SERIES L --- THE NATION DIVIDES --- LESSON 14

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA

From 1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9:1-28

The news of King Solomon’s wealth and wisdom spread throughout the neighbouring lands. When the queen of Sheba heard it, she planned a trip to Jerusalem so that she could see for herself what Solomon had and ask him some very difficult and perplexing questions. She was anxious to see what Adonai had done for him. The queen arrived with a great caravan of camels, loaded with spices, gold and precious stones. She asked Solomon many questions and for each one he had a wise and simple answer. Before long, she realized that the stories of his great wisdom were true. Solomon showed the queen his beautiful palace, the rich food on his table, his well-trained officials and the numerous offerings which he had ready to sacrifice to Adonai. When she saw all these things, she was amazed and hardy knew what to say. [All the things I heard about you in my land are true,] she said, [I did not believe all of it until I came to see you. But now I have seen it with my own eyes. In fact, the half had not been told, for I have seen more than twice what was reported to me. You are truly wiser and richer than I had heard. Your people, the officials who are with you daily, are most fortunate that they can listen to you so often. Praise Adonai who has placed you on the throne of Israel, for you rule the land with justice and righteousness.] The queen of Sheba presented King Solomon with a gift of gold, worth about three and one half million dollars, as well as a great quantity of spices and precious stones. No one else ever gave King Solomon such a large gift of spices. Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she asked for, in addition to the gifts which he had already prepared for her. Then she and her servants returned to their land. In their fleet of ships King Hiram and Solomon transported gold from Ophir, along with almug wood [algum or sandalwood] and precious stones. Solomon used the almug wood for pillars and terraced steps, for the temple. All of the harps and lyres which the temple singers used were made from almug wood. There never was, nor will there ever be, so much almug lumber. King Solomon received about twenty million dollars in gold each year. In addition, he collected a vast amount of money in taxes on merchandise and profits from trade with Arabian kings and the rulers of the surrounding lands. With some of his gold, Solomon made two hundred large golden shields, each worth almost three hundred thousand dollars and three hundred small golden shields, each worth about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he hung these shields in the great hall of his palace, known as the House of the Forest of Lebanon. King Solomon made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. It had six steps with a rounded top at the back. The throne had two arms, with a lion standing on each side, on each step were two lions, so there were twelve in all. No other king had such a beautiful throne. The king’s cups were made of solid gold, as well as all the tableware in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Solomon did not make tableware from silver, for it was thought to be of little value since he had so much gold. Each time the merchant fleet came in, which was about every three years, it brought a large quantity of gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. Much of this came from Tarshish, as well as the gold from Ophir. King Hiram and King Solomon had a partnership, sharing the riches that were brought in. The fame of Solomon spread everywhere, with many great men coming to consult with him. At that time, he was the wisest and richest man on earth. Each time someone came, he brought more silver or gold, robes, spices, horses or mules. And there was of course, an annual tribute of riches which the surrounding lands brought him. During the reign of King Solomon, the kingdom stretched from the Euphrates River in the north and south through the land of the Philistines to the border of Egypt. Within this land, Solomon had many chariots and chariot drivers who lived in special cities. Silver and cedar were so plentiful that they seemed to have little value. Horses were brought from Egypt and Cilicia where Solomon’s merchants paid the current price, about four hundred dollars in silver for an Egyptian chariot and about one hundred dollars for a horse. Many were resold to the Hittite and Syrian kings.

COMMENTARY

TRADE UNDER SOLOMON

Reports of Solomon’s wisdom and wealth spread throughout the world. The queen of Sheba came from her land in far southwest Arabia to see Solomon for herself. [The half had not been told,] said the amazed queen. [Praise Adonai who has placed you on the throne of Israel.] Under Solomon’s rule, Israel experienced enormous growth in commerce. Solomon expanded trade with foreign countries in a way that the Israelites had never known. Much of his power came from the location of his kingdom. Israel lay between two Middle Eastern centres of commerce; the countries of Mesopotamia in the north, and Egypt and Arabia to the south, since the major trade routes passed through Israel, Solomon heavily taxed all goods passing through. This brought immense amounts of gold to his treasury and products from almost every country in the area into Israel. He went further. With Israelite oil, grain and wine, he bought Phoenician cedar wood for his building projects. Nuts, honey and olive oil traded with Egypt brought gold, ivory and other luxuries for the temple and palace. Solomon also started new trade agreements. He bought Egyptian-made chariots and Cilician horses, and resold them to Syria. But Solomon was not satisfied with taking over old trade routes. With the aid of Phoenician craftsmen, he built the first Israelite merchant ships and sent royal traders to faraway countries in search of new wealth. Loaded with copper from his mines, the ships left the Israelite port of Ezion-geber and sailed through the Red Sea to a land called Ophir. The location of this land remains unknown but the luxury goods found there make many believe that it was southern Arabia, possibly Africa or India. Fragrant woods, precious stones and gold returned to Israel from this wealthy country. Another place mentioned in the Bible called Tarshish, has also never been identified. But it supplied Israel with such things as silver, peacocks, monkeys and ivory. Trade like this made Solomon and Israel extremely wealthy. He soon became the strongest ruler the country had ever known and Israel became one of the more powerful nations in the Middle East.