1 Kings 10

The queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was, and how his fame was tied to the name of the LORD. So she came to test him with hard questions.

1And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

NoteSheba was a wealthy kingdom in southwest Arabia, roughly modern Yemen, about 1,400 miles from Jerusalem; its wealth came from controlling the overland trade in incense and spices. "Hard questions" translates a Hebrew word used for riddles and puzzles: testing a foreign ruler with riddles was a recognized way of measuring his wisdom, and a formal courtesy between courts. "The LORD" in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, which the Hebrew text writes out but which Jewish tradition does not pronounce aloud.

2She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large group of travelers and animals, with camels carrying spices, a great deal of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind.

2And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

3Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.

3And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

4The queen of Sheba saw how wise Solomon was. She saw the palace he had built,

4And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built,

5the food on his table, how his officials were seated, how his servants waited on him and how they were dressed, his cupbearers, and the stairway he used to go up to the house of the LORD. It took her breath away.

5And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

NoteA cupbearer served the king's wine and tasted it first; because the job meant constant access to the king's person, it was a post of high trust rather than menial service. "The house of the LORD" is the temple Solomon had built in Jerusalem. The Hebrew phrase behind "the stairway he used to go up" is ambiguous and has been read two ways since ancient times: either the processional stairway or ascent connecting the palace to the temple, or the burnt offerings Solomon presented there. Translations divide on it.

6She said to the king, "What I heard in my own country about the things you have done and about your wisdom was true."

6And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

7"But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. In fact, I was not told even half of it. Your wisdom and wealth are far greater than the report I heard."

7Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

8"How fortunate your men are! How fortunate are these servants of yours, who stand in front of you all the time and hear your wisdom!"

8Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

9"Praise the LORD your God, who was pleased with you and put you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loves Israel forever, he made you king, so that you would judge fairly and do what is right."

9Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

10Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a very large amount of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come in as what the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

10And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

NoteA talent was a weight of roughly 75 pounds (about 34 kilograms), so 120 talents of gold is somewhere near four tons.

11(Hiram's fleet of ships, which brought gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a great load of almug wood and precious stones.

11And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.

NoteHiram was king of Tyre, a Phoenician port city up the coast north of Israel, and Solomon's long-standing trading partner; the Phoenicians were the great seafarers of the region. Ophir was famous as a source of fine gold, but where it was is unknown, Arabia, East Africa and India have all been proposed. Almug wood is likewise unidentified; guesses include sandalwood and a kind of juniper.

12The king used the almug wood to make supports for the house of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the singers. No such almug wood has ever come in again, and none has been seen to this day.)

12And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "supports" occurs only here and its sense is uncertain; ancient and modern translators have variously guessed railings, steps, props or panelling. A lyre and a harp are both stringed instruments plucked by hand, standard in temple music.

13King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted, whatever she asked for. This was on top of the gifts he gave her out of his own royal generosity. Then she went back to her own country with her servants.

13And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

14The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents.

14Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

Note666 talents of gold is roughly 25 tons. Figures like this in royal records list annual income from tribute, tolls and trade together.

15That did not count what came from the traders, from the business of the spice merchants, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the land.

15Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

Note"The governors of the land" is ambiguous in Hebrew: it may mean the district governors of Solomon's own administration, or the local rulers of surrounding territories who paid him. "The kings of Arabia" would be the chieftains of the desert tribes along the trade routes.

16King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold. Six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield.

16And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.

NoteA shekel was a weight, not a coin, coinage did not yet exist, of about two-fifths of an ounce (11.5 grams), so 600 shekels is roughly 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of gold per shield. Gold is far too soft for combat; these were ceremonial display shields carried by the royal guard. The "large" shield was the tall body-length type.

17He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the building called the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

17And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

NoteA mina was 50 shekels, about a pound and a quarter (0.6 kilograms), so three minas is close to four pounds. The House of the Forest of Lebanon was a great hall in Solomon's palace complex, described earlier in 1 Kings 7; it was named for its rows of cedar columns, which stood inside like a forest, and it served partly as an armory and treasury.

18The king also made a large throne of ivory and covered it with the finest gold.

18Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.

NoteIvory, carved from elephant tusk, was an imported luxury; a throne "of ivory" would have been wood inlaid with carved ivory panels, here further overlaid with gold.

19The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with a lion standing beside each armrest.

19The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.

20Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at each end of every step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.

20And 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.

21All of King Solomon's drinking cups were gold, and every dish in the House of the Forest of Lebanon was pure gold. None of them were silver, because silver was considered worth little in Solomon's day.

21And 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; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

22The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years these ships came back carrying gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

22For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

Note"Ships of Tarshish" was a standing term for large ocean-going cargo vessels, named after a distant port whose location is disputed, proposals range from Spain to Sardinia to a site on the Red Sea route. The word translated "peacocks" is uncertain and may instead mean baboons or monkeys.

23So King Solomon was greater than all the other kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

23So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.

24People from all over the world wanted to see Solomon and hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart.

24And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

25Year after year, every visitor brought a gift: things made of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. It was a set amount each year.

25And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

NoteGifts brought at a fixed amount year after year are tribute: the recognized way lesser rulers acknowledged a greater one and bought his protection, not spontaneous presents.

26Solomon built up a force of chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen. He stationed them in the chariot cities and also kept some with him in Jerusalem.

26And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.

NoteChariots were the expensive elite weapon of the age, requiring trained teams, drivers and level ground. The "chariot cities" were garrison towns where the units and their horses were stationed, spread through the kingdom rather than kept in the capital.

27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar wood as plentiful as the sycamore trees in the western foothills.

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 vale, for abundance.

NoteThe sycamore here is not the northern shade tree of that name but a fig species of the lowlands, which yielded cheap, common timber and poor-quality fruit, the point is that it was everywhere and worth little. Cedar, by contrast, was costly timber imported from Lebanon. The "western foothills" are the Shephelah, the belt of low hills between the coastal plain and the highlands of Judah.

28Solomon's horses were brought in from Egypt and from Kue. The king's merchants bought them from Kue at a set price.

28And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

NoteKue was a region in Cilicia, in what is now southeastern Turkey, known for breeding horses; Egypt and Kue were the two ends of the trade Solomon's agents worked. The Hebrew consonants for "Kue" can also be read as an ordinary noun, which is why older translations such as the King James render the word as "linen yarn."

29A chariot could be brought up from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. Solomon's merchants also sold them on to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Aram.

29And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

NoteSix hundred shekels of silver is about 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of metal, weighed out rather than counted as coins. "The Hittites" here means the small kingdoms of northern Syria that kept the Hittite name after the older Anatolian empire collapsed, not that empire itself. Aram was the group of Aramean kingdoms centered on Damascus, called Syria in older translations.