that "the
arch of this bridge, if its curve be calculated with an approximation
to the truth, would measure sixty feet, and must have been one
of five sustaining the viaduct (allowing for the abutments on either
side), and that the piers supporting the center arch of this bridge
must have been of great altitude—not less, perhaps, than one
hundred and thirty feet. The whole structure, when seen from the
southern extremity of the Tyropoeligon, must have had an aspect of
grandeur, especially as connected with the lofty and sumptuous
edifices of the temple, and of Zion to the right and to the left"
[ISAAC TAYLOR'S
EDITION OF TRAILL'S
JOSEPHUS].
. HIS RICHES.
And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.
And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.
And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:
Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.
And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.
And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.
And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.
And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.
Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;
13. Now the weight of gold that came
to Solomon in one year—(See on ).
six hundred and threescore
and six talents of gold—The sum named is equal to £3,646,350;
and if we take the proportion of silver (), which is not taken into consideration, at one to nine,
there would be about £200,000, making a yearly supply of nearly
£6,000,000, being a vast amount for an infant effort in maritime
commerce [NAPIER].
Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.
And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:
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.
And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon 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 not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
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.
21. the king's ships went to
Tarshish—rather, "the king's ships of Tarshish went"
with the servants of Huram.
ships of Tarshish—that
is, in burden and construction like the large vessels built for or
used at Tarshish [CALMET,
Fragments].
And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.
And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
25. Solomon had four thousand
stalls—It has been conjectured [GESENIUS,
Hebrew Lexicon] that the original term may signify not only
stall or stable, but a number of horses occupying the same number of
stalls. Supposing that ten were put together in one part, this would
make forty thousand. According to this theory of explanation, the
historian in Kings refers to horses [see ]; while the historian in Chronicles speaks of the stalls in
which they were kept. But more recent critics reject this mode of
solving the difficulty, and, regarding the four thousand stalls as in
keeping with the general magnificence of Solomon's establishments,
are agreed in considering the text in Kings as corrupt, through the
error of some copyist.
And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.
And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
28. they brought unto Solomon horses
out of Egypt—(See on ). Solomon undoubtedly carried the Hebrew kingdom to its
highest pitch of worldly glory. His completion of the grand work, the
centralizing of the national worship at Jerusalem, whither the
natives went up three times a year, has given his name a prominent
place in the history of the ancient church. But his reign had a
disastrous influence upon "the peculiar people," and the
example of his deplorable idolatries, the connections he formed with
foreign princes, the commercial speculations he entered into, and the
luxuries introduced into the land, seem in a great measure to have
altered and deteriorated the Jewish character.
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
