The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 201

EXPOSITION. CHAPTER X. 1-18. following immediately upon the mention of the voyages (eh. ix. 26), is a grain of evidence Tim VISIT OF THE QUEEN OF SBEBA.-The in favour ol locating Ophir in Arabia] of last words of the preceding chapter spoke of the fame (Heb. hearing; cl. a1<oq, whioh also Solomon's fleet, of its voyages, and the means the thing heard, report. Compare treasures it brought home. The historian a,ro1«i>..v,i,,,, "cri,X'la,i;, &c.] of Solomon con- now proceeds to tell of one result to which cerning the name [Heb. Clt;i?, i.e.," in rela- these voyages led. The fame of the king tion to, in connexion with,' ihe name," &c. and his great undertakings was so widely No doubt it was the hoUBe he had built diffused, and excited so much wonder and :! Cl~? (cf. chs. iii. 2; v. 17, 18; viii. 17, curiosity, that a queen of Arabia came, 18, 19; 20, &c.) had made him famous. But among others, to see the temple and the the expression is somewhat unusual, and palaces and the many marvels of Solomon's these words are omitted by the chronicler. city and court. The prediction of Solomon's Gesenius and Ewald,however, regard the~ as prayer (eh. viii 42) has soon had a fulfil. instrumental, " the fame given him by the ment. name," &c., as J udg. vii. 18 ; Ezek. xii. 12, Ver. 1.-And when the queen of Sheba &c., and Wordsworth compares the use of [There is no good ground for doubting that lv in Greek. The LXX. and other versions read " the name of Solomon and the name by t9 tp we are to understand the kingdom of the Lord." But the text is on every of Southern Axa.bia (Yemen). It is true tho.t grnund to be retained. The alliteration in while Gen. xxv. 3 (cf. 1 Chron. i. 32) speaks this verse (probably accidental) is to be of Sheba, the son of Joktan, one of the noticed. There is also a slight paronomasia] colonists of southern Arabia, Gen. x. 7 and of the Lord, she ea.me to prove (LXX. 1 Chron. i. 9 mention another Sheba, the 1mpa11a,, to test)] h1m with hard questions son of C=h, and a doubt ha.e arisen whether [Heb. in riddks ; LXX. Iv alviyµa,r,. The this was an Arabian or an Ethiopian prin- Arabian mind has ever delighted in dark cess, and it is alleged that she was the sayings, enigmas, &o., and extensive collec. latter by Josephus, who calls her "queen of tions of these have been me.de by Burck, Egypt and Ethopia," and by some Rabbinical hardt and others (elle Keil in Zoe.) Accord- writers, and in the traditions of the Abvs- ing to Dine (cited in Josephus, Contra sinie.n church. But the kingdoms of Sheba Ap. i. 17. 18) Solomon also had die.lectico.l (N:;r:J) and Saba (N:;O) are entirely distinct encount.ers with Himm and with Abdemon, (Psa: lxrii. 10), the latter being the name or, according to Menander, a yonngerson of both of the capital and country of Meroe, Abdemon, a man of Tyre.] a province of Ethopia. (Jos., Ant. ii. 10. 2) ; Ver. 2.-And she came to Jerusalem [a while the former in like manner deoignates great nndertaking in those days. Our Lord both the chief city and also the kingdom of lays stress on this long journey, ire rwv the Sa.beans (Job i. 15). This tribe would 1r1pa.rwv ,.;;, yijc, Matt. xii. 42; Luke xi. 31) seem to have grown richer and stronger than with a. very grea.t tra.1n [Heb. with a very all the other Arabian peoples by means of its heavy force or host (;,!IJ). Thenius under- commercial enterprise, and it wtis especially stands the words of an armed escort, which famed for its gold, gems, and spices (Ezek. may well have been necessary considering nvii. 22 ; J er. vi. 20 ; lea. lx. 6; Joel iii. 8 ; the countries through which she passed, and Job vi. 19; Pea. lxxii. 10). It is noticeable the treasures she carried. It would also be that in both kingdoms government by female quite in the spirit of the age that the queen sovereigns was not uncommon (of. Acts viii. should be escorted by a band of her soldiers. 27) ; but it is very remarkable to find any But it is not so certain that this idea was in conntry under the rule of a queen at this the historian's mind], with [not in Heb.] early date. (The idea that either of these camels (2 Chron. ix. 1 has '' and camels." lands was always governed by queens has no real basis.) The name of this princess, But the word is here explicative of the ~?IJ according to the Koran, we.s Balkis, according preceding (Keil). It does not, however, decide to Abyssinian belief, Maquecla. Whether age.inst an armed force, as camels would be she was a widow or virgin is unknown] in any ce.se required. The camel was a heard [Heb. hearing. Doubtless through familiar object to the Jews (E:r.od. ix. 8; the Arab traders. The record of thu visit, Levit. xi. 4; Dent. xiv. 7, &o.); but euoh a OB, X, 1-18.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 203