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The queen of Sheba

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26 ¶ And King Solomon made a || shipmen that had knowledge of the A. M. 3012. navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which sea, with the servants of Solomon. is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

28 And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty

27" And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, talents, and brought it to King Solomon.

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- Or, lip.-
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- Chapter x. 11.- - Job xxii. 24.

was in India, but in what part of it is not easy to determine. Bochart thinks it was Taprobana, now called Ceylon, and shows that the account which the ancients give of the former, answers to that which the moderns give of the latter. It is certain that this island affords gold, ivory, and precious stones. The authors of the Universal History after confut

2 Chron. viii. 17.—— Num. xxxiii. 35; Deut. ii. 8; Chap. xxii. 48.which were at these seasons commemorated, and to the great blessings which God had bestowed on his family. But undoubtedly he also offered at all other appointed times. And he burned incense upon the altar-In the holy place, before the ark. The meaning is not that he burned it himself, but only that he gave it to the priests at his own charge, to be offered with a particular respect to him. This heing at large those opinions which seemed to them probably did every morning and evening. So he finished the house-This, though said before, is now repeated, because, after he had kept the three great festivals there, the temple was not only consecrated, but all divine offices had been performed in it, and nothing more was to be added.

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Verses 26, 27. King Solomon made a navy of ships-Not now, in the order in which it is placed in the history, but in the beginning of his reign; as appears from this consideration, that the almug-trees, used in the work of the Lord's house, were brought|| in this navy from Ophir, (chap. x. 11, 12; 2 Chron. ix. 10, 11,) which was a three years voyage, verse 22. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants-The navy was Solomon's, who had servants of his own on board the ships, to manage the traffic; but as they had no skill in navigation, Hiram sent as many sailors as were necessary to man the ships, the Tyrians being in general bred at sea, and famous for their knowledge in maritime affairs.

Verse 28. They came to Ophir—A place famous for gold, which was found there in great plenty, and peculiarly fine. It is highly probable that this place

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less probable, observe as follows: "Ophir appears most likely to have been in some of those remote, rich countries of India beyond the Ganges, and perhaps as far as China or Japan; which last still abounds with the finest gold, and several other commodities in which Solomon's fleet dealt, as silver, precious stones, ebony, and other valuable sorts of wood, to say nothing of spices, peacocks, parrots, apes, and other such creatures; and by its distance best answers to the length of the voyage." Gold, four hundred and twenty talents-It is said (2 Chron. viii. 18) that they brought four hundred and fifty; but we may well suppose that thirty talents might be partly spent in the charges of the voyage to and fro, and partly allowed to Hiram and his men; so that only four hundred and twenty came clear into the king's treasury. This, however, was a prodigious sum, being calculated to be above three millions two hundred thousand pounds sterling. How they obtained this vast quantity of gold, whether by exchanging various merchandises for it, or by finding out mines, or procuring it from the natives, does not appear.

CHAPTER X.

The queen of Sheba's interview with Solomon, 1–10. His riches, 11-15. Targets, ivory throne, vessels, 16-23. Presents,

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The queen is surprised at the

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A. M. 3012 and very much gold, and precious || bearers, and his ascent by which he A. M. 3012. stones: and when she was come to went up unto the house of the LORD; Solomon, she communed with him of all that there was no more spirit in her. in her heart.

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3 And Solomon told her all her 1questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

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

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

7 Howbeit, I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and behold, the half was not told me: 6thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting 8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy of his servants, and the attendance of his servants, which stand continually before thee, ministers, and their apparel, and his 3 cup-and that hear thy wisdom.

1 Or, words. Or, standing. Or, butlers.- 1 Chron. Or, sayings. Heb. thou hast added wisdom and goodness to xxvi. 16.- 4 Heb. word.

the fame. Prov. viii. 34.

nothing concerning which she inquired, however difficult, which he did not reveal to her.

