⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built,

⁴² The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came^(A) from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

The Conclusion of the Matter

⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs.^(A)

³ When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon,^(A) as well as the palace he had built, ⁴ the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at^[a] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

Solomon Builds the Temple^(A)

6 In the four hundred and eightieth^[a] year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month,^(B) he began to build the temple of the Lord.^(C)

² The temple^(D) that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.^{[b] 3} The portico^(E) at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits,^[c] and projected ten cubits^[d] from the front of the temple. ⁴ He made narrow windows^(F) high up in the temple walls. ⁵ Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms.^{(G) 6} The lowest floor was five cubits^[e] wide, the middle floor six cubits^[f] and the third floor seven.^[g] He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

⁷ In building the temple, only blocks dressed^(H) at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool^(I) was heard at the temple site while it was being built.

Solomon’s Wisdom

²⁹ God gave Solomon wisdom^(A) and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand^(B) on the seashore. ³⁰ Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East,^(C) and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.^{(D) 31} He was wiser^(E) than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.

²⁸ When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom^(A) from God to administer justice.