1 Kings 10:2

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

a very great train: 2 Kings 5:5, 2 Kings 5:9, Isaiah 60:6-9, Acts 25:23

spices: Exodus 25:6, 2 Kings 20:13

communed: Genesis 18:33, Job 4:2, Psalms 4:4, Luke 24:15

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 8:41 - a stranger 1 Kings 10:10 - she gave 1 Kings 10:13 - all her desire 1 Chronicles 18:2 - brought gifts 2 Chronicles 6:32 - the stranger 2 Chronicles 9:1 - And when Isaiah 30:6 - beasts Isaiah 39:2 - precious things Jeremiah 6:20 - Sheba Matthew 2:11 - presented Luke 11:31 - queen

Cross-References

Genesis 10:5
From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.

Genesis 10:7
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

Genesis 10:12
and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city of Calah.

Genesis 10:14
the Pathrusites, the Casluhites, and the Caphtorites (from whom the Philistines came).

Genesis 10:21
And sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth; Shem was the forefather of all the sons of Eber.

Isaiah 66:19
I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to Tarshish, Put, and Lud the archers, to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away, and to the nations who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.

Ezekiel 27:7
Of embroidered fine linen from Egypt, they made your sail, which served as your banner. Of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah they made your awning.

Ezekiel 27:19
and casks of wine from Izal for your wares. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were exchanged for your merchandise.

Ezekiel 38:6
Gomer with all its troops; and Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops-many nations with you.

Ezekiel 38:15
And you will come from your place out of the far north-you and many peoples with you, all riding horses-a mighty horde, a huge army.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train,.... With many of her courtiers and principal men, as well as with a large retinue of servants:

with camels that bare spices; her country abounded both with camels and spices; :-,

:-, and as Pliny f observes, who says their spices used to be carried on camels, particularly frankincense, for which Sheba was famous, and is therefore called by him "regio thurifera", the frankincense country g, being to be had nowhere else; and Strabo h speaks of "cinamon, cassia", and other spices here in such plenty, that the inhabitants burnt the wood of them for fuel; and Diodorus Siculus i represents this country as exceeding odoriferous, and as having besides the above spices, balsam, myrrh, calamus, costus, and others, in such abundance that they heated their ovens with them:

and very much gold; see 1 Kings 10:10, the gold of Sheba is spoken of in Psalms 72:15 and Pliny k observes, that the Sabeans are exceeding rich, as in other things, so in gold; and Diodorus Siculus l and Strabo m speak of gold found here in large lumps, very pure, and of a fine colour:

and precious stones; as crystals, emeralds, beryls, and chrysolites, mentioned by Diodorus n as in those parts; and a late traveller says o, that Arabia Felix abounds with balsam, myrrh, cassia, manna, dates, gold, frankincense, and pearl:

and when she was come to Solomon; unto his palace, and admitted into his presence:

she communed with him of all that was in her heart; which she had in her mind to discourse with him about, and which she had laid up in her memory for that purpose; and some things which she had kept to herself, and had never imparted to any before, as some think; all which she had full liberty from Solomon to propound unto him.

f Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 14. g Ibid. "----Molles sua thura Sabaei", Virg. Georg l. 1. v. 57. & l. 2. v. 117. Thurilegos Arabes, Ovid. Fast. l. 4. Vid. Plant. Trinum. Act. 4. Sc. 2. v. 89. h Geograph. l. 16. p. 535. i Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 132. k Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. l Ut supra, (Bibliothec. l. 2.) p. 133. l. 3. p. 181. m Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 16. p. 535.) n Ut supra, (Bibliothec. l. 2.) p. 134. & l. 3. p. 181. o Ovington's Voyage to Surat, p. 421.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See 1 Kings 10:10 note.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 10:2. She came to Jerusalem with - spices, c. — Those who contend that she was queen of the Sabaeans, a people of Arabia Felix, towards the southern extremity of the Red Sea, find several proofs of their opinion:

1. That the Sabaeans abounded in riches and spices.

India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabaei

"India furnishes ivory, and the effeminate

Sabaeans their frankincense."

VIRG. Geor. i., ver. 57.

And again: -

Divisae arboribus patriae: sola India nigrum

Fert ebenum solis est thurea virga Sabaeis.

Geor. ii., ver. 116.

All sorts of trees their several countries know:

Black ebon only will in India grow;

And odorous frankincense on the Sabaean bough.

DRYDEN.

______ Ubi templum illi centumque Sabaeo

Thure calent arae.

Where to her fame a hundred altars rise,

And pour Sabaean odours to the skies.

PLINY (Hist. Nat. lib. xii., c. 17) observes,

Non alia ligni genera in usu sunt quam odorata; cibosque Sabaei coquunt thuris ligno; alii myrrhae.

"The Sabaeans use odorous wood only, and even use the incense tree and myrrh to cook their victuals."

2. All ancient authors speak, not only of their odoriferous woods, but of their rich gold and silver mines, and of their precious stones. See Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvii., c. 6, &c.

3. It is also well known that the Sabaeans had queens for their sovereigns, and not kings. So Claudian, in Eutrop. lib. i.

_____ Medis levibusque Sabaeis

Imperat hic sexus, reginarumque sub armis

Barbariae pars magna jacet.

By this is meant, says Mr. Bruce, the country between the tropic and mountains of Abyssinia, the country of shepherds, from berber, a shepherd. And he contends that these Sabaeans were a distinct people from the Ethiopians and the Arabs, and that SABA was a distinct state.