SABEANS
This word represents two distinct people, who, in accordance with the original Hebrew, might have been more properly called Sebaeans and Shebaeans.
1. The first denotes the inhabitants of the country called Seba. This appears to have been the great island, or rather peninsula of Meroe, in northern Ethiopia, or Nubia, formed between the Nile and the Astaboras, now Atbara. Upon this peninsula lay a city of the like name, the ruins of which are still visible a few mile north of the modern Shendy. Meroe was a city of priests, whose origin is lost in the highest antiquity. The monarch was chosen by the priests from among themselves; and the government was being theocratic, being managed by the priest according to the oracle of Jupiter Ammon. This was the Seba of the Hebrews, according to Josephus, who mentions at the same time that it was conquered by Cambyses, and received from him the name Meroe, after his sister. With this representation accord the notices of Seba and its inhabitants in Scripture. In Genesis 10:7, their ancestor is said to be a son of Cush, the progenitor of the Ethiopians. In Isaiah 43:3 and Psalms 72:10, Seba is mentioned as a distant and wealthy country; in the former passage, it is connected with Egypt and Ethiopia; and Meroe was one of the most important commercial cities of interior Africa. These Sabeans are described by Herodotus as men of uncommon size. Compare Isaiah 45:14. A branch of this family, it is thought, located themselves near the head of the Persian Gulf; and the Sabeans mentioned in Job 1:15 were probably Cushites. See Cush and Raamah.
2. The inhabitants of the country called Sheba. The Sheba of Scripture appears to be the Saba of Strabo, situated towards the southern part of Arabia, at a short distance from the coast of the Red Sea, the capital of which was Mariaba, or Mareb. This region, called also Yemen, was probably settled by Sheba the son of Joktan, of the race of Shem, Genesis 10:28 1 Chronicles 1:22.
The queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, 1 Kings 1:10-29 2 Chronicles 1:9-31 Matthew 12:42, and made him presents of gold, ivory, and costly spices, was probably the mistress of this region; indeed, the Sabeans were celebrated, on account of their important commerce in these very products, among the Greeks also, Job 6:19 Isaiah 60:6 Jeremiah 6:20 Ezekiel 27:22; Ezekiel 1:38 Psalms 72:10, Psalms 1:72 Joel 3:8. The tradition of this visit of the queen of Sheba to Solomon has maintained itself among the Arabs, who call her Balkis, and affirm that she became the wife of Solomon.
Besides the Joktanite Sabaeans, two others of the same name are mentioned in the Bible. 1. A son of Jokshan, and grandson of Abraham and Keturah, Genesis 10:28 Genesis 1:10. A grandson of Cush. It is possible that these descendants of the Ethiopian Sheba may have had their residence in Africa; but the question of these two Shebas is obscure and difficult to determine. The Sebaeans and Shebaeans are both mentioned in the same prophecy, Psalms 72:10, as coming to lay their offerings at the feet of Christ.