1 Kings 10
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
The Queen of Sheba’s Visit.[a] 1 When the Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s reputation, she came to test him with difficult questions.[b] 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very large caravan, with camels carrying spices and large quantities of gold and precious stones. When she arrived upon her visit to Solomon, she told him everything that was on her mind. 3 Solomon answered all of her questions. There were no hidden things that Solomon could not tell her.
4 When the Queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace that he had built, 5 the food on his table, the assembly of his servants, the attendance of his ministers in their robes and their cupbearers, and the way that he went up into the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed. 6 She said to the king, “The report that I heard in my own land concerning your actions and your wisdom are true. 7 However, I could not believe the report until I had come and seen it with my own eyes. They did not tell me the half of it. Your wisdom and your wealth exceed the report that I heard. 8 Happy are your men and happy are these, your servants, who always stand before you and hear your wisdom. 9 Blessed be the Lord, your God, who delights in you, placing you upon the throne of Israel. The Lord of Israel has established you as king to exercise justice and righteousness because he has loved you forever.”
10 She then gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious stones. A more abundant quantity of spices never arrived than that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 Furthermore, the ships of Hiram that had brought the gold from Ophir also brought large quantities of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir. 12 The king made steps of almug wood for the temple of the Lord and for the king’s palace as well as harps and stringed instruments for accompanying singers. Almug wood such as this has not arrived or been seen up to the present day.
13 King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba whatever she desired. He gave her whatever she asked for in addition to what King Solomon had already given her. She then returned, going to her own country along with her servants.
14 Solomon’s Wealth.[c]The weight of the gold that Solomon would receive in a year was six hundred, sixty-six talents 15 in addition to what he received from merchants and the profits from trade, as well as from the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.
16 King Solomon made two hundred shields from beaten gold. Each of the shields contained six hundred shekels of gold. 17 He also made three hundred shields from beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield. The king placed them in the palace built with the wood of Lebanon. 18 The king also made an ivory throne and had it overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the back of the throne had a rounded top. On either side of the seat there were armrests, and there was a lion standing alongside each of the armrests. 20 There were twelve lions standing upon the six steps, with one on each side of the step. Nothing like this had ever been made in any other kingdom.
21 All of King Solomon’s goblets were made of gold, and all of the other utensils in the palace made from Lebanon wood were also made from the finest gold. Nothing was made from silver, for it was not considered to be worth anything in Solomon’s time.
22 The king also had ships of Tarshish at sea along with Hiram’s ships. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish would return, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and baboons with them. 23 King Solomon was greater in wealth and wisdom than all of the other kings on the earth.
24 Solomon’s Acclaim. Everyone on the earth sought to visit Solomon to listen to his wisdom which God had placed in his heart. 25 Year after year, everyone brought him presents of things made from silver, things made from gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and donkeys.
26 Solomon’s Chariots and Horses. Solomon collected chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand, four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. He stationed them in cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
27 The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. Cedar became as common as the sycamore that abounds in the Shephelah.[d] 28 Solomon brought horses from Egypt and Cilicia. The king’s merchants bought them in Cilicia. 29 They imported chariots from Egypt that cost six hundred silver shekels and horses that cost one hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all of the Hittite and Aramean kings.
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 10:1 Solomon’s reputation drew foreign rulers. The prophet Isaiah (60:6) will use the memory of the visit of the Queen of Sheba (Arabia) to exalt Jerusalem as spiritual capital of all peoples in Messianic times; it is due to Isaiah that the queen plays a part in our Epiphany liturgy. Our Lord will also recall her in his comparison of himself and Solomon (Mt 12:42).
- 1 Kings 10:1 The kingdom of Sheba was located in the southeastern part of the Arabian peninsula (this explains our Lord’s reference to the “queen of the south” in Mt 12:42; Lk 11:31); in fact, however, the visitor was probably the queen of a Sheban colony in northern Arabia.
- 1 Kings 10:14 God was generous to Solomon and rewarded him with enormous wealth and power because when presented with the opportunity, he had humbly asked for wisdom (1 Ki 3:13).
- 1 Kings 10:27 Shephelah: the hilly region between the mountains of Judea and the Mediterranean.
