1 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart.
2 Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anything hid from Solomon which he didn't tell her.
3 When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
4 and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, his cup bearers also, and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Yahweh; 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, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not 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, to set you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore made he you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.
9 She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
10 The servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.
11 The king made of the algum trees terraces for the house of Yahweh, and for the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.
12 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides 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 and sixty-six talents of gold,
14 besides that which the traders and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold went to one buckler.
16 [he made] three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred [shekels] of gold went to one shield: and 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 nd there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays.
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 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 nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
21 For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and 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 brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed 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 to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.
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 the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Chronicles 9
Commentary on 2 Chronicles 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
2Ch 9:1-12. The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon; She Admires His Wisdom and Magnificence.
1-4. when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon—(See on 1Ki 10:1-13). It is said that among the things in Jerusalem which drew forth the admiration of Solomon's royal visitor was "his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord." This was the arched viaduct that crossed the valley from Mount Zion to the opposite hill. In the commentary on the passage quoted above, allusion was made to the recent discovery of its remains. Here we give a full account of what, for boldness of conceptions for structure and magnificence, was one of the greatest wonders in Jerusalem. "During our first visit to the southwest corner of the area of the mosque, we observed several of the large stones jutting out from the western wall, which at first seemed to be the effect of a bursting of the wall from some mighty shock or earthquake. We paid little regard to this at the moment; but on mentioning the fact not long after to a circle of our friends, the remark was incidentally dropped that the stones had the appearance of having once belonged to a large arch. At this remark, a train of thought flashed across my mind, which I hardly dared to follow out until I had again repaired to the spot, in order to satisfy myself with my own eyes as to the truth or falsehood of the suggestion. I found it even so. The courses of these immense stones occupy their original position; their external surface is hewn to a regular curve; and, being fitted one upon another, they form the commencement or foot of an immense arch which once sprung out from this western wall in a direction towards Mount Zion, across the Tyropœon valley. This arch could only have belonged to the bridge, which, according to Josephus, led from this part of the temple to the Xystus (covered colonnade) on Zion; and it proves incontestably the antiquity of that portion from which it springs" [Robinson]. The distance from this point to the steep rock of Zion Robinson calculates to be about three hundred and fifty feet, the probable length of this ancient viaduct. Another writer adds, that "the arch of this bridge, if its curve be calculated with an approximation to the truth, would measure sixty feet, and must have been one of five sustaining the viaduct (allowing for the abutments on either side), and that the piers supporting the center arch of this bridge must have been of great altitude—not less, perhaps, than one hundred and thirty feet. The whole structure, when seen from the southern extremity of the Tyropœon, must have had an aspect of grandeur, especially as connected with the lofty and sumptuous edifices of the temple, and of Zion to the right and to the left" [Isaac Taylor's Edition of Traill's Josephus].
2Ch 9:13-28. His Riches.
13. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year—(See on 1Ki 10:14-29).
six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold—The sum named is equal to £3,646,350; and if we take the proportion of silver (2Ch 9:14), which is not taken into consideration, at one to nine, there would be about £200,000, making a yearly supply of nearly £6,000,000, being a vast amount for an infant effort in maritime commerce [Napier].
21. the king's ships went to Tarshish—rather, "the king's ships of Tarshish went" with the servants of Huram.
ships of Tarshish—that is, in burden and construction like the large vessels built for or used at Tarshish [Calmet, Fragments].
25. Solomon had four thousand stalls—It has been conjectured [Gesenius, Hebrew Lexicon] that the original term may signify not only stall or stable, but a number of horses occupying the same number of stalls. Supposing that ten were put together in one part, this would make forty thousand. According to this theory of explanation, the historian in Kings refers to horses [see 1Ki 10:26]; while the historian in Chronicles speaks of the stalls in which they were kept. But more recent critics reject this mode of solving the difficulty, and, regarding the four thousand stalls as in keeping with the general magnificence of Solomon's establishments, are agreed in considering the text in Kings as corrupt, through the error of some copyist.
28. they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt—(See on 2Ch 1:14). Solomon undoubtedly carried the Hebrew kingdom to its highest pitch of worldly glory. His completion of the grand work, the centralizing of the national worship at Jerusalem, whither the natives went up three times a year, has given his name a prominent place in the history of the ancient church. But his reign had a disastrous influence upon "the peculiar people," and the example of his deplorable idolatries, the connections he formed with foreign princes, the commercial speculations he entered into, and the luxuries introduced into the land, seem in a great measure to have altered and deteriorated the Jewish character.