10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, 7 she came to challenge 8 him with difficult questions. 9 10:2 She arrived in Jerusalem 10 with a great display of pomp, 11 bringing with her camels carrying spices, 12 a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 10:3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. 13 10:4 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, 14 the palace 15 he had built, 10:5 the food in his banquet hall, 16 his servants and attendants, 17 their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed. 18 10:6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight 19 was true! 10:7 I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! 20 Your wisdom and wealth 21 surpass what was reported to me. 10:8 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy! 22 10:9 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored 23 you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.” 24 10:10 She gave the king 120 talents 25 of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. 26 10:11 (Hiram’s fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems. 10:12 With the timber the king made supports 27 for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments 28 for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day. 29 ) 10:13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. 30 Then she left and returned 31 to her homeland with her attendants.
10:14 Solomon received 666 talents 32 of gold per year, 33 10:15 besides what he collected from the merchants, 34 traders, Arabian kings, and governors of the land. 10:16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures 35 of gold were used for each shield. 10:17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas 36 of gold were used for each of these shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. 37
10:18 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 10:19 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and the back of it was rounded on top. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. 38
1 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
2 sn The city of his father David. The phrase refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
3 tc Before this sentence the Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And it so happened that when Jeroboam son of Nebat heard – now he was in Egypt where he had fled from before Solomon and was residing in Egypt – he came straight to his city in the land of Sarira which is on mount Ephraim. And king Solomon slept with his fathers.”
4 tn Heb “you must not go into them, and they must not go into you.”
5 tn Heb “Surely they will bend your heart after their gods.” The words “if you do” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
6 tn Heb “Solomon clung to them for love.” The pronominal suffix, translated “them,” is masculine here, even though it appears the foreign women are in view. Perhaps this is due to attraction to the masculine forms used of the nations earlier in the verse.
7 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.” The Hebrew text also has, “to the name of the
8 tn Or “test.”
9 tn Or “riddles.”
10 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
11 tn Heb “with very great strength.” The Hebrew term חַיִל (khayil, “strength”) may refer here to the size of her retinue (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or to the great wealth she brought with her.
12 tn Or “balsam oil.”
13 tn Heb “Solomon declared to her all her words; there was not a word hidden from the king which he did not declare to her.” If riddles are specifically in view (see v. 1), then one might translate, “Solomon explained to her all her riddles; there was no riddle too complex for the king.”
14 tn Heb “all the wisdom of Solomon.”
15 tn Heb “house.”
16 tn Heb “the food on his table.”
17 tn Heb “the seating of his servants and the standing of his attendants.”
18 tn Heb “there was no breath still in her.”
19 tn Heb “about your words [or perhaps, “deeds”] and your wisdom.”
20 tn Heb “the half was not told to me.”
21 tn Heb “good.”
22 tn Heb “How happy are your men! How happy are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually, who hear your wisdom!”
23 tn Or “delighted in.”
24 tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”
25 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 9,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “five tons”; TEV “4,000 kilogrammes.”
26 tn Heb “there has not come like those spices yet for quantity which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”
27 tn This Hebrew architectural term occurs only here. The meaning is uncertain; some have suggested “banisters” or “parapets”; cf. TEV, NLT “railings.” The parallel passage in 2 Chr 9:11 has a different word, meaning “tracks,” or perhaps “steps.”
28 tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither” [?]), and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).
29 tn Heb “there has not come thus, the fine timber, and there has not been seen to this day.”
30 tn Heb “besides what he had given her according to the hand of King Solomon.”
31 tn Heb “turned and went.”
32 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 50,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “twenty-five tons”; TEV “almost 23,000 kilogrammes.”
33 tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.”
34 tn Heb “traveling men.”
35 tn The Hebrew text has simply “six hundred,” with no unit of measure given.
36 sn Three minas. The mina was a unit of measure for weight.
37 sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.
38 tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”