1 Re 10
Conferenza Episcopale Italiana
Visita della regina di Saba
10 La regina di Saba, sentita la fama di Salomone, venne per metterlo alla prova con enigmi. 2 Venne in Gerusalemme con ricchezze molto grandi, con cammelli carichi di aromi, d'oro in grande quantità e di pietre preziose. Si presentò a Salomone e gli disse quanto aveva pensato. 3 Salomone rispose a tutte le sue domande, nessuna ve ne fu che non avesse risposta o che restasse insolubile per Salomone. 4 La regina di Saba, quando ebbe ammirato tutta la saggezza di Salomone, il palazzo che egli aveva costruito, 5 i cibi della sua tavola, gli alloggi dei suoi dignitari, l'attività dei suoi ministri, le loro divise, i suoi coppieri e gli olocausti che egli offriva nel tempio del Signore, rimase senza fiato. 6 Allora disse al re: «Era vero, dunque, quanto avevo sentito nel mio paese sul tuo conto e sulla tua saggezza! 7 Io non avevo voluto credere a quanto si diceva, finché non sono giunta qui e i miei occhi non hanno visto; ebbene non me n'era stata riferita neppure una metà! Quanto alla saggezza e alla prosperità, superi la fama che io ne ho udita. 8 Beati i tuoi uomini, beati questi tuoi ministri che stanno sempre davanti a te e ascoltano la tua saggezza! 9 Sia benedetto il Signore tuo Dio, che si è compiaciuto di te sì da collocarti sul trono di Israele. Nel suo amore eterno per Israele il Signore ti ha stabilito re perché tu eserciti il diritto e la giustizia». 10 Essa diede al re centoventi talenti d'oro, aromi in gran quantità e pietre preziose. Non arrivarono mai tanti aromi quanti ne portò la regina di Saba a Salomone. 11 Inoltre, la flotta di Chiram, che caricava oro in Ofir, portò da Ofir legname di sandalo in gran quantità e pietre preziose. 12 Con il legname di sandalo il re fece ringhiere per il tempio e per la reggia, cetre e arpe per i cantori. Mai più arrivò, né mai più si vide fino ad oggi, tanto legno di sandalo.
13 Il re Salomone diede alla regina di Saba quanto essa desiderava e aveva domandato, oltre quanto le aveva dato con mano regale. Quindi essa tornò nel suo paese con i suoi servi.
La ricchezza di Salomone
14 La quantità d'oro che affluiva nelle casse di Salomone ogni anno era di seicentosessantasei talenti, 15 senza contare quanto ne proveniva dai trafficanti e dai commercianti, da tutti i re dell'Arabia e dai governatori del paese.
16 Il re Salomone fece duecento scudi grandi d'oro battuto, per ciascuno dei quali adoperò seicento sicli d'oro, 17 e trecento scudi piccoli d'oro battuto, per ciascuno dei quali adoperò tre mine d'oro, e il re li collocò nel palazzo della Foresta del Libano.
18 Inoltre, il re fece un grande trono d'avorio che rivestì d'oro puro. 19 Il trono aveva sei gradini; sullo schienale c'erano teste di vitello; il sedile aveva due bracci laterali, ai cui fianchi si ergevano due leoni. 20 Dodici leoni si ergevano di qua e di là, sui sei gradini; non ne esistevano di simili in nessun regno.
21 Tutti i vasi per le bevande del re Salomone erano d'oro; tutti gli arredi del palazzo della Foresta del Libano erano d'oro fino; al tempo di Salomone l'argento non si stimava nulla. 22 Difatti il re aveva in mare la flotta di Tarsis, oltre la flotta di Chiram; ogni tre anni la flotta di Tarsis portava carichi d'oro e d'argento, d'avorio, di scimmie e di babbuini.
23 Il re Salomone superò, dunque, per ricchezza e saggezza, tutti i re della terra. 24 In ogni parte della terra si desiderava di avvicinare Salomone per ascoltare la saggezza che Dio aveva messo nel suo cuore. 25 Ognuno gli portava, ogni anno, offerte d'argento e oggetti d'oro, vesti, armi, aromi, cavalli e muli.
I carri di Salomone
26 Salomone radunò carri e cavalli; aveva millequattrocento carri e dodicimila cavalli, distribuiti nelle città per i carri e presso il re in Gerusalemme. 27 Fece sì che in Gerusalemme l'argento abbondasse come le pietre e rese il legname di cedro tanto comune quanto i sicomòri che crescono nella Sefela. 28 I cavalli di Salomone provenivano da Muzri e da Kue; i mercanti del re li compravano in Kue. 29 Un carro, importato da Muzri, costava seicento sicli d'argento, un cavallo centocinquanta. In tal modo tutti i re degli Hittiti e i re di Aram vendevano i loro cavalli.
