2 Chronicles 9:1-31

LESSON SIXTEEN 9-11

A QUEEN COMES TO JERUSALEM.
REHOBOAM AND THE KINGDOM.

6. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA AND SOLOMON'S GREATNESS (Chapter 9)

INTRODUCTION

The wisdom of Solomon brought the queen of Sheba to Jerusalem. Solomon's wealth could not be counted. His last years were filled with shame as he turned away from God. Rehoboam came to the throne in Judah and saw the kingdom divided.

TEXT

2 Chronicles 9:1. And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, 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. And Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anything hid from Solomon which he told her not. 3. And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 4. and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also, and their apparel, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of Jehovah; there was no more spirit in her. 5. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy Wisdom 6. Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me; thou exceedest the fame that I heard. 7. Happy are the men, and happy are these thy servants, that stand continually before thee and hear thy Wisdom 8. Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for Jehovah thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do justice and righteousness.

9. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 10. And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, that brought gold from Ophir, brought algum-trees and precious stones. 11. And the king made of the algum-trees terraces for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah. 12. And king Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.
13. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold. 14. besides that which the traders and merchants brought: and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15. And king Solomon made two hundred bucklers of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one buckler. 16. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 17. Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with gold. 18. And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. 19. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. 20. And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: silver was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. 21. For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
22. So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24. And they brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 25. And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 26. And he rules over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. 27. And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore-trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. 28. And they brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
29. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30. And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

PARAPHRASE

2 Chronicles 9:1. When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fabled wisdom, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. A very great retinue of aids and servants accompanied her, including camel-loads of spices, gold, and jewels. 2. And Solomon answered all her problems. Nothing was hidden from him; he could explain everything to her. 3. When she discovered how wise he really was, and how breathtaking the beauty of his palace, 4. and how wonderful the food at his tables, and how many servants and aides he had, and when she saw their spectacular uniforms and his stewards in full regalia, and saw the size of the men in his bodyguard, she could scarcely believe it! 5. Finally she exclaimed to the king. Everything I heard about you in my own country is true! 6. I didn-'t believe it until I got here and saw it with my own eyes. Your wisdom is far greater than I could ever have imagined. 7. What a privilege for these men of yours to stand here and listen to you talk! 8. Blessed be the Lord your God! How he must love Israel to give them a just king like you! He wants them to be a great, strong nation forever.

9. She gave the king a gift of over a million dollars in gold, and great quantities of spices of incomparable quality, and many, many jewels. 10. King Hiram's and King Solomon's crews brought gold from Ophir, also sandalwood and jewels. 11. The king used the sandalwood to make terraced steps for the Temple and the palace, and to construct harps and lyres for the choir. Never before had there been such beautiful instruments in all the land of Judah. 12. King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba gifts of the same value as she had brought to him, plus everything else she asked for! Then she and her retinue returned to their own land.
13, 14. Solomon received a billion dollars worth of gold each year from the kings of Arabia and many other lands that paid annual tribute to him. In addition, there was a trade balance from the exports of his merchants. 15. He used some of the gold to make 200 large shields, each worth $280,000. 16. and 300 smaller shields, each worth $140,000. The king placed these in the Forest of Lebanon Room in his palace. 17. He also made a huge ivory throne overlaid with pure gold. 18. It had six gold steps and a footstool of gold; also gold armrests, each flanked by a gold lion. 19. Gold lions also stood at each side of each step. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it! 20. All of King Solomon's cups were solid gold, as were all the furnishings in the Forest of Lebanon Room. Silver was too cheap to count for much in those days! 21. Every three years the king sent his ships to Tarshish, using sailors supplied by King Hiram, to bring back gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
22. So King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king in all the earth. 23. Kings from every nation came to visit him, and to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart. 24. Each brought him annual tribute of silver and gold bowls, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules. 25. In addition, Solomon had 4,000 stalls of horses and chariots, and 12,000 cavalry-men stationed in the chariot cities, as well as in Jerusalem to protect the king. 26. He rules over all kings and kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far away as the border of Egypt. 27. He made silver become as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones in the road! And cedar was used as though it were common sycamore. 28. Horses were brought to him from Egypt and other countries.
29. The rest of Solomon's biography is written in the history of Nathan the prophet and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and also in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 30. So Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for forty years. 31. Then he died and was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Rehoboam became the new king.

COMMENTARY

1 Kings 10:1-13 recounts the remarkable visit of the Queen of Sheba as she came to Jerusalem in Solomon's day.[54] Sheba was located in Arabia some fifteen hundred miles south of Jerusalem. It was at the southern extremity of the Red Sea and north of the Indian Ocean. The kind of gifts that she brought would indicate that she had an abundance of wealth at her disposal. We are impressed by the fact that even though she lived so far from Jerusalem, she had heard of the fame of Solomon. Her primary concern was to prove Solomon's wisdom. This is a good commentary on Jehovah's promise to give Solomon a wise and an understanding heart. The Arabians found pleasure in riddles, proverbs, in matters pertaining to natural history. The Queen was disposed to doubt that anyone could be as wise as Solomon was heralded to be. The caravan which accompanied the Queen was one of great splendor. Camels were loaded with spices, gold (120 talents), and precious stones. Spices were often more precious than gold itself. The gifts she brought were of inestimable value. Many attendants were in the company of this Queen. Solomon willingly received the queen as an honored guest and they freely exchanged ideas, In all of the intellectual matters Solomon passed every test and the time came when the royal guest had seen the wisdom of Solomon. While she was in Jerusalem, Solomon showed her his house (the Temple and the whole range of palaces). The ascent (2 Chronicles 9:4) probably refers to the architectural device of winding stairs which provided access to the second and third stories of rooms built in the Temple wall. She paid particular attention to the banquet food, the servants and their dress. The Queen confessed that what she had heard about Solomon's wisdom was so unbelievable that she could not accept it unless she could personally confirm it. She was most complimentary in her evaluation. Thou exceedest the fame that I heard. The half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me. In the name of Solomon's God the Queen of Sheba blessed Solomon and his people. Prophetically she spoke of a reign of justice and righteousness and of Israel's being established forever.

