1 Kings 10:1

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.²She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan, with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance, and precious stones. So she came to Solomon and spoke to him all that was on her mind. ³And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain. ⁴When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built, ⁵the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants and cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her breath away. ⁶She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your words and wisdom is true. ⁷But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity have far exceeded the report I heard. ⁸How blessed are your men! How blessed are these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! ⁹Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD's eternal love for Israel, He has made you king to carry out justice and righteousness." ¹⁰Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again was such an abundance of spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 3014, bc 990

And when: 2 Chronicles 9:1-12, Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31

Sheba: Genesis 10:7, Genesis 10:28, Genesis 25:3, Job 6:19, Psalms 72:10, Psalms 72:15, Isaiah 60:6, Jeremiah 6:20, Ezekiel 27:22, Ezekiel 27:23, Ezekiel 38:13

heard: 1 Kings 4:31, 1 Kings 4:34

concerning: Job 28:28, Proverbs 2:3-6, John 17:3, 1 Corinthians 1:20, 1 Corinthians 1:21

prove him: Judges 14:12-14, Psalms 49:4, Proverbs 1:5, Proverbs 1:6, Matthew 13:11, Matthew 13:35, Mark 4:34

Reciprocal: Exodus 18:26 - the hard causes 1 Kings 8:41 - a stranger 1 Kings 10:3 - hid from the king 1 Chronicles 1:32 - Sheba 1 Chronicles 5:13 - Sheba 2 Chronicles 6:32 - the stranger Psalms 87:4 - Ethiopia Proverbs 3:13 - is the Isaiah 60:9 - unto Ezekiel 16:14 - thy renown Daniel 1:20 - in all Daniel 5:12 - doubts Matthew 4:24 - his fame Luke 12:27 - that Acts 8:27 - queen Hebrews 5:11 - we 2 Peter 3:16 - hard

Cross-References

Genesis 2:4
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.

Genesis 5:1
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.

Genesis 6:9
This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:7
But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it."

Genesis 9:19
These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.

Matthew 1:1
This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon,.... Josephus u calls her a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia; but Sheba was in the southern part of Arabia Felix; her name with the Ethiopians is Maqueda w, and with the Arabic geographer x Belequis. Some y think that Sheba, or Saba, is not the name of a country, but of the queen herself; and that she is the same with Sabbe the sibyl mentioned by Pausanias z; but no doubt Sheba or Saba, the metropolis of Arabia Felix, as Philostorgius a calls it, is here meant; which Benjamin of Tudela says b is called the country of Al Yeman, or the south; and the name of Queen Teiman, given to this queen by an Arabic writer c, seems to be the same as the queen of the south, :-. The fame of Solomon's greatness and goodness, of his wealth and riches, and especially of his wisdom, had reached her ears; perhaps by means of the ambassadors of princes that had been at Solomon's court, and attended her's. According to an Ethiopic writer d it was by Tamerinus, a merchant of her's, she came to hear of him: particularly she heard of his fame

concerning the name of the Lord; his knowledge of the true God, the favour he was in with him, the excellent wisdom he had received from him, and what he had done for his honour and glory:

she came to prove him with hard questions; in things natural, civil, and divine; to try whether he had such a share of knowledge and wisdom it was said he had, she posed him with enigmas, riddles, dark and intricate sayings, to unravel and tell the meaning of. She might be an emblem of the Gentiles, seeking unto Christ, having heard of him, Isaiah 11:10. In Matthew 12:42 she is said to come from the "uttermost parts of the earth"; wherefore some fetch her from Sumatra in the East Indies, where in an old map no other name is put but Sheba e.

u Antiqu. l. 8. c. 6. sect. 2, 5. w Ludolf. Ethiop. Hist. l. 2. c. 3. x Clim 1. par. 6. y Vid. Coryli Disser. de Reg. Austral. c. l. sect. 1, 2. z Phocica, sive, l. 10. p. 631. a Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c. 4. b Itinerar. p. 82. c Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 54. d Tellezius apud Ludolf. Ethiop. Hist. l. 2. c. 3. e Dampier's Voyages, vol. 2. p. 139.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Doubt has arisen whether the “queen of Sheba” was an Ethiopian or an Arabian princess. Both countries profess to have traditions on the subject connecting the queen of Sheba with their history; and in both countries, curiously enough, government by queens was common. But the claims of Arabia decidedly preponderate. The Arabian Sheba was the great spice country of the ancient world; whereas Ethiopia furnished no spices. The Arabian Sheba was an important kingdom. Sheba in Ethiopia was a mere town, subject to Meroe. And it may be doubted whether the Cushite Sheba of Scripture Genesis 10:7 is not rather to be sought on the shores of the Persian Gulf (Genesis 10:7 note), from where no one supposes “the queen of Sheba” to have come. If Ophir be placed in Arabia, there will be an additional reason for regarding Sheba as in the same quarter, because then Solomon’s trade with that place will account for his fame having reached the Sabaean princess.

“The fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord,” has been variously explained, and is confessedly very obscure. May it not mean what we should call “his religious fame,” as distinct from his artistic, literary, military, or political fame - “his fame with respect to God and the things of God” - or, in other words, “his moral and religious wisdom?” (compare 1 Kings 10:6).

Hard questions - Or “riddles” Judges 14:12, though not exactly riddles in our sense. The Orientals have always been fond of playing with words and testing each other’s wit and intelligence by verbal puzzles of various kinds. This spirit seems to have been particularly rife in Solomon’s time, for Josephus records other encounters with Hiram of Tyre and another Tyrian called Abdemonus.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER X

The queen of Sheba visits Solomon, and brings rich presents;

and tries him by hard questions, which he readily solves, 1-3.

She expresses great surprise at his wisdom, his buildings, his

court, c. and praises God for placing him on the Jewish

throne, 4-9.

She gives him rich presents, 10.

What the navy of Hiram brought from Ophir, 11, 12.

The queen of Sheba returns, 13.

Solomon's annual revenue, 14, 15.

He makes two hundred targets and three hundred shields of

gold, 16, 17.

His magnificent ivory throne, 18-20.

His drinking vessels all of gold, 21.

What the navy of Tharshish brought every three years to Solomon,

22.

His great riches, numerous chariots, and horsemen, 23-27.

He brings chariots and horses out of Egypt, 28, 29.

NOTES ON CHAP. X

Verse 1 Kings 10:1. When the queen of Sheba heard — As our Lord calls her queen of the south, (Matthew 12:42), it is likely the name should be written Saba, Azab, or Azaba, all of which signify the south. She is called Balkis by the Arabians, but by the Abyssinians Maqueda. See the account at the end of this chapter. 1 Kings 10:29.

With hard questions. — בחידות bechidoth; Septuagint, εν αινιγμασι, riddles. With parables and riddles, says the Arabic.