ships that went to Ophir, for they sailed by her coast, and, in all likelihood, spread his fame there and in all other places where they touched, proclaiming his Verses 4, 5. When the queen-had seen all Solomagnificence, and especially his wisdom, and the glo- mon's wisdom-Had fully discovered the wonderful rious temple which he had built, or was building, for variety of knowledge wherewith he was endowed. the worship of his God, whose praise they set forth | And the house that he had built—Or, the houses, the as far above all gods. Concerning the name of the temple and the king's house, in both which there Lord-That is, concerning God, the name of God were evidences of singular wisdom. The sitting being often put for God; concerning Solomon's of his servants-The order and manner in which his deep knowledge in the things of God. For it is very courtiers, or other subjects, (who all were his serprobable she had, as had divers other heathen, some vants in a general sense,) sat down at meals, at knowledge of the true God, and an earnest desire to several tables in his court. The attendance of his know more concerning him. Indeed, if she came ministers-Who waited on him at his table, in his from Arabia, as we see there is reason to think she chamber, and in his court; as also when he went did, it is not improbable but she was a descendant abroad to the temple or other places. And their of Abraham by his wife Keturah, one of whose sons apparel-The costliness, and especially the agreebegat Sheba, who seems to have been the first ableness of it to their several places and offices. planter of this country. If so, "she might," as Dr. The ascent by which, &c.-The state, pomp, and Dodd observes, "have some knowledge of revealed solemnity with which he went up to the house of religion, by tradition at least, from her pious ances- the Lord. But the ancients, and some others, transtors. And this verse seems more than to intimate late the words thus: and the burnt-offerings which that the design of her visit to Solomon was not so he offered up in the house of the Lord; under which, much to gratify her curiosity, as to inform her un- as the chief, all other sacrifices are understood. derstanding in matters relating to piety and divine When she saw the manner of his offering sacrifices worship. And what our Saviour speaks respecting to the Lord, which doubtless she would not neglect her rising in judgment against the men of that gene- to see, and in the ordering of which she might disration, seems plainly to intimate that the wisdom cern many characters of excellent wisdom, especially she came to hear was of a much more important when she had so excellent an interpreter as Solomon kind than that of merely enigmatical questions." was, to inform her of the reasons of all the circumSee Calmet's Comment. and Dict. on the word She- stances of that service; there was no more spirit ba, and Saurin's Discourses, vol. v. p. 261. She in her-She was perfectly astonished, and could came to prove him with hard questions-Concern- || scarcely determine whether she really saw these ing natural, and civil, and especially divine things, things, or whether it was only a pleasant dream. that she might not only try whether he was as wise Or it may be rendered, There was no more pride, as report made him, but might receive instruction or high-mindedness in her; that is, she was humfrom him. bled under a consciousness that the riches of her own dominions, and the magnificence in which she herself lived, were not comparable to those of Solomon.

Verses 2, 3. She communed with him of all that was in her heart-Of all the doubts and difficulties wherewith her mind was perplexed. She had liberty to propound whatsoever she desired to be resolved about. Solomon told her all her questions Answered them to her satisfaction. There was not any thing-which he told her not-There was

Verses 7, 8. I believed not the words-Which were told me concerning thee: they seemed incredible, and above the perfection of human nature. Thy wisdom and prosperity--Hebrew, 111, ratob,

The queen of Sheba returns.

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Solomon's great riches.

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9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, || 12 And the king made of the al- A. M. 3012, which delighted in thee, to set thee mug-trees pillars for the house of on the throne of Israel: because the LORD the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee and psalteries for singers: there came no such king, 'to do judgment and justice. *almug-trees, nor were seen unto this day. 13 And King Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her 10 of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

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10 ¶ And she gave the king a 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 Solo

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

e Chapter v. 7.- f 2 Sam. viii. 15; Psa. lxxii. 2; Prov. viii. 15. Psa. lxxii. 10, 15. Chap. ix. 27.—72 Chron. ii. 8; ix. 10; algum-trees.

and goodness, may be intended to signify either happiness or virtue. Exceeded the fame which I heard--This was remarkable, for people commonly find things to fall far short of their expectations. Happy are thy men-Thy subjects, especially those that are about thy person, and minister unto thee; who have an opportunity every day of hearing thy || wise sayings and discourses. With much more reason may we say this of Christ's servants: Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; they will be always praising thee.

Verse 9. Blessed be the Lord thy God-All blessing and praise are due to him, for delighting to honour and advance so worthy a person. To set thee on the throne of Israel—It was God's special act to make him king rather than his elder brother. To do judgment and justice-To execute just judgment among them, to govern them according to right and equity. Thus she tacitly admonishes Solomon that he was not made king that he might live in ease, and pleasure, and splendour, but for the good of his people. Such views even the wise heathen had, considering civil government as appointed of God, not for the emolument or aggrandizement of the governor, but for the good of society. Thus Aristotle, in a letter to Alexander, exhorts him to keep in mind, that his kingdom was given him by God for the sake of mankind, that he might do them good, and not tyrannise over them.

Verse 10. She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, &c.-These magnificent presents show that this queen was exceeding rich: her country, without doubt, abounded in gold at that time, as well as in cinnamon, myrrh, and frankincense, in vast plenty. There came no more such abundance of spices, &c.-For, it seems, the Jews maintained no trade with this country.

