The Queen of Sheba, and Solomon's End
1 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great caravan, including camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. When she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart. 2 Solomon answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything hidden from Solomon which he didn’t tell her. 3 When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4 the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the attendance of his ministers, their clothing, his cup bearers and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to Yahweh’s house, there was no more spirit in her. 5 She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. 6 However I didn’t believe their words until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn’t told me. You exceed the fame that I heard! 7 Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom. 8 Blessed be Yahweh your God, who delighted in you and set you on his throne to be king for Yahweh your God, because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever. Therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” 9 She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones. There was never before such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 10 The servants of Huram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum trees and precious stones. 11 The king used algum tree wood to make terraces for Yahweh’s house and for the king’s house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers. There were none like these seen before in the land of Judah. 12 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, more than that which she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants. 13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 14 in addition to that which the traders and merchants brought. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one large shield. 16 He made three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 There were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and armrests on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. 19 Twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps. There was nothing like it made in any other kingdom. 20 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 not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with Huram’s servants. Once every three years, the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 22 So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 They each brought tribute: vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules every year. 25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen that he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the River even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as abundant as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. 28 They brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt and out of all lands. 29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, aren’t they written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in his father David’s city; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
A foreign monarch comes to test the wisdom and leaves crediting the God who gave it, and the reign closes without a single word of criticism.
She comes to test Solomon with hard questions 2 Chronicles 9:1, and the visit is an examination rather than a courtesy. The verdict is delivered after she has seen everything: half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn't told me 2 Chronicles 9:6.
What impresses her is listed in an odd order — the wisdom, the house, the food, the seating, the servants' clothing, and finally his ascent by which he went up to Yahweh's house 2 Chronicles 9:4. The last item in the list is the route to the temple, and it is where the account of what she saw stops.
Her speech then does something a foreign head of state need not have done. She blesses Israel's God, and she reads the whole arrangement correctly: God set you on his throne to be king for Yahweh your God, because your God loved Israel 2 Chronicles 9:8.
That is the book's own doctrine, spoken by an outsider. The throne is God's 1 Chronicles 29:23; the king holds it on his behalf; and the reason given is not the king's merit but God's regard for the nation — which is exactly what the king of Tyre had said seven chapters earlier 2 Chronicles 2:11. Two foreign monarchs, independently, state the point the book exists to make. And she names the purpose of the office in the last words she speaks: to do justice and righteousness.
The gold that follows is inventoried at length — tribute from every quarter, silver made as common in Jerusalem as stones, four thousand stalls, horses from Egypt 2 Chronicles 9:25–28. The account of the reign ends where its first chapter ended, on the same image.
What is not here is the criticism. This telling records no foreign wives turning his heart, no high places built for their gods, no adversaries raised up against him in his old age, and no rebuke. The reign is closed with the sources named — writings of a prophet, a prophecy, and the visions of a seer 2 Chronicles 9:29 — and the reader is pointed to them for the rest.
The selection is consistent with everything this book does. It is written about the house and the throne, and Solomon built the one and held the other. The failures are on record elsewhere and the writer says where. What he supplies is the reign as it bears on the sanctuary, and on that subject there is nothing to reproach.
One detail of the collapse to come is planted here without emphasis. The sources are described as concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat 2 Chronicles 9:29, a man not otherwise mentioned in these nine chapters. He is in the next verse of the next chapter, and the kingdom is gone.
held with reason What this mark means