This chapter contains an account of the queen of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon to her great satisfaction, 1 Kings 10:1–13, of Solomon’s merchandise and riches, and the magnificence of his court, 1 Kings 10:14–23, of the rich presents sent to him, and of the purchase of chariots and horses, and…

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, &c.] Josephus [[19]] 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 [[21]], and with the Arabic geographer [[22]] Belequis.

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; (See Gill on Isa. 60:6), (See Gill on Jer.

And Solomon told her all her questions Answered them, told her the meaning of everything she inquired about, expounded her riddles, solved her objections, and gave her satisfaction in all things she proposed unto him: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not; there was not…

And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom Which she perceived by his answers to things relative to all sorts of science, natural, civil, and divine: and the house that he had built; the singular for the plural, “house for houses”; the house of the Lord, his own house, that for…

And the meat of his table The various sorts of it, the different dishes, and the multitude of them; see (1 Kings 4:22, 1 Kings 4:23) and the sitting of his servants; at table, either with him, or at tables by themselves, yet in his presence; for these were his nobles and courtiers, who were placed…

And she said to the king When she was a little come to herself: it was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom; which she was ready to call in question when she first heard it; at least she thought it was greatly exaggerated, but now she found it was strictly true.

Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it That is, she did not believe the whole of what was related to her; somewhat of it she credited, and supposed there was something grand and extraordinary in it, or she would never have taken such a journey; but she did not…

Happy are thy men The men of Israel, that had a king over them so wise, so great, so good: happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom; who were now present, and to whom she pointed, and may respect not his nobles and courtiers only, but his menial…

Blessed be the Lord thy God Of whom she might have better notions than when she came out of her own country: which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel; loved him with a love of complacency and delight, was Jedidiah, as he called him, beloved of the Lord, and therefore he chose…

And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, &c.] The same sum that Hiram sent him, (See Gill on 1 Kings 9:14) this fulfilled the prophecy, so far as it respected Solomon, and of spices very great store, and precious stones; see there came no more such abundance of spices as these…

And the navy also of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir This perhaps was before Solomon was concerned with Hiram in navigation and merchandise; though in both their servants are said to bring it; and it is here inserted perhaps to show that Solomon had not his gold, at least all of it, from the…

And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house Or terraces, as in , causeways; and means the ascent or causeway he made from his own house to the temple; the pavement of which, as Jarchi interprets the word here, was made of the wood of these trees;…

And King Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked Some curious things she saw, and was desirous of, she asked for, and had them: besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty; of his own good will and pleasure, without asking: so she turned and went to her…

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty and six talents of gold. ] From Ophir and Tarshish, and wherever he traded; which was of our money, according to Berewood [[9]], 2,997,000 pounds; or as another learned man [[10]], who makes it equal to 5,138,520…

Besides that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffic of the spice merchants What they paid him as a duty or custom for the importation of their goods: and of all the kings of Arabia; who were subject to him, and paid him a yearly tribute, or at least made presents, see (1 Kings 4:21, 1 Kings…

And King Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold, &c.] Which were a larger sort of shields, which covered the whole body; and these were made of gold beaten with the hammer, or drawn into plates, being melted like wax; so the Poeni or Carthaginians made shields of gold [[11]]: six hundred…

And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold Which were a lesser sort: three pounds of gold went to one shield; or three hundred shekels, as in a hundred shekels made one pound; so that these were but half the value of the former, and one of them was worth but two hundred and twenty five…

Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory To sit on and judge his people; and ivory being white, may denote the purity, justice, and equity with which he judged; the white throne in may be an allusion to this; the ivory he had from Tarshish, and overlaid it with the best gold; for the greater…

The throne had six steps Up to the footstool of the throne, which was of gold, and was high, that everyone in court might see him, and the better hear the sentence he gave: and the top of the throne was round behind; had a semicircle at the top of it, like an alcove: and there were stays on either…

And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps There was a lion on each side of every step, a symbol of royal power, as before observed; so the Egyptians placed lions under the throne of Orus [[16]]: there was not the like made in any kingdom; for the matter and…

And all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold Such quantities of it were brought to him from Ophir, and paid to him in tribute, and given him as presents: and all the vessels of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; not only what were used in his palace at Jerusalem, but in his country…

For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish, with the navy of Hiram Tharshish was not the place the navy went from, but whither it went to, as appears from and designs not Tarsus in Cilicia; nor Tartessus in Spain, or Gades, or which was however near it; though it appears from Strabo [[17]] and…

So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. ] In which he was an eminent type of Christ; see .

And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. ] For it was all of God, a peculiar gift of his; by “all the earth” is meant the inhabitants of it, and only them, and those the more principal; who came from the several parts of it, hearing the fame of his…

And they brought every man his present To recommend them, and introduce them into his presence: vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules, a rate year by year; everyone brought according to the commodities of his country; and they did…

And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen Both for war; for though it was a time of peace, he provided against the worst, lest an enemy should come upon him suddenly, and when unprepared: and he had one thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; of the latter (See…

And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones By the vast quantity he received from Tarshish; this is an hyperbolical expression: and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are the vale for abundance; not by the growth of them, but by the importation of them from the dominion of…

And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt To mount his horsemen with, and draw his chariots; which seems contrary to the command in and linen yarn; the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price; or rather linen itself; or linen garments, as Ben Gersom; linen being the staple commodity…

And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver Which, reckoning at two shillings and six pence a shekel, amounted to seventy five pounds; but a shekel was not worth more than two shillings and four pence farthing: and an horse for one hundred and fifty; and this being…