36 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 10 This chapter contains an account of the queen of Sheba's visit to King Solomon to her great satisfaction, 1 Kings 10:1, of Solomon's merchandise and riches, and the magnificence of his court, 1 Kings 10:14, of the rich presents sent to him, and of the purchase of chariots and horses, and other things, he made, 1 Kings...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon,.... Josephus (u) calls her a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia; but Sheba was in the southern part of Arabia Felix; her name with the Ethiopians is Maqueda (w), and with the Arabic geographer (x) Belequis. Some (y) think that Sheba, or Saba, is not the name of a country, but of the queen herself;...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Still Solomon looks great, and every thing in this chapter adds to his magnificence. We read nothing indeed of his charity, of no hospitals he built, or alms-houses; he made his kingdom so rich that it did not need them; yet, no question, many poor were relieved from the abundance of his table. A church he had built, never to be equalled; schools...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train,.... With many of her courtiers and principal men, as well as with a large retinue of servants: with camels that bare spices; her country abounded both with camels and spices; [See comments on Isaiah 60:6], [See comments on Jeremiah 6:20], and as Pliny (f) observes, who says their spices used to be...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. She came with a price in her hand to get wisdom. Well did Solomon say, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” No price is too dear to pay for it,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Solomon told her all her questions,.... Answered them, told her the meaning of everything she inquired about, expounded her riddles, solved her objections, and gave her satisfaction in all things she proposed unto him: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not; there was not anything, though ever so abstruse and...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. His wisdom came from God, and therefore it was full and complete, and could not be confounded by man. Let us seek after the wisdom which cometh from above, and remember that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Indeed, is it not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom,.... Which she perceived by his answers to things relative to all sorts of science, natural, civil, and divine: and the house that he had built; the singular for the plural, "house for houses"; the house of the Lord, his own house, that for Pharaoh's daughter, and the house of the forest of...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. She was a queen, but she...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the meat of his table,.... The various sorts of it, the different dishes, and the multitude of them; see 1 Kings 4:22 and the sitting of his servants; at table, either with him, or at tables by themselves, yet in his presence; for these were his nobles and courtiers, who were placed in order, according to their rank and degree, which showed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she said to the king,.... When she was a little come to herself: it was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom; which she was ready to call in question when she first heard it; at least she thought it was greatly exaggerated, but now she found it was strictly true.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it,.... That is, she did not believe the whole of what was related to her; somewhat of it she credited, and supposed there was something grand and extraordinary in it, or she would never have taken such a journey; but she did not believe that all could be true; she thought...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Happy are thy men,.... The men of Israel, that had a king over them so wise, so great, so good: happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom; who were now present, and to whom she pointed, and may respect not his nobles and courtiers only, but his menial servants, who had an opportunity of often hearing...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Blessed be the Lord thy God,.... Of whom she might have better notions than when she came out of her own country: which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel; loved him with a love of complacency and delight, was Jedidiah, as he called him, beloved of the Lord, and therefore he chose him and preferred him to be king before his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold,.... The same sum that Hiram sent him, [See comments on 1 Kings 9:14] this fulfilled the prophecy, so far as it respected Solomon, Psalms 72:15 and of spices very great store, and precious stones; see 1 Kings 10:2 there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the navy also of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir,.... This perhaps was before Solomon was concerned with Hiram in navigation and merchandise; though in 2 Chronicles 9:10 both their servants are said to bring it; and it is here inserted perhaps to show that Solomon had not his gold, at least all of it, from the queen of Sheba; but much from...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house,.... Or terraces, as in 2 Chronicles 9:11, causeways; and means the ascent or causeway he made from his own house to the temple; the pavement of which, as Jarchi interprets the word here, was made of the wood of these trees; or the supports of it, or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And King Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked,.... Some curious things she saw, and was desirous of, she asked for, and had them: besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty; of his own good will and pleasure, without asking: so she turned and went to her own country: the country of Sheba in Arabia...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. The king first of all bountifully gave her a present which he thought most fitting; and then, afterwards, permitted her to ask whatever she...