The Second Book of the Chronicles
2 Chronicles 9
Chapter IX · Vol. II, pp. 854–855
1 The queen of Sheba admireth the wisdom of Solomon. 13 Solomon's yearly revenue in gold. 15 His targets. 17 The throne of ivory. 20 His vessels. 23 His presents. 25 His chariots and horse. 26 His tributes. 29 His reign and death.
1 And whena the queen of Sheba1 heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to bprove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.2
a 1 Ki.10.1-23. Mat.12.42. Lu.11.31. Ps.72.10.
1 The honour of having given birth to this illustrious princess is claimed both by Arabia Felix and by Abyssinia. She appears in the annals of both countries, being called by the Arabians Balkis, and by the Abyssinians Maqueda. If, as Bruce informs us, there was a Saba in Ethiopia opposite the Saba of Arabia, and that these two coasts of the Red Sea formed at times but one kingdom, these opinions easily coalesce.—I.
2 See notes on 1 Ki.x.—C.
2 And Solomon told her all her 3questions: and there was nothing chid from Solomon which he told her not.
3 Heb. words.
c 1 Ki.3.12; 4.29-34. Col.2.3. Pr.8.12-14. 1 Co.1.24,30. Jn.5.20; 1.18.
3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the dwisdom of Solomon, and the ehouse that he had built,
d 1 Ki.4.29-34.
4 And fthe meat of his table, and the gsitting of his servants, and the attendance4 of his ministers, and their apparel; his cup-bearers5 also, and their apparel; and his hascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.6
f 1 Ki.4.22,23. Pr.9.5. Jn.6.53-57.
4 Heb. standing.
5 Or, butlers.
h 1 Ki.10.5.
6 Clarke thinks this means that she fainted with amazement, but it is simply a strong way of expressing the highest surprise and admiration. 'She was out of herself.'—I.
5 And she said to the king, It was a true report7 which I heard in mine own land of thine acts,8 and of thy wisdom:
A.M. 3014. B.C. 990.
7 Heb. word.
8 Or, sayings.
6 Howbeit I ibelieved not their words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou kexceedest9 the fame that I heard.
7 Happyl are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
l 1 Ki.10.8. Ps.84.4; 9.1. De.33.27-29.
8 Blessedm be the LORD thy God,1 which delighted in thee to set thee on nhis throne, to be king for the LORD thy God:2 because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.
m 1 Ki.10.9. ch.5.12. Ps.72.18,19. Ep.1.3. Is.9.6. Lu.1.31,32. 2 Co.9.15. 1 Ti.1.17.
1 There is no reason whatever for supposing the queen of Sheba to have been an idolater, conforming, for the occasion, to the worship of Jehovah. It is much more natural to suppose her an inquirer after truth, whose heart the Spirit had opened, and who, being instructed by Solomon, embraces the doctrines of Moses and the worship of Jehovah.—C.
n 1 Ch.17.14; 28.5; 29.23. ch.13.8.
2 God was King of Israel, but not one whit more than he is King of every king, and Governor of every nation; kings and judges are but stewards of his power, justice, and mercy, and must give an account to him, whether they acknowledge or reject his right.—C.
9 And oshe gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold[≈ 4.1 tonnes · 4 tons · gold worth ≈ US$540 million], and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.
o 1 Ki.10.10. Ps.72.10,15, i.e. £654,084 sterling.
10 And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir,3 brought palgum-trees and precious stones.
3 We know not where Ophir was, and conjecture is vain.—C.
p ch.2.8. 1 Ki.10.11,12.
11 And the king made of the algum-trees qterraces4 to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.
q Or, stays, 1 Ki.10.12.
4 Heb. highways.
12 Andr king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which she had brought unto the king.5 So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.
r 1 Ki.10.13.
5 Is not the meaning that Solomon restored her all her presents? See the like generous conduct of Abraham, Ge.14.22.—C.
13 Now the sweight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold[≈ 23 tonnes · 22 tons · gold worth ≈ US$3,000 million];
s 1 Ki.10.14. Ps.72.10,15, i.e. about £3,634,382 sterling.
14 Besides that which chapmen and merchants brought: and all the tkings of Arabia, and governors6 of the country, brought gold and silver to Solomon.7
6 Or, captains.
7 It is a curious fact, that, from the passage of the Red Sea (Ex.15.1), till the battle of Merom (Jos.xi.), no mention is made of horses, but merely of camels, oxen, &c., as beasts of burden. The trade in horses established by Solomon (2 Ch.1.16; 10.28) will account for much of the traffic with the Arabian kings, and most probably for the origin of that species of horse for which Arabia has since become so distinguished.—C.
15 Andu king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels[≈ 6.8 kg · 15 lb]8 of beaten gold went to one target.
u 1 Ki.10.16,17; 14.26. ch.12.9.
