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THE MESSAGE

2 Chronicles 9:9

She then gave the king four and a half tons of gold and sack after sack of spices and precious stones. There hasn't been a cargo of spices like the shipload the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon. The ships of Hiram also imported gold from Ophir along with fragrant sandalwood and expensive gems. The king used the sandalwood for fine cabinetry in The Temple of God and the royal palace, and for making harps and dulcimers for the musicians. Nothing like that shipment of sandalwood has been seen since.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Gold;   Sheba;   Solomon;   Stones;   Thompson Chain Reference - Giving;   Liberality-Parsimony;   Munificence;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Gifts;   Sabeans;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Solomon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Chronicles, Books of;   Jewels, Jewelry;   Spices;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Chronicles, I;   Solomon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Queen (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Queen;   Sheba ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jerusalem;   Sheba;   Solomon;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Gold;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Balsam;   Gold;   Queen;   Queen of Sheba;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Sabeans;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then she gave the king four and a half tons of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There never were such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Hebrew Names Version
She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheva gave to king Shlomo.
King James Version
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.
English Standard Version
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
New Century Version
Then she gave the king about nine thousand pounds of gold and many spices and jewels. No one had ever given such spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
New English Translation
She gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very large quantity of spices and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched.
Amplified Bible
Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, a very large amount of spices (balsam oil) and precious stones; there was no such spice [anywhere] like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
New American Standard Bible
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very great amount of balsam oil and precious stones; there had never been balsam oil like that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
World English Bible
She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then she gaue the King sixe score talents of golde, and of sweete odours exceeding much & precious stones: neither was there such sweete odours since, as the Queene of Sheba gaue vnto King Salomon.
Legacy Standard Bible
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. There had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Berean Standard Bible
Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Contemporary English Version
The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon almost five tons of gold, a large amount of jewels, and the best spices anyone had ever seen.
Complete Jewish Bible
Then she gave the king four tons of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there had never been spices like those the queen of Sh'va gave to King Shlomo.
Darby Translation
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there any such spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon 4 1/2 tons of gold, a huge amount of spices, and precious stones. She gave Solomon more spices than anyone has ever brought into Israel.
George Lamsa Translation
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones; there were no such spices in the world as those which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Good News Translation
She presented to King Solomon the gifts she had brought: almost five tons of gold and a very large amount of spices and jewels. There have never been any other spices as fine as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Lexham English Bible
And she gave to the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones. And there were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Literal Translation
And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great plenty, and precious stones. And there has not been any spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And she gaue ye kynge an hundreth and twentye talentes of golde, & very moch spyce & precious stones. There were no mo soch spyces as these that the Quene of riche Arabia gaue vnto kynge Salomo.
American Standard Version
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
Bible in Basic English
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never had such spices been seen as the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And she gaue the king an hundred and twentie talentes of golde, and of spices exceeding great aboundaunce, and precious stones: neither was ther any more such spyce as the queene of Saba gaue king Solomon.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
King James Version (1611)
And she gaue the king an hundred and twentie talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, & precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the Queene of Sheba gaue King Solomon.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones: and there were not any where else such spices as those which the queen of Saba gave king Solomon.
English Revised Version
And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe sche yaf to the kyng sixe scoore talentis of gold, and ful many swete smellynge spices, and moost preciouse iemmes; ther weren not siche swete smellynge spices, as these whiche the queen of Saba yaf `to kyng Salomon.
Update Bible Version
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
Webster's Bible Translation
And she gave the king a 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 to king Solomon.
New King James Version
And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
New Living Translation
Then she gave the king a gift of 9,000 pounds of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious jewels. Never before had there been spices as fine as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
New Life Bible
Then she gave the king gold weighing as much as 120 men, a very large amount of spices, and stones of much worth. There had never been spices like what the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
New Revised Standard
Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones: there were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And she gave unto the king, a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance and precious stones, - and there was none like that spice, which the queen of Sheba gave unto King Solomon.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and most precious stones: there were no such spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.
Revised Standard Version
Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones: there were no spices such as those which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
Young's Literal Translation
And she giveth to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stone; and there hath not been any such spice as the queen of Sheba hath given to king Solomon.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great amount of spices and precious stones; there had never been spice like that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

