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1 Kings 10
New English Translation

Solomon Entertains a Queen

10 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon,[a] she came to challenge[b] him with difficult questions.[c] 2 She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp,[d] bringing with her camels carrying spices,[e] a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.[f] 4 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom,[g] the palace[h] he had built, 5 the food in his banquet hall,[i] his servants and attendants,[j] their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed.[k] 6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight[l] was true! 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![m] Your wisdom and wealth[n] surpass what was reported to me. 8 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy![o] 9 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored[p] 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.”[q] 10 She gave the king 120 talents[r] 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.[s] 11 (Hiram’s fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems. 12 With the timber the king made supports[t] for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments[u] for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day.[v]) 13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her.[w] Then she left and returned[x] to her homeland with her attendants.

Solomon’s Wealth

14 Solomon received 666 talents[y] of gold per year,[z] 15 besides what he collected from the merchants,[aa] traders, Arabian kings, and governors of the land. 16 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures[ab] of gold were used for each shield. 17 He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold; three minas[ac] of gold were used for each of these shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest.[ad]

18 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 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.[ae] 20 There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom.[af]

21 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time.[ag] 22 Along with Hiram’s fleet, the king had a fleet of large merchant ships[ah] that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet[ai] came into port with cargoes of[aj] gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[ak]

23 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.[al] 24 Everyone[am] in the world wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom.[an] 25 Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules.[ao]

26 Solomon accumulated[ap] chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem.[aq] 27 The king made silver as plentiful[ar] in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was[as] as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the foothills.[at] 28 Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt[au] and from Que; the king’s traders purchased them from Que. 29 They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria.[av]

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 10:1 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.”tc The Hebrew text also has, “to the name of the Lord,” which is very awkward due to its unusual syntax. The phrase is omitted in the parallel passage in 2 Chr 9:1. The word “report” is followed by the preposition ל (lamed) in Isa 23:5 and Hos 7:12 and indicates whom the message came to. And otherwise the collocation of לְשֵׁם (leshem, “to the name”) does not follow either a proper noun or the word report elsewhere in scripture. If retained, perhaps it should be translated, “for the reputation of the Lord.”
  2. 1 Kings 10:1 tn Or “test.”
  3. 1 Kings 10:1 tn Or “riddles.”
  4. 1 Kings 10:2 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.
  5. 1 Kings 10:2 tn Or “balsam oil.”
  6. 1 Kings 10:3 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.”
  7. 1 Kings 10:4 tn Heb “all the wisdom of Solomon.”
  8. 1 Kings 10:4 tn Heb “house.”
  9. 1 Kings 10:5 tn Heb “the food on his table.”
  10. 1 Kings 10:5 tn Heb “the seating of his servants and the standing of his attendants.”
  11. 1 Kings 10:5 tn Heb “there was no breath still in her.”
  12. 1 Kings 10:6 tn Heb “about your words [or perhaps, “deeds”] and your wisdom.”
  13. 1 Kings 10:7 tn Heb “the half was not told to me.”
  14. 1 Kings 10:7 tn Heb “good.”
  15. 1 Kings 10:8 tn Heb “How happy are your men! How happy are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually, who hear your wisdom!”
  16. 1 Kings 10:9 tn Or “delighted in.”
  17. 1 Kings 10:9 tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”
  18. 1 Kings 10:10 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.”
  19. 1 Kings 10:10 tn Heb “there has not come like those spices yet for quantity which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”
  20. 1 Kings 10:12 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.”
  21. 1 Kings 10:12 tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither” [?]), and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).
  22. 1 Kings 10:12 tn Heb “there has not come thus, the fine timber, and there has not been seen to this day.”
  23. 1 Kings 10:13 tn Heb “besides what he had given her according to the hand of King Solomon.”
  24. 1 Kings 10:13 tn Heb “turned and went.”
  25. 1 Kings 10:14 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.”
  26. 1 Kings 10:14 tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.”
  27. 1 Kings 10:15 tn Heb “from the traveling men.”
  28. 1 Kings 10:16 tn The Hebrew text has simply “six hundred,” with no unit of measure given.
  29. 1 Kings 10:17 sn Three minas. The mina was a unit of measure for weight.
  30. 1 Kings 10:17 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.
  31. 1 Kings 10:19 tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”
  32. 1 Kings 10:20 tn Heb “nothing like it had been made for all the kingdoms.”
  33. 1 Kings 10:21 tn Heb “there was no silver, it was not regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”
  34. 1 Kings 10:22 tn Heb “a fleet of Tarshish [ships].” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.
  35. 1 Kings 10:22 tn Heb “the fleet of Tarshish [ships].”
  36. 1 Kings 10:22 tn Heb “came carrying.”
  37. 1 Kings 10:22 tn The meaning of this word is unclear. Some suggest “baboons.”
  38. 1 Kings 10:23 tn Heb “King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and with respect to wisdom.”
  39. 1 Kings 10:24 tc The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “all the kings of the earth.” See 2 Chr 9:23.
  40. 1 Kings 10:24 tn Heb “and all the earth was seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had placed in his heart.”
  41. 1 Kings 10:25 tn Heb “and they were bringing each one his gift, items of silver…and mules, the matter of a year in a year.”
  42. 1 Kings 10:26 tn Or “gathered.”
  43. 1 Kings 10:26 tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”
  44. 1 Kings 10:27 tn The words “as plentiful” are added for clarification.
  45. 1 Kings 10:27 tn Heb “he made.”
  46. 1 Kings 10:27 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
  47. 1 Kings 10:28 sn From Egypt. Because Que is also mentioned, some prefer to see in vv. 28-29 a reference to Mutsur. Que and Mutsur were located in Cilicia/Cappadocia (in modern southern Turkey). See HALOT 625 s.v. מִצְרַיִם.
  48. 1 Kings 10:29 tn Heb “and a chariot went up and came out of Egypt for six hundred silver [pieces], and a horse for one hundred fifty, and in the same way to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram by their hand they brought out.”
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1 Kings 10
Amplified Bible