8 About nineteen pounds weight.
16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels9 of gold[≈ 3.4 kg · 7.5 lb · gold worth ≈ US$450,000] went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
9 Nine pounds weight.
17 Moreover, xthe king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
x 1 Ki.10.18-20. Ps.45.6; 9.7. Re.3.21; 20.11.
18 And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays1 on each side of the sitting-place, and two lions standing by the stays:
1 Heb. hands.
19 And ytwelve lions2 stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.
y Re.21.12. Mat.19.28. These might represent Christ's twelve apostles.
2 The prophetic and heraldic emblem of Judah, and, most probably, the origin of that kingship over the forest, that has been so generally ascribed to the lion. It is more interesting to observe that the lion has furnished a title to Christ (Re.5.5) as the mighty guardian of the throne of David, on the steps of which he stands, to the terror of his enemies, while in the midst of it he appears as a 'Lamb that had been slain,' thus prevailing as a lion, to open those seals of providence and redemption, which develop and glorify him as the Lamb 'that taketh away the sin of the world.'—C.
20 And zall the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of 3pure gold: none were of silver;4 it was not any thing accounted5 of in the days of Solomon.
A.M. 3014. B.C. 990.
z 1 Ki.10.21-23. Is.60.17. 2 Pe.1.4.
3 Heb. shut up.
4 Or, there was no silver in them.
5 Nothing accounted of for drinking vessels, just as in most European countries it would be nothing accounted of for seals or such ornaments.—C.
21 For the king's ships went to 6Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years aonce came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory,7 and apes, and peacocks.
22 And king Solomonb passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
b 1 Ki.10.23; 3.12,13; 4.30,31. Nu.24.7. ch.1.12. Ps.89.27.
23 And all the kings of the 8earth csought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.
24 And they brought every man his dpresent, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
d Ps.72.10,15, with 1 Ki.10.25.
25 And Solomon ehad four thousand 9stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
e 1 Ki.4.26; 10.26. ch.1.14,16,17. De.17.16. Ps.33.16,17; 20.7. Pr.21.31.
9 In 1 Ki.4.26 the number of stalls is 40,000, which number, some expositors suppose, gives the separate stalls, while the 4000 stalls in the text is used for stables of 10 stalls each. This conjecture is too violent to be received. Others have recourse at once to the never-failing solution of a difficulty, 'the error of a transcriber.' Is it not much more reasonable to conclude that both accounts are correct; while that in 1 Ki. gives the sum total of the stalls throughout the kingdom, that in the text 4000 that were at Jerusalem?—C.
26 And he freigned over all the kings, from the river1 even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.2
27 And the king gmade silver in Jerusalem as stones,3 and cedar-trees made he as the sycamore-trees that are in the low plains in abundance.
g Heb. gave, 1 Ki.10.27. ver.20,21; ch.1.12,15.
3 See note on 2 Ch.1.15.—C.
28 Andh they brought unto Solomon 4horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
h 1 Ki.10.28. ch.1.16, with De.17.16.
4 Here was the beginning of Solomon's disobedience, and we see how one sin leads to another. He established a body of cavalry, which was forbidden (De.17.16), and horses were obtained from Egypt, with which the Israelites were forbidden to have intercourse. This connection with Egypt led to the marriage with Pharaoh's daughter; then followed marriages with other 'strange women.' These persuaded Solomon to build temples for their idolatrous worship, and afterwards for his own idolatry.'—I.
29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the 5book 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?
5 Heb. words.
30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
Notes
Reflections.—God honours such as honour him. They who know the value of divine wisdom and truth will grudge no pains to search for it. They only are truly great whose piety and zeal for God distinguish them. And whatever gifts we enjoy they are but lent us for the edifying of the body of Christ, and ought to be employed with diligence and care. How comely is good, and especially religious, order in families, particularly those of princes! Happy are they who have constant access to, and intimacy with, the intelligent and zealous fearers of God! and we ought to be thankful for the gifts and graces of God to others; especially if made instrumental for our good. Great souls are ever generous; and ought to be so, according to their stations and ability. But not the most engaging things on earth ought long to detain us from that home in which God calls us to act for his glory. What a transient blaze is all the glory and wealth of earth! Ere it be long Solomon's family shall be poor and contemned. Yet God seems, as it were, unwilling to remember those sins against Solomon or any of his people, of which they have sincerely repented. What a sudden gloom death spreads over the brightest honours on earth! But rejoice, my soul, that Jesus has wisdom, has wealth, has glory, and fame, which neither death nor eternity can ever sully or consume! Of him it may truly be said, the half has not been told us. Happy are they that wait around this exalted King of Israel—chosen through the love of the eternal Father—and placed to do justice and judgment, and to establish his people in eternal glory.
Measures in square brackets are modern equivalents added for this edition. They are not in the King James text or in Brown’s notes. They use common scholarly estimates: a cubit is about 45.7 cm (18 in), a shekel about 11.4 g (0.4 oz), an ephah about 22 litres. Money values give the worth of the silver or gold at spot prices on 28 October 2026, not what the sum would buy in the ancient world.