5 And the meat of his table and the fitting of his ſervants b, and the þ attendance of his miniſters z, and their apparel &, and his || cup-bearers, and his aſcent by which he went up unto the houſe of the LORD 7 ; there was no more ſpirit in her mn.
h i.e. The order and manner in which his Courtiers, or other Subje&s ( who all were þs ſervants in a general ſenſe ) far down ar Meals, at ſeveral Tabels in his Court. i To wit, upon the King. both ar his Table, and elſewhere in his Court ; and when he went abroad to the Temple or other places. k& Both the coſtlineſs of ir, and eſpecally the conveniency of it to their ſeveral Places and Ofh- ces. { From his own Palace. See 2 Kings 16. 18. But the Ancients, and ſome others, tranſlate the words thus, and the burnt-offerings which he offered up in the houſe of the Lord ; under which, as the chief, all other Sacrifices are underſtood ; when ſhe ſaw the manner of His offering Sacrifices tothe Lord, which doubtleſs the would nor negle& to lee ; and in the ordering of which ſhe might diſcern ma- ny Charatters of excellent Wiſdom, eſpecially when the had ſo ex- cellent an Interprster as Solomon was to inform her of the reaſons of all the circumitances of that Service. m2 She was aſtoniſhed, and wrapt up in a kind of extaſie, and could ſcarce derermine whether ſhe did really ſee thei: things, or whether it was not only a plea- fant Dream.
6 And ſhe ſaid to the king, It was a true f report
that I heard in my own land, of thy || a&s, and of thy wiſdom.
7, Howbeit, I believed not the words», until I came, and mine eyes hath ſeen it : and behold, the half was tHeb. not told me : 7 thy wiſdom and proſperity o exceederh thu ha the fame which I heard. added wiſe © Which the reporters uſed concerning thee * or, the things re=
_—_ ,, ported they ſeemed incredible, and above the perfeion of hu- ng Iv mane nature. o Or, happin?ſs or, vertue. Heb. gooaneſs.
i jane, 8 Happy are thy men, tiappy are theſe thy ſervants, which irand continually before thee, and that hear thy wiſdom.
9 Bleſſed be the LORD thy God p, which delight- ed in thee, toſet thee onthethrone of Iſrael q 4 becauſe the LORD loved Iſrael for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and juſtice 7.
2 He deſerves all bleſſing and praiſe, for delighring to honour and advance ſo worthy a Perſon- q For' it was God's ſpecial a&t to make him King, rather than his elder Brother. r 7, e. To ex: ecute juſt Judgment among them, to govern them with Right and Equiry She tacitly admoniſheth Solomon, that he was not made
King that he might live in Eaſe, and Pleaſure, and Splendor, but for the good of his People.
1 And ſhe gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of goid, and of ſpices very great ſtore, anc precious ſtones': there came no more ſuch abundance of ſpices, as theſe which the Queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
11 And the navy alſo of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of Almug-trees, and precious ſtones.
12 And the king made of the Almug-trees /, || + Pillars z for + the houſe of the LORD,and for the kings +: houſe; harps alſo, and pſalteries for ſingers: there * Chior, Came no ſuch * Almug-trees, nor were ſeen unto this 9 10: ay.
J Called alfo ( by an inverſion of the Letters, which is uſual a- mong the Hebrews) Algum-trees, 2 Chron 2: 8: and 93 10: whereof there were ſome in Lebanen, 2 Chron: 23 83 bur the beſt ſort came from Ophir, as 1s here ſaid. * Or. ſupporters, either, for the Aſcent or Stairs, by which they went fromthe King's Houſe to the Templc.
f Heb;
puras >
| Or, tutlers,
f Heb. wird. | Or, ſcyinzs,
[Or, rails,
T Heb.
| Heh, Ee 1 Chron 26. 16; and 2 Chron: g: 1 1; or, for divers parts both of Sccordin the LORDS, and of the Kings Houſe.
"thekag 13 And king Solomon gave unto thequeen of Sheba of king all her defire whatſoever the asked, belides that which
mes, Solomon gave herf of hisroyal bounty : ſo ſhe turned, and went to her own countrey, the and her ſervants.
L.INnOY
| kl 14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon it in-one year, was fix hundred threeſcore and fix talents of gold «, Pp | « Which amounts to about two Millions of our Money. And this Gold did not come from Oph:r in dia, or Tarſhiſh ; but from Arabia and Ethiopia, and other parts, which then were well reple- niſhed with Gold, though ſince exhauſted by the inſatiable Avarice of ſucceeding Ages. IE: I 5 Beſides hat be bad of the merchant-men x ; and of the traffick of the ſpice-merchants y, and of all the kings of Arabia =, and of the || governours of the || Or, countrey 4. | ; | COPE » Heb. of the ſearchers, or ſpies : i+ e. either Merchants, who uſe ro enquire and ſearch out Commodiries, and all advantages of Trade : or rather, the Publicans or garherers of the King's Revenues, who uſed to ſearch narrowly into all Wares and Dealings, that , the King might not be defrauded of his Rights.: y Or rather, of the merchants in general, as that word is oft uſed in Ezek 27. and elſewhere- So this: and the former particular contain both the - branches of the King's Revenue, what he had from the Land and Fruits thereof, and what he had from the Merchants and Traders in other Commodities. z To wit, of thoſe parts of Arabia which were next to Canaan, which were either conquered by David, or ſubmitted to pay Tribute to Solomon, Burt we muſt not think all theſe to be King's of large Dominions, but many of them only Go- vernours of Cities, and the Territories belonging to them, ſuch as were formerly in Canaan, and were anciently called Kings. a Or, of the land, or of that land, for there is an Article in the Hebrew, 7, e. either of the Land of Canaan: or rather, of the Land of Arabis ; whereof ſome parts wereſo tar Conquered, that he had Governors of his own over them, who were each of them to take care of the King's Revenue in his Juriſdition ; and part only ſo far, that they {till had Kings of their own, but ſuch as were Tributaries to hime
16 4 And King Solomon made two hundred * tar- + — gets of beaten gold 5 : fix hundred ſheke/s of gold went 1; Sz co One target, |
b For pomp and Magnificence, and ( as may be thoughtfrom the uſe of the Brazen Shields, Chap: 14:27, 28: ) to He carried before him, by his Guard, when he.wenr abroad. |
17 And he wade three hundred ſhields of beaten gold ; three pound e of gold went to one ſhield + and the king putthem in the * houſe of the foreſt of Leba- + chap: non.