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ters. Dr. Waterland renders the expression gumtrees, and Houbigant ligna citra, citron-wood. But Dr. Castell thinks it was the wood called sanctulum, which is proper for all the uses mentioned in the next verse, and is still in India. The king made of the almug-trees pillars for the house-There is nothing said from whence we can form any conjecture what is meant by these pillars or props, or how or where they were applied.

Verse 13. Solomon gave unto the queen all her desire-By their mutual presents they testified their friendship to each other; wishing by these things to be remembered. Whatsoever she asked, besides what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty—He desired to know what things would be acceptable to her among all the rarities she had seen, and those he bestowed upon her: besides which he added other things of value, which, it is likely, she had not in her own country. Thus they who apply to our Lord Jesus will find him not only greater and wiser than Solomon, but more kind. Whatsoever we ask, it shall be done for us; nay, he will, out of his divine bounty, which infinitely excels royal bounty, even that of Solomon, do for us more than we are able to ask or think. Reader, hast thou no wants? no desires? Wilt thou not apply to him? Ask, and it shall be given thee.

Verse 14. Now the weight of gold, &c.—The history of the queen of Sheba being ended, the writer returns to give an account of Solomon's riches and magnificence, which he had begun to set forth before. And first he relates what a vast quantity of gold was brought into his kingdom every year, not only from Ophir, but from other countries, into which, perhaps, the queen of Sheba opened him a way, and particularly from Arabia and Ethiopia, which then were replenished with gold, though exVerses 11, 12. The navy of Hiram-brought || hausted by the insatiable avarice of succeeding great plenty of almug-trees-It is very uncertain what these almug-trees were, or algum-trees, as they are termed 2 Chron. ii. 8, by a transposition of let

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Six hundred threescore and six talentsWhich amount to about three millions of our money. Verse 15. Besides that he had of the merchant

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A. M. 3012. 1 of all the kings of Arabia, and of the || 13 stays on either side on the place A. M. 3012. of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.

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16 ¶ And King Solomon made two hundred
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17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pounds of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon,

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20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not 14 the like made in any kingdom.

21 ¶ And 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; 15 none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

22 For the king had at sea a navy of a Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing

12 Heb. on the hinder part thereof.- 13 Or, bands. 14 Heb. -P 2 Chron. ix. 20, &c.— 15 Or, there was no silver in them.- - Gen. x. 4; 2 Chron. xx. 36.

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men-Who paid custom for the goods they brought which was more precious than gold in ancient times, from divers countries. Hebrew, ND, as Pliny tells us in many places. And overlaid it meanshee hattarim, from the men, the searchers. with the best gold-Not entirely, so as to cover the Merchants may be so called, because they search ivory, for in that case it might as well have been for commodities and articles of traffic. Or rather, made of wood; but here and there, and with curious the gatherers of the king's revenues are intended, ornaments. Thus, the throne appeared the more who used to search narrowly into all wares, that the beautiful by this mixture of gold and ivory, with king might not be defrauded of his rights. Of the which, at due distances, it was studded. It was in traffic of the spice-merchants-Or rather, of the the form of a niche, and the top of it was round bemerchants in general, as the word ', roche-hind-Making a half circle over his head. It was him, is continually used; for there is no reason why placed in the porch, mentioned chap. vii. 7, which it should be confined to those that traded in spices. was very magnificent, being both the king's seat of Of all the kings of Arabia—-Who sent him presents. judgment, and the public audience, where he showWe must not suppose that these in general were ed himself either to the nobles, or to the strangers kings of large dominions; most of them were only that resorted to him. Here it stood "in the midst rulers of cities, and the territories belonging to them, of a flight of rich pillars of cedar, curiously carved such as were formerly in Canaan, and were ancient- and covered, or rather inlaid, with gold. The asly called kings. And of the governors of the coun- cent to it was by six steps, each step being supporttry-Or, of the land, namely, the land of Arabia; ed, on either side, by a small lion, and the arms of some parts of which were so far conquered, that he the seat with two large ones, as big as life. All these, bad governors of his own placed over them, each of and even the steps themselves, were covered with whom was to take care of the king's revenue in his ivory and gold."--Dodd. There was not the like jurisdiction; and some parts only so far, that they made in any kingdom-That is, in those times still had kings of their own, but such as were tribu- there was none to be compared to it: but in after ages there were, perhaps, some equally glorious. For Atheneus says, "The throne of the Parthian kings was of gold, encompassed with four golden pillars, adorned with precious stones; and that the Persian kings sat in judgment under a golden vine, and other trees of gold, the bunches of whose grapes were made of several sorts of precious stones."

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Verses 16, 17. Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold-For pomp and magnificence, and to be carried before him by his guard when he went abroad. The Roman magistrates had rods and axes carried before them, in token of their power to correct the bad; but Solomon shields and targets, to show he took more pleasure in his power to defend and protect the good. Three hundred shields Smaller than targets. The king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon-Where, it is likely, he kept his most precious treasures.

