CHAPTER IX.

=1‒12= (= 1 Kings x. 1‒13). THE VISIT OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA.

¹And 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 train, 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. ²And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was not any thing hid from Solomon which he told her not. ³And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

=1.= _Sheba_] An important district in Arabia Felix, the seat of a kingdom. See notes on 1 Chronicles i. 9, 32; also Barnes on 1 Kings x. 1.

_hard questions_] Hebrew _ḥidoth_, “dark sayings” (Proverbs i. 6); the singular is translated “riddle” (Judges xiv. 12‒18).

⁴and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance¹ of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

¹ Hebrew _standing_.

=4.= _and their apparel_] The phrase is repeated probably through an error of transcription; it occurs once only in the parallel place in 1 Kings.

_his ascent by which he went up_] Render (if the text be sound), =his manner of going up=, i.e. the pomp with which he went up (so Targum); but it is better, with LXX. and Peshitṭa, to read _the burnt offerings which he used to offer_, a rendering which is right in 1 Kings x. 5 (compare Revised Version margin). The difference of reading between Chronicles and 1 Kings in the Hebrew is slight.

⁵And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine acts¹, and of thy wisdom.

¹ Or, _sayings_.

=5.= _of thine acts_] Literally _of thy matters_; the reference is quite general.

⁶Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceeded the fame that I heard. ⁷Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

=6.= _the greatness of thy wisdom_] Compare 1 Kings x. 7, “thy wisdom _and prosperity_.”

⁸Blessed 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 judgement and justice.

=8.= _on his throne_] To the Chronicler the Israelite throne belongs to _God_; the visible king occupies it only as a deputy. Compare 1 Chronicles xxviii. 5, “the throne of the kingdom of the LORD”; 1 Chronicles xxix. 23, “Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD.” Contrast 1 Kings x. 9.

⁹And 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.

=9.= _an hundred and twenty talents of gold_] A sum so large must be regarded rather as _tribute_ than as a complimentary gift.

_any such spice_] i.e. as in 1 Kings “such _abundance_ of spices.”

¹⁰And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees¹ and precious stones. ¹¹And the king made of the algum trees terraces for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

¹ In 1 Kings x. 11, _almug trees_.

=10, 11.= These verses interrupt the connection in Kings as in Chronicles They are an interpolation. Verse 12 concludes the account of the visit of the Queen of Sheba.

=10.= _algum trees_] In 1 Kings “_almug_ trees.” Compare ii. 8 (note).

=11.= _terraces_] Perhaps “raised paths.” In 1 Kings x. 12 a different Hebrew word is used, which may mean “railings” (“pillars,” Authorized Version).

_psalteries_] compare 1 Chronicles xiii. 8 (note).

_in the land of Judah_] Here the Chronicler speaks as a man of his own age. We should expect, _land of Israel_.

¹²And 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 to her own land, she and her servants.

=12.= _beside that which she had brought unto the king_] This means that the king beside returning the queen the value of her present to him, also gave her additional gifts; compare 1 Kings x. 13.

=13‒28= (= 1 Kings x. 14‒27). SOLOMON’S GREATNESS.

¹³Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

=13.= _six hundred and threescore and six_] This may be called a “round” number, for a system of counting based on the number _six_ was known in ancient times, e.g. among the Assyrians. Taken literally, the amount, which would be equal to about £4,000,000 and of course of vastly greater purchasing power than the same sum to-day, is fantastically large. For similar high figures, compare 1 Chronicles xxii. 14 (note).

¹⁴beside that which the chapmen and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

=14.= _chapmen_] The English word means “merchant”; compare the verb, “to chaffer” and the German “Kaufmann.” The Hebrew word means literally “those who go about” as merchants.

_governors_] Hebrew _paḥoth_ (plural of _peḥah_; compare “Pasha”), a word applied specially to governors of provinces of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires. Presumably governors outside the land of Israel are here meant.

¹⁵And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred _shekels_ of beaten gold went to one target.

=15.= _targets_] Hebrew _ṣinnah_, a word meaning a large shield; compare 1 Samuel xvii. 7. On the other hand in verse 16 (Hebrew _māgēn_) small shields are meant. The English renderings should be transposed so as to read “shields” in verse 15 and “targets” in verse 16.

_six hundred shekels_] About 21 lbs. avoirdupois.

_went to one target_] Render (also in verse 16) =were spread upon one target=.