[54] Spence, H. D. M., The Pulpit Commentary, II Chronicles, p. 106ff

She and Solomon exchanged gifts. He gave her all her desire. When her delightful visit was complete she returned to her own land bearing lavish treasures from Israel. The chronicler records the fact that the Ophir navy also brought much gold, precious stones and algum trees into the land of Israel. The algum trees were native to India and were of excellent texture for exquisite woodwork, especially for making musical instruments. These were days of wonderful prosperity in Israel.

The Queen of Sheba gave Solomon one hundred and twenty shekels of gold. The gold paid into Solomon's treasuries by the nations subject to Israel amounted to more than five times that which the Queen presented as a gift. The annual tribute was six hundred and sixty six talents of gold. This cannot be accurately figured in terms of our currency, but may have amounted to as much as twenty five million dollars. In addition to this there were several other important sources of revenue in connection with commerce. The national income far exceeded expenditures. Solomon had the excess gold fashioned into shields which could be properly displayed in the great military museum in the house of the Forest of Lebanon. The buckler was a large oblong shield designed to protect the entire body of a warrior. Two hundred of these shields were fashioned. Each shield contained six hundred shekels of gold. Three hundred shields were fashioned each of which contained three hundred shekels of gold. There were thirty six hundred shekels of gold in each talent of gold. These shields represented values from two thousand five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars. They remained in the great military house until they were carried away by Shishak, King of Egypt (1 Kings 14:26), in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, Solomon's throne was a worthy seat for the great king.[55] Ivory was imported from Africa and India. This material was used in the basic construction. It was beautiful in its own right; however this beauty was enhanced by a gold overlay. The throne was elevated. It was fashioned with arms and was provided with a foot-rest of gold. The lion was the symbol of kingly power. This animal was the peculiar symbol that pertained to the tribe of Judah. The arm rests on the throne may have been fashioned like a lion. Whether there were twelve or twenty-four lions fashioned to guard the steps is difficult to determine. The number twelve or its double would represent all of the tribes of Israel. The uniqueness of the throne is emphasized by the chronicler. In these days of unrivaled prosperity all of the appointments for Solomon's personal quarters and for state ceremonies were made of gold. It is possible that this luxurious living had much to do in turning Solomon away from Jehovah.

[55] Clarke, Adam, A Commentary and Critical Notes, Vol. II, p. 648

The kings of the earth (2 Chronicles 9:22-23) were those who reigned in territories from Egypt to the Euphrates River. Jehovah had kept His promise. Solomon was the wisest of all and he had great wealth at his disposal. The kinds of goods considered valuable are listed in 2 Chronicles 9:24silver, gold, raiment, armor, spices, horses and mules. Solomon was renowned for his chariotry installations. These were necessary from a military standpoint to protect various sections of Israel's territory. Four thousand stalls for horses and twelve thousand horsemen composed this select service.[56] This was in sharp contrast with Israel'S, lack of such resources when Joshua first brought them into Canaan. Solomon procured the horses and chariots from Egypt. The prosperity of Israel is described proverbially in 2 Chronicles 9:27 when the writer indicates that silver was like stones and cedar trees were as plentiful as sycamores in Jerusalem.[57]

[56] Archer, Gleason G., Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p. 394

[57] Elmslie, W. A. L., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. Ill, p. 469

Nathan, Ahijah and Iddo are identified as persons who wrote histories of the life and times of Solomon. Nathan was the personal seer who charged David in his sin with Bathsheba. Ahijah the Shilonite (1 Kings 11:28-40; 1 Kings 14:1-20) distinguished himself as Jehovah's herald in predicting the division of the kingdom to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Later Ahijah pronounced Jehovah's judgment on Jeroboam because of the king's wickedness. According to 2 Chronicles 12:15, Iddo the seer wrote a history of Rehoboam. The life and times of Abijah, king of Judah, were described in the commentary of the prophet Iddo (2 Chronicles 13:22). The life and times of Solomon were said to have been written in the visions of Iddo the seer. Iddo also was concerned about Jeroboam, king of Israel. These three men, Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo were important original sources for some of the materials in this record.

Like his father before him, Solomon's reign reached through forty years. While no adverse word is recorded here, the first twenty four years of Solomon's reign were productive of much good; but the last sixteen years found Solomon rebelling against Jehovah in every conceivable way. And Solomon slept with his fathers, the Bible says. Certainly he was one of God's choice men; but he died. This experience awaits the wise man and the fool alike. It is of the utmost importance that every person be faithful to God until he dies. At the time of David's death a royal cemetery was established at Jerusalem. Solomon was buried with all of the honors that were due him as king of Israel. By Jehovah's grace, Solomon's successor to the throne was Rehoboam, the king's only son.