The Queen of Sheba

10 Now when the queen of [a]Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with riddles. 2 So she came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan (entourage), with camels carrying spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about everything that was on her mind [to discover the extent of his wisdom]. 3 Solomon [b]answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he did not explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house (palace) which he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his servants (court officials), the attendance of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, his [c]stairway by which he went up to the house (temple) of the Lord, she was breathless and awed [by the wonder of it all]. 6 Then she told the king, “The report which I heard in my own land about your words and wisdom is true! 7 I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. Behold, the half of it was not told to me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. 8 How blessed (fortunate, happy) are your men! How blessed are these your servants who stand continually before you, hearing your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, He made you king to execute justice and righteousness.” 10 She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices come in [to Israel] as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.

11 Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a great quantity of almug wood (sandalwood) and precious stones. 12 From the almug wood (sandalwood) the king made pillars for the house of the Lord and for the king’s palace, and also lyres and harps for the singers. Such almug wood did not come in [to Israel] again, nor has it been seen to this day.

13 King Solomon [in turn] gave to the queen of Sheba everything that she wanted, whatever she asked, besides what he gave to her [d]from his royal bounty. So she returned to her own country, she and her servants.

Wealth, Splendor and Wisdom

14 Now the weight of the gold that came to Solomon in one [particular] year was six hundred and sixty-six [e]talents of gold, 15 besides the taxes from the traders and from the wares of the merchants, and [the tribute money] from all the kings of the Arabs (Bedouins) and the governors of the country. 16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten (hammered) gold; [f]six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. 17 He made three hundred smaller shields of beaten gold; [g]three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon [the king’s armory]. 18 Also the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and a round [h]top was attached to the throne from the back. On either side of the seat were armrests, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood there, one on either end of each of the six steps; there was nothing like it made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had at sea the [large cargo] ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.

23 So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom. 24 All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his mind. 25 Every man brought a gift [of tribute]: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.

26 Now Solomon collected chariots and horsemen; he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as the [i]sycamore trees that are in the lowland. 28 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from [j]Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue, for a price.(A) 29 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and in the same way they exported them, by the king’s merchants, to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram (Syria).

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 10:1 The location of this ancient kingdom is uncertain, but may have included portions of modern Yemen and Ethiopia. The imperial family of Ethiopia claimed descent from a son supposedly born to Solomon and the queen of Sheba; however, there is no biblical evidence to support this claim. Ongoing archeological discoveries in Mareb, Yemen (Awam Temple) may support the area’s connection to the reign of the queen of Sheba. It has been suggested that she ruled southern Arabia and that the area being excavated was the capital of the Kingdom of Sheba.
  2. 1 Kings 10:3 Lit told her all her words.
  3. 1 Kings 10:5 Lit going up; or his burnt offering which he offered at.
  4. 1 Kings 10:13 Lit according to the hand of King Solomon. Following ancient custom for nobility and royalty, the king was obligated to give a visitor (especially a visiting dignitary) a greater gift than he received from the visitor. Solomon went far beyond custom in lavishing gifts on the queen.
  5. 1 Kings 10:14 It is impossible to determine the exact weight of a talent, in part because the Israelites had more than one measurement of a talent. Estimates range from 58-80 lbs. or higher, and the weight may have had to do with the amount an able-bodied man could carry of a given precious metal. Six hundred and sixty-six talents would have weighed at least 38,628 lbs.
  6. 1 Kings 10:16 Perhaps about twelve pounds. These shields were designed to cover a man. The gold probably overlaid wood or some other lighter material.
  7. 1 Kings 10:17 About three pounds.
  8. 1 Kings 10:19 Or canopy.
  9. 1 Kings 10:27 This tree, ficus sycomorus, is native to Egypt and Asia Minor and produces an edible fruit similar but inferior to the common fig.
  10. 1 Kings 10:28 This was an area which, in NT times, was called Cilicia, the home province of the apostle Paul.
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