Contextual Overview

1The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's reputation and came to Jerusalem to put his reputation to the test, asking all the tough questions. She made a showy entrance—an impressive retinue of attendants and camels loaded with perfume and much gold and precious stones. She emptied her heart to Solomon, talking over everything she cared about. And Solomon answered everything she put to him—nothing stumped him. When the queen of Sheba experienced for herself Solomon's wisdom and saw with her own eyes the palace he had built, the meals that were served, the impressive array of court officials, the sharply dressed waiters, the cupbearers, and then the elaborate worship extravagant with Whole-Burnt-Offerings at The Temple of God , it all took her breath away. 5She said to the king, "It's all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself; they didn't exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance—far more than I could ever have imagined. Lucky the men and women who work for you, getting to be around you every day and hear your wise words firsthand! And blessed be your God who has taken such a liking to you, making you king. Clearly, God 's love for Israel is behind this, making you king to keep a just order and nurture a God-pleasing people." 9She then gave the king four and a half tons of gold and sack after sack of spices and precious stones. There hasn't been a cargo of spices like the shipload the queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon. The ships of Hiram also imported gold from Ophir along with fragrant sandalwood and expensive gems. The king used the sandalwood for fine cabinetry in The Temple of God and the royal palace, and for making harps and dulcimers for the musicians. Nothing like that shipment of sandalwood has been seen since. 12 King Solomon, for his part, gave the queen of Sheba all her heart's desire—everything she asked for. She took away more than she brought. Satisfied, she returned home with her train of servants.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

she gave: 2 Chronicles 9:24, 1 Kings 9:14, 1 Kings 10:10, Psalms 72:10, Psalms 72:15

of spices: 2 Chronicles 9:1, Genesis 43:11, Exodus 30:34

Sheba: This queen is called Balkis by the Arabians, who say she came from the city of Sheba, also called Mareb, in Yemen or Arabia Felix; but the Ethiopians call her Maqueda, claim her as their sovereign, and say that her posterity reigned there for a long time. Mr. Bruce has given us the history of her and her descendants from Abyssinian records; and Josephus says that Sheba was the ancient name of the city of Meroe - south of Egypt, and sometimes comprehended in Ethiopia and that this princess came from thence. Those who think the princess came from Arabia, rely chiefly on the fact that gold, silver, spices, and precious stones, which were the presents she made to Solomon, are the natural products of that country; and that it may well be placed at the uttermost part of the earth, as it borders on the southern ocean, and formerly they knew no land beyond it.

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 32:23 - presents Song of Solomon 4:14 - the chief Isaiah 39:2 - precious things Revelation 18:13 - cinnamon

Cross-References

Genesis 6:18
"But I'm going to establish a covenant with you: You'll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you'll need and store it up for you and them."
Genesis 9:8
Then God spoke to Noah and his sons: "I'm setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I'm setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth."
Genesis 9:17
And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I've set up between me and everything living on the Earth."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

:-.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The narrative here is parallel with that in marginal reference, from which it varies but little, and to which it adds nothing.

2 Chronicles 9:11

Terraces - Rather, as in the margin, “stairs” (see the 1 Kings 10:12 note).

2 Chronicles 9:12

Beside that which she had brought unto the king - It is difficult to assign any sense to these words as they now stand in the Hebrew text. A slight alteration will give the meaning: “Beside that which the king had brought for her;” which is in conformity with 1 Kings 10:13.

The narrative here is parallel with that in marginal reference, from which it varies but little, and to which it adds nothing.

2 Chronicles 9:11

Terraces - Rather, as in the margin, “stairs” (see the 1 Kings 10:12 note).

2 Chronicles 9:12

Beside that which she had brought unto the king - It is difficult to assign any sense to these words as they now stand in the Hebrew text. A slight alteration will give the meaning: “Beside that which the king had brought for her;” which is in conformity with 1 Kings 10:13.


 
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