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And when the Malkat Sheva (Queen of Sheba) heard of the fame of Sh’lomo, she came to test Sh’lomo with chidot (hard questions, riddles) at Yerushalayim, with a very great caravan, and camels that carried spices, and zahav in abundance, and precious stones; and when she was come to Sh’lomo, she communed with him of all that was in her levav.

And Sh’lomo gave answer to all her questions; and there was nothing hid from Sh’lomo which he explained not to her.

And when the Malkat Sheva had seen the Chochmat Sh’lomo, and HaBais (the Palace) that he had built,

And the ma’akhal (food) of his shulchan, and the moshav of his avadim, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his aliyah (ascent) by which he went up to the Beis Hashem; there was no more ruach in her.

And she said to HaMelech, Emes was the davar (report) which I heard in mine own country about thine acts, and of thy chochmah;

Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, hinei, the one half of the greatness of thy chochmah was not told me, for thou exceedest the report that I heard.

Ashrei are thy anashim, and ashrei are these thy avadim, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy chochmah.

Baruch Hashem Eloheicha Who delighted in thee to set thee on His kisse, to be Melech for Hashem Eloheicha, because Eloheicha loved Yisroel, to establish them l’olam, therefore He made thee Melech over them, to maintain Mishpat and Tzedakah.

And she gave HaMelech a hundred and twenty talents of zahav, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there ever any such spice as the Malkat Sheva gave Sh’lomo HaMelech.

10 And the avadim also of Churam, and the avadim of Sh’lomo, which brought zahav from Ophir, brought atzei algummim (algum trees) and precious stones.

11 And HaMelech made of the atzei algummim steps for the Beis Hashem, and for the Beis HaMelech, and kinnorot and nevalim for the musicians; and there were none such seen before in the Eretz Yehudah.

12 And Sh’lomo HaMelech gave to Malkat Sheva all her chefetz, whatsoever she asked, beside such that she had brought unto HaMelech. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her avadim.

13 Now the weight of zahav that came to Sh’lomo in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of zahav;

14 Besides that which traders and merchants brought. And all the melachim of Arabia and governors of the country brought zahav and kesef to Sh’lomo.

15 And Melech Sh’lomo made 200 shields of hammered zahav; 600 measures of hammered zahav went to one shield.

16 And 300 moginnim he made of hammered zahav; 300 measures of zahav went to one mogen. And HaMelech put them in Beis Ya’ar HaLevanon (House of the Forest of Levanon).

17 Moreover HaMelech made a kisse shen gadol (great ivory throne) and overlaid it with zahav tahor.

18 And there were six steps to the kisse, with a kevesh (ramp) of zahav, which was attached to the kisse, and arms on each side of the seat, and two aroyot (lions) standing by the armrests;

19 And 12 aroyot stood there on the one side and on the other upon 6 steps. There was nothing like it made for any other mamlechah.

20 And all the kelei mashkeh (drinking vessels) of Sh’lomo HaMelech were of zahav, and all the kelei Beis Ya’ar HaLevanon were of pure zahav; none were of kesef; it [silver] was not accounted as anything in the days of Sh’lomo.

21 HaMelech had a fleet of oniyyot that went to Tarshish with the avadim of Churam. Once every three years came the oniyyot Tarshish bringing zahav, and kesef, ivory, and monkeys, and peacocks.

22 And Sh’lomo HaMelech surpassed all the Malkhei HaAretz in riches and chochmah.

23 And all the Malkhei Ha’Aretz sought the presence of Sh’lomo, to hear his chochmah, that HaElohim had put in his lev.

24 And they brought every ish his minchah (present), kelei kesef, kelei zahav, and clothing, weapons, and spices, susim, and peradim (mules), at a set rate.

25 And Sh’lomo had four thousand stalls for susim and markovot (chariots), and twelve thousand parashim whom he kept in the chariot cities, and with HaMelech at Yerushalayim.

26 And he reigned over all the melachim from the River [i.e., the Euphrates] even unto the Eretz Pelishtim, and to the border of Mitzrayim.

27 And HaMelech made kesef in Yerushalayim as common as stones, and cedar trees he made like sycamore trees that are in the Shefelah in abundance.

