1 Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to Jerusalem to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions; and with her came a very great train, and camels weighted down with spices, and great stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind.
The queen of the South will come up on the day of judging and give her decision against the men of this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now something greater than Solomon is here.
The queen of the South will come up in the day of judging and give her decision against this generation: for she came from the ends of the earth to give ear to the wisdom of Solomon; and now a greater than Solomon is here.
Now the queen of Sheba, hearing great things of Solomon, came to put his wisdom to the test with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels weighted down with spices, and stores of gold and jewels: and when she came to Solomon she had talk with him of everything in her mind. And Solomon gave her answers to all her questions; there was no secret which the king did not make clear to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had made, And the food at his table, and all his servants seated there, and those who were waiting on him in their places, and their robes, and his wine-servants, and the burned offerings which he made in the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, The account which was given to me in my country of your acts and your wisdom was true. But I had no faith in what was said about you, till I came and saw for myself; and now I see that it was not half the story; your wisdom and your wealth are much greater than they said. Happy are your wives, happy are these your servants whose place is ever before you, hearing your words of wisdom. May the Lord your God be praised, whose pleasure it was to put you on the seat of the kingdom of Israel; because the Lord's love for Israel is eternal, he has made you king, to be their judge in righteousness. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never again was such a wealth of spices seen as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon. And the sea-force of Hiram, in addition to gold from Ophir, came back with much sandal-wood and jewels. And from the sandal-wood the king made pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, and instruments of music for the makers of melody: never has such sandal-wood been seen to this day. And King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she made request for, in addition to what he gave her freely from the impulse of his heart. So she went back to her country, she and her servants.
And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a great store of spices and jewels: never had such spices been seen as the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.
And the sons of Cush: Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
That it might come true which was said by the prophet, Opening my mouth, I will give out stories; I will give knowledge of things kept secret from before all time.
And he said to them in answer, To you is given the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
And they came into the house, and saw the young child with Mary, his mother; and falling down on their faces they gave him worship; and from their store they gave him offerings of gold, perfume, and spices.
You will be full of camel-trains, even the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba will come, with gold and spices, giving word of the great acts of the Lord.
I put all my sorrows before him; and made clear to him all my trouble.
Opening my mouth I will give out a story, even the dark sayings of old times;
Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands come back with offerings; let the kings of Sheba and Seba give of their stores.
I will put my teaching into a story; I will make my dark sayings clear with music.
And Solomon, the son of David, made himself strong in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and made him very great.
For he was wiser than all men, even than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman and Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he had a great name among all the nations round about.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 9
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 9 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 9
The ninth chapter is the same with 1 Kings 10:1 excepting 2 Chronicles 9:26, which agrees with 1 Kings 4:21, the same with 1 Kings 11:41, only in 2 Chronicles 9:29 it is more largely expressed that the acts of Solomon's reign were written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nebat; or rather "concerning Jeroboam", as the Septuagint and some other versionsF2 , in which Iddo is called Joel; and by Theodoret said to be the same that prophesied of Jeroboam and his altar, See Gill on 1 Kings 13:1; the books mentioned are since lost.F2 צל περι Sept. de, Junius & Tremellias, Piscator.
See Chapter Introduction