¹⁶And _he made_ three hundred shields 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. ¹⁷Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

=16.= _shields_] See note on verse 15.

_the house of the forest of Lebanon_] So called probably because it was built of cedar of Lebanon (1 Kings vii. 2). It was in Jerusalem and seems to have existed as late as the time of Isaiah (Isaiah xxii. 8) when it was in use as an armoury.

¹⁸And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays¹ on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. ¹⁹And 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. ²⁰And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

¹ Or, _arms_ Hebrew _hands_.

=18.= _with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne_] A quite different detail takes the place of this in 1 Kings x. 19, _and the top of the throne was round behind_. Perhaps both details were found in the original text of Kings.

²¹For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. ²²So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

=21.= _For the king had ships that went to Tarshish_] Here the Chronicler misunderstands the parallel passage (1 Kings x. 22, “For the king had at sea _a navy of Tarshish_”). “Navy (or ‘ships’) of Tarshish” (compare Psalms xlviii. 7) is a phrase meaning _large ships fit for long voyages_; i.e. such as were the vessels used by the Phoenicians in trading with Tarshish (i.e. Tartessus in Spain). We may well compare the use of the title “Indiaman,” for that term came to be used generally of large trading vessels besides those actually trading with India. The merchandise mentioned in this verse doubtless came from the East and not from Tarshish.

_apes_] These animals were much sought after; they appear pictured in relief on the Black Obelisk (in the British Museum; among the tribute received by Shalmaneser II of Assyria.

²⁴And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

=24.= _his present_] i.e. his tribute.

_armour_] A less probable rendering is στακτὴ (“oil of myrrh”) LXX. (here and in Kings); also “myrrh,” Peshitṭa of 2 Chronicles.

=25‒28.= Compare i. 14‒17.

²⁵And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

=25.= _four thousand stalls for horses and chariots_] In the parallel passage (1 Kings iv. 26 = v. 6, Hebrew), _forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots_. Compare also i. 14 (= 1 Kings x. 26) where 1400 stalls of horses for chariots are ascribed to Solomon. This number is much more likely to correspond with fact, but that does not affect the probability that the Chronicler would find no difficulty in crediting Solomon with possessing 4000 or even 40,000, especially at the close of his reign. The meaning of the word rendered “stalls” is quite uncertain: it may mean “pair.”

_twelve thousand horsemen_] So 1 Kings iv. 26 (v. 6, Hebrew); and 2 Chronicles i. 14 (= 1 Kings x. 26).

_chariot cities_] See note on i. 14.

²⁶And he ruled over all the kings from the River even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

=26.= _from the River_] i.e. the Euphrates.

_even unto the land of the Philistines_] The Philistines, it is implied, were able to maintain their independence.

²⁷And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.

=27.= _cedars_] Rather, =cedar wood=.

_sycomore_] i.e. the fig-mulberry, not now a common tree in Palestine; compare 1 Chronicles xxvii. 28, note.

_the lowland_] (Hebrew _Shephelah_). See G. A. Smith, _Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, chapter x. “The Shephelah,” and the note on i. 15.

²⁸And they brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

=28.= _And they brought_, etc.] Compare i. 16, 17.

=29‒31= (= 1 Kings xi. 41‒43). THE EPILOGUE.

An important section of 1 Kings (xi. 1‒40) giving an account of Solomon’s patronage of idolatry and of the troubles of his reign is significantly omitted by the Chronicler: see the note on 1 Chronicles xxix. 25, p. 168. For the authorities to which the Chronicler appeals in these verses, see Introduction § 5.

²⁹Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the history¹ of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo² the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

¹ Hebrew _words_.

² Hebrew _Jedai_, or, _Jedo_.

=29.= _the history of Nathan_] Compare 1 Chronicles xxix. 29.

_Ahijah the Shilonite_] 1 Kings xi. 29, xiv. 2 ff.

_Iddo_] Hebrew _Jedai_ or _Jedo_ (probably a misspelling); compare xii. 15.

³⁰And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

=30.= _forty years_] The number is a round number; compare Judges iii. 30, v. 31, viii. 28, xiii. 1.

³¹And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

=31.= _slept with his fathers_] This formula is not used of David (1 Chronicles xxix. 28), doubtless because David’s father was not a king!

_in the city of David_] 1 Chronicles xi. 7.

CHAPTERS X.‒XXXVI. THE HISTORY OF JUDAH FROM REHOBOAM TO THE EXILE.