28 And they imported unto Sh’lomo susim out of Mitzrayim, and from all the lands.

29 Now the rest of the Divrei Sh’lomo, harishonim and ha’acharonim, are they not written in the Divrei Natan HaNavi, and in the Nevu’at Achiyah the Shiloni, and in the chazot Yadai HaChozer against Yarov’am ben Nevat?

30 And Sh’lomo reigned in Yerushalayim over kol Yisroel arba’im shaneh.

31 And Sh’lomo slept with Avotav, and he was buried in Ir Dovid Aviv. And Rechav’am Bno reigned in his place.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

(1 Kings 10.1-13)

(A) The Queen of Sheba heard how famous Solomon was, so she went to Jerusalem to test him with difficult questions. She took along several of her officials, and she loaded her camels with gifts of spices, jewels, and gold. When she arrived, she and Solomon talked about everything she could think of. He answered every question, no matter how difficult it was.

3-4 The Queen was amazed at Solomon's wisdom. She was breathless when she saw his palace,[a] the food on his table, his officials, all his servants in their uniforms, and the sacrifices he offered at the Lord's temple. She said:

Solomon, in my own country I had heard about your wisdom and all you've done. But I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes! And there's so much I didn't hear about. You are greater than I was told. Your people and officials are lucky to be here where they can listen to the wise things you say.

I praise the Lord your God. He is pleased with you and has made you king of Israel. God loves the people of this country and will never desert them, so he has given them a king who will rule fairly and honestly.

The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon more than four tons of gold, a large amount of jewels, and the best spices anyone had ever seen.

10-12 In return, Solomon gave her everything she wanted—even more than she had given him. Then she and her officials went back to their own country.

Solomon's Wealth

(1 Kings 10.14-29)

Hiram's and Solomon's sailors brought gold, juniper wood, and jewels from the country of Ophir. Solomon used the wood to make steps[b] for the temple and palace, and harps and other stringed instruments for the musicians. Nothing like these had ever been made in Judah.

13 Solomon received almost 23 tons of gold each year, 14 not counting what the merchants and traders brought him. The kings of Arabia and the leaders of Israel also gave him gold and silver.

15 Solomon made 200 gold shields that weighed over three kilograms each. 16 He also made 300 smaller gold shields that weighed almost two kilograms, and he put these shields in his palace in Forest Hall.

17 His throne was made of ivory and covered with pure gold. 18 It had a gold footstool attached to it and armrests on each side. There was a statue of a lion on each side of the throne, 19 and there were two lion statues on each of the six steps leading up to the throne. No other throne in the world was like Solomon's.

20 Solomon's cups and dishes in Forest Hall were made of pure gold, because silver was almost worthless in those days.

21 Solomon had a lot of seagoing ships.[c] Every three years he sent them out with Hiram's ships to bring back gold, silver, and ivory, as well as monkeys and peacocks.[d]

22 Solomon was the richest and wisest king in the world. 23-24 Year after year, other kings came to hear the wisdom God had given him. And they brought gifts of silver and gold, as well as clothes, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

25 (B) Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots, and he owned 12,000 horses that he kept in Jerusalem and other towns.

26 (C) He ruled all the nations from the Euphrates River in the north to the land of Philistia in the south, as far as the border of Egypt.

27 While Solomon was king, there was silver everywhere in Jerusalem, and cedar was as common as the sycamore trees in the western foothills. 28 (D) Solomon's horses were brought in from other countries, including Musri.[e]

Solomon Dies

(1 Kings 11.41-43)

29 Everything else Solomon did while he was king is written in the records of Nathan the prophet, Ahijah the prophet from Shiloh, and Iddo the prophet who wrote about Jeroboam son of Nebat. 30 After Solomon had ruled 40 years from Jerusalem, 31 he died and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam then became king.

Footnotes

  1. 9.3,4 his palace: Or “the temple.”
  2. 9.10-12 steps: Or “stools” or “railings.”
  3. 9.21 seagoing ships: The Hebrew text has “ships of Tarshish,” which may have been a Phoenician city in Spain. “Ships of Tarshish” probably means large, seagoing ships.
  4. 9.21 peacocks: Or “baboons.”
  5. 9.28 Musri: See the note at 1.16,17.