I Kings 10, A Foreign Queen Visits Solomon

Solomon's work, wisdom, knowledge, ornate temple and palace, are well-known to Israel and others. This chapter will begin to round out his reign by boasting of other exploits besides his palace and temple.

I Kings 10: 1-3, Arrival of the queen of Sheba

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.

Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan--with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones--she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.

Solomon is challenged by a queen who arrives with great fanfare.  Solomon's wisdom is put on display. (This wisdom will later be recorded as parts of the books of Proverb, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs.)

Sheba was apparently a kingdom in the Arabian peninsula, probably in modern day Yemen.  The visit by this queen, described in this chapter, has led to a variety of legends and embellishments; see this Britannica webpage and this Wikipedia webpage.

I Kings 10: 4-9, Awe

When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.

She said to the king, "The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!

Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD's eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness."

The Queen expresses admiration and awe, not just for Solomon's wealth but his wisdom and his worship.  She praises Solomon's God who has given him all this.

I Kings 10: 10-15, Gifts from Sheba

And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. (Hiram's ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood and precious stones. The king used the almugwood to make supports for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.

Like others before her, the queen showers Solomon with gifts. King Hiram is involved. The writer wants us to be overwhelmed by both the wealth and accolades.

The governors mentioned in verse 15 are probably those identified in 1 Kings 4: 7-19 as governors in Israel. This implies an extensive taxation system that supports the glory of Jerusalem. This taxation system will become significant in 1 Kings 12 when Solomon's son, Rehoboam, foolishly promises to increase his father's taxes.

(NIV footnotes: The Hebrew in verses 11 and 12, "almugwood" is probably a variant of algumwood)

I Kings 10: 16-21, Gold shields, throne, goblets

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas of gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.

All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days.
 

Among the many expensive objects on display in one of the palaces are shields, a throne and goblets.  The writer says so many things were made of gold that silver was considered "of little value."

I Kings 10: 22-29, More accolades

The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift--articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.  Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue --the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

In verse 22, the term translated "trading ships" is literally "ships of Tarshish". The region (city?) of Tarshish was apparently so significant for seafaring trade in the ancient Near East that "ships of Tarshish" was a synonym for "trading ships."

Solomon's reign was marked by considerable trade.  Once again the writer claims silver was "as common as stones" but then goes on to describe things purchased with silver. We have now reached the height of Solomon's reign, indeed, the height of power and influence for the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel will decline dramatically after this.

Solomon has become famous for accumulating large numbers of horses and a large amount of silver and gold. These are explicitly prohibited in Deuteronomy 17: 16-17, presumably because these riches and military strength encourage the king to ignore YHWH and rely on their own wealth and power. The passage in Deuteronomy also prohibits returning to Egypt for horses, presumably because this implies a return to old ways before the Exodus. The passage in Deuteronomy prohibits a king from accumulating one more "treasure": wives. That leads us into the next chapter.