Verses 18-20. The king made a great throne of ivory-We never read of ivory till about Solomon's time; who, perhaps, brought elephants out of India, or at least took care to have a great deal of ivory imported from thence; for we read of ivory palaces Psa. xlv. 9, whose walls were overlaid with ivory;

Verse 21. It was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon-Comparatively, and about his palace; for it is not to be supposed that all his subjects had so much gold as to make no account of silver. But if gold in abundance would make silver seem so despicable, shall not wisdom and grace, and the foretastes of heaven, make gold seem much more so?

Verse 22. For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish-Ships that went to Tharshish. For Tharshish was the name of a place, upon the sea,

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23 So King Solomon exceeded all the kings riots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he of the earth for riches and for wisdom. bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.

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

25 And 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.

27 And the king 18 made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore-trees that are in the vale, for abundance.

28 And 19 Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's mer26 And Solomon gathered together chants received the linen yarn at a price.

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16 Or, elephants' teeth. Chapter iii. 12; iv. 30.-17 Heb. sought the face of- Chapter iv. 26; 2 Chron. i. 14; ix. 25. Deut. xvii. 16.

famous for its traffic with merchants, and a place very remote from Judea, as appears from the three years usually spent in that voyage. But whether it was Spain, where in those times there was abundance of gold and silver, as Strabo and others affirm; or some place in the Indies, it is as needless as it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine. These words are here added to give a further account how Solomon came to have gold in such abundance: he trafficked for it in another fleet, besides that which went to Ophir. Once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, &c.-It is likely a great part of this time was spent in digging for the gold, or in hunting the elephants, apes, and peacocks, and in other transactions of commerce. And apes-The Hebrew word 'p, kophim, is both by the ancients and moderns translated apes; which creature Pliny calls cephus, and says they were seen but once at Rome in his days, and that they came from Ethiopia. And peacocks-These, being so beautiful a bird, might very probably be brought from foreign countries into Judea as a great rarity, there being none there before.

Verses 23-25. For riches and for wisdom-The latter of which he asked of God, who graciously promised to add the former, and did so to a great degree. But what is here said is not to be taken in too strict a sense, but only as intending that he was richer than the kings of the earth in general were at that time. And all the earth sought to Solomon, || &c. That is, all the kings of the earth, as it is expressed 2 Chron. ix. 23; namely, of those parts of the earth, or of the neighbouring countries, and the great men thereof. They came, as the queen of Sheha did, to be acquainted with his wisdom, which the heard was a supernatural gift, and to receive an increase of knowledge thereby. They brought every man his present-a rate year by year-By this conclusion it seems as if the persons here spoken of were tributary to him.

Verse 26. Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen—Ah! what availed thy boasted wisdom, Solomon, when thou forsookest the only true wisdom, obedience to the commandment of the

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Lord! Ah! what availed it that thou wast wiser than all the children of the east; that thou couldst speak of trees, from the cedar-tree that was in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop—and of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things; when thou forgottest the beginning and the end of wisdom, the fear of the Lord? God had commanded that the kings of Israel should not multiply horses, (Deut. xvii. 16,) and here we find the wisest of their kings multiplying them to a vast extent! Nor did he stop here, but having disobeyed in one point, he soon proceeded to transgress in another. Contrary to the divine prohibition, he also multiplied wives, and the consequence was, as the Lord predicted it would be in such a case, his wives turned away his heart after their gods. And, shameful to tell! the wise Solomon, who not long before had professed that there was no god in heaven above or in the earth beneath, but the God of Israel, is persuaded by his wives to erect altars to Ashtaroth, to Milcom, to Chemosh, and to Molech, and other abominable idols of the heathen, and that even in the hill before Jerusalem, the city of God, the holy city, joining the altars of devils to the altars of the TRUE and ONLY GOD! 0 sad change! and shameful stupidity! O shocking blindness! and this found in one of the wisest men! Alas! what is man! and what his best wisdom, when he forsakes the word of the Lord! Jer. viii. 9. What a striking example have we here, that a wilful departing from the commandments of God even in the smallest point at the beginning, may, and probably will, by degrees, lead into the greatest errors, the foulest crimes, and consequently the greatest misery!

Verses 27, 28. The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones-An hyperbolical expression, signifying a great plenty of it. Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn-The two chief commodities of Egypt. The king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price-Agreed on between Pharaoh and Solomon, who gave this privilege to his merchants for a tribute to be paid out of this commodity. Most think byssus, fine linen, is here meant, one of the principal of the Egyptian merchandises.

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