the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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1 Kings 10:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedContextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
am 3014, bc 990
And when: 2 Chronicles 9:1-12, Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31
Sheba: Genesis 10:7, Genesis 10:28, Genesis 25:3, Job 6:19, Psalms 72:10, Psalms 72:15, Isaiah 60:6, Jeremiah 6:20, Ezekiel 27:22, Ezekiel 27:23, Ezekiel 38:13
heard: 1 Kings 4:31, 1 Kings 4:34
concerning: Job 28:28, Proverbs 2:3-6, John 17:3, 1 Corinthians 1:20, 1 Corinthians 1:21
prove him: Judges 14:12-14, Psalms 49:4, Proverbs 1:5, Proverbs 1:6, Matthew 13:11, Matthew 13:35, Mark 4:34
Reciprocal: Exodus 18:26 - the hard causes 1 Kings 8:41 - a stranger 1 Kings 10:3 - hid from the king 1 Chronicles 1:32 - Sheba 1 Chronicles 5:13 - Sheba 2 Chronicles 6:32 - the stranger Psalms 87:4 - Ethiopia Proverbs 3:13 - is the Isaiah 60:9 - unto Ezekiel 16:14 - thy renown Daniel 1:20 - in all Daniel 5:12 - doubts Matthew 4:24 - his fame Luke 12:27 - that Acts 8:27 - queen Hebrews 5:11 - we 2 Peter 3:16 - hard
Cross-References
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven.
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.
These are the generations of the heauens and of the earth when they were created, in the day when the Lord God made the earth and the heauens.
This is the story about the creation of the sky and the earth. This is what happened when the Lord God made the earth and the sky.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
These ben the generaciouns of heuene and of erthe, in the day wherynne the Lord God made heuene and erthe,
These are the generations of the heauens, & of the earth, when they were created; in the day that the LORD God made the earth, and the heauens,
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon,.... Josephus u 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 w, and with the Arabic geographer x Belequis. Some y think that Sheba, or Saba, is not the name of a country, but of the queen herself; and that she is the same with Sabbe the sibyl mentioned by Pausanias z; but no doubt Sheba or Saba, the metropolis of Arabia Felix, as Philostorgius a calls it, is here meant; which Benjamin of Tudela says b is called the country of Al Yeman, or the south; and the name of Queen Teiman, given to this queen by an Arabic writer c, seems to be the same as the queen of the south, :-. The fame of Solomon's greatness and goodness, of his wealth and riches, and especially of his wisdom, had reached her ears; perhaps by means of the ambassadors of princes that had been at Solomon's court, and attended her's. According to an Ethiopic writer d it was by Tamerinus, a merchant of her's, she came to hear of him: particularly she heard of his fame
concerning the name of the Lord; his knowledge of the true God, the favour he was in with him, the excellent wisdom he had received from him, and what he had done for his honour and glory:
she came to prove him with hard questions; in things natural, civil, and divine; to try whether he had such a share of knowledge and wisdom it was said he had, she posed him with enigmas, riddles, dark and intricate sayings, to unravel and tell the meaning of. She might be an emblem of the Gentiles, seeking unto Christ, having heard of him, Isaiah 11:10. In Matthew 12:42 she is said to come from the "uttermost parts of the earth"; wherefore some fetch her from Sumatra in the East Indies, where in an old map no other name is put but Sheba e.
u Antiqu. l. 8. c. 6. sect. 2, 5. w Ludolf. Ethiop. Hist. l. 2. c. 3. x Clim 1. par. 6. y Vid. Coryli Disser. de Reg. Austral. c. l. sect. 1, 2. z Phocica, sive, l. 10. p. 631. a Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c. 4. b Itinerar. p. 82. c Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. Dyn. 3. p. 54. d Tellezius apud Ludolf. Ethiop. Hist. l. 2. c. 3. e Dampier's Voyages, vol. 2. p. 139.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Doubt has arisen whether the “queen of Sheba” was an Ethiopian or an Arabian princess. Both countries profess to have traditions on the subject connecting the queen of Sheba with their history; and in both countries, curiously enough, government by queens was common. But the claims of Arabia decidedly preponderate. The Arabian Sheba was the great spice country of the ancient world; whereas Ethiopia furnished no spices. The Arabian Sheba was an important kingdom. Sheba in Ethiopia was a mere town, subject to Meroe. And it may be doubted whether the Cushite Sheba of Scripture Genesis 10:7 is not rather to be sought on the shores of the Persian Gulf (Genesis 10:7 note), from where no one supposes “the queen of Sheba” to have come. If Ophir be placed in Arabia, there will be an additional reason for regarding Sheba as in the same quarter, because then Solomon’s trade with that place will account for his fame having reached the Sabaean princess.
“The fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord,” has been variously explained, and is confessedly very obscure. May it not mean what we should call “his religious fame,” as distinct from his artistic, literary, military, or political fame - “his fame with respect to God and the things of God” - or, in other words, “his moral and religious wisdom?” (compare 1 Kings 10:6).
Hard questions - Or “riddles” Judges 14:12, though not exactly riddles in our sense. The Orientals have always been fond of playing with words and testing each other’s wit and intelligence by verbal puzzles of various kinds. This spirit seems to have been particularly rife in Solomon’s time, for Josephus records other encounters with Hiram of Tyre and another Tyrian called Abdemonus.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER X
The queen of Sheba visits Solomon, and brings rich presents;
and tries him by hard questions, which he readily solves, 1-3.
She expresses great surprise at his wisdom, his buildings, his
court, c. and praises God for placing him on the Jewish
throne, 4-9.
She gives him rich presents, 10.
What the navy of Hiram brought from Ophir, 11, 12.
The queen of Sheba returns, 13.
Solomon's annual revenue, 14, 15.
He makes two hundred targets and three hundred shields of
gold, 16, 17.
His magnificent ivory throne, 18-20.
His drinking vessels all of gold, 21.
What the navy of Tharshish brought every three years to Solomon,
22.
His great riches, numerous chariots, and horsemen, 23-27.
He brings chariots and horses out of Egypt, 28, 29.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse 1 Kings 10:1. When the queen of Sheba heard — As our Lord calls her queen of the south, (Matthew 12:42), it is likely the name should be written Saba, Azab, or Azaba, all of which signify the south. She is called Balkis by the Arabians, but by the Abyssinians Maqueda. See the account at the end of this chapter. 1 Kings 10:29.
With hard questions. — בחידות bechidoth; Septuagint, εν αινιγμασι, riddles. With parables and riddles, says the Arabic.
