QUEEN OF SHEBA

she'-ba (1 Kings 10:1-13 2 Chronicles 9:1-12, called in Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31, "the queen of the south" (basilissa notou)):

1. Old Testament Accounts:

The two Old Testament accounts of the coming of the queen of Sheba (see SHEBA) to Solomon differ slightly from one another, and, of the two, that in 1 Kings is the older. (1) The words "concerning the name of Yahweh" (1 Kings 10:1) are lacking in 2 Chronicles; while the Septuagint in 1 Kings has "and the name of Yahweh," apparently a correction of the Massoretic Text. (2) For 1 Kings 10:9, "because Yahweh loved Israel for ever," 2 Chronicles 9:8 has "because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever"; the Septuagint in 1 Kings has "because Yahweh loved Israel, to establish it forever." (3) In the last verse of each account we find another difference: 2 Chronicles 9:12 says that Solomon gave to the queen all her desire, "besides that which she had brought unto the king." i.e. according to some, besides the equivalent of what she had brought to him; 1 Kings 10:13 margin has" besides that which he gave her according to the hand of king Solomon," i.e. besides gifts commensurate with his own wealth and power (SBOT), or be sides gifts which he gave her qua king.

2. The Narrative:

The narrative tells of the queen of Sheba, on hearing of Solomon's great wisdom, coming to test him with perplexing questions or riddles (compare Judges 14:12). She brought presents to the king, and interviewed him: "And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built" (i.e. the palace, not the temple) as well as its arrangements, "and his burnt-offering which he offered in the house of Yahweh (so read and translate with the Revised Version margin in 1 Kings 10:5, and also in 2 Chronicles 9:4); there was no more spirit in her": the half of Solomon's wisdom had not been told her. "Happy," she said to him, "are thy wives (so read with Septuagint, Syriac and Old Latin versions), happy are these thy servants." She then exchanged gifts with him and returned to her own land.

The narrative is a complement of that in 1 Kings 3:16-28, where the king's justice is exemplified; here his wisdom.

3. Employed by Jesus:

The narrative is referred to by Jesus in Matthew 12:42 Luke 11:31, where He refuses to accede to the request of the scribes and Pharisees for a sign from Him. He tells them that no sign will be given them except that of Jonah, whose sign was his preaching, one that proved sufficient to the Ninevites; and `behold something greater than Jonah is here.' The men of Nineveh will be a living condemnation of them "in the judgment" (compare Luke 16:31); and so will the "queen of the south" who came from the ends of the earth after hearing of Solomon's wisdom, `and behold something greater than Solomon is here.' The only sign to be given is that of the wisdom of Jesus, a wisdom far greater than that of Solomon (see D. Smith, Days of His Flesh, 176;).

4. Eastern Literature:

Eastern literature has much to say about the queen of Sheba. The Arabs called her Bilqis. Abyssinian legend declares that she came from Ethiopia, her name being Maqeda, and that she had a son by Solomon. See Delitzsch, Iris, 116-27; ZDMG, X, 19 f; J Pr T, VI, 524; -1880. Gressmann (in Schriften des Altes Testament, II, 1,203) has further references to Wilhelm Hertz, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, 1905, 413;; Bezold, Kebra Nagast, 1905, and also ZDMG, 60,666;. For the Mohammedan story, see Koran xxvii, with notes in Sale's translation.

David Francis Roberts

See SABEANS2

Queen of Sheba 1Ki 10:1-9
... I KINGS Hymn 34 Queen of SHEBA 1Ki 10:1-9. John Newton 8,8,8,8a. Queen of SHEBA
1Ki 10:1-9. From Sheba a distant report. Of Solomon's glory and fame,. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/newton/olney hymns/hymn 34 queen of sheba.htm

Coming to the King.
... "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.""1 Kings 10:13. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/taylor/a ribband of blue/coming to the king.htm

A Royal Seeker after Wisdom
... 'And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of
the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.2. And she came to ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/a royal seeker after wisdom.htm

A Ruler who Wronged his People
... When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test
him with puzzling questions. So she came to Jerusalem with ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/a ruler who wronged his.htm

Men Entrust their Safety Rather to a Just than to a Prudent Man. . ...
... (The words which the queen of Sheba spoke of him are explained.) Also Daniel and
Joseph. ... Nay, even the queen of Sheba came to him and tried him with questions. ...
/.../ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/chapter x men entrust their.htm

But that the Object of Christianity is that we Should Become Wise. ...
... So wise, moreover, was Solomon, that "the queen of Sheba, having heard his name,
and the name of the Lord, came to try him with difficult questions, and spake ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter xlv but that the.htm

The History of Solomon
... that the fame ran, of his sapience and wisdom and of his building and dispense in
his house, through the world, insomuch that the queen of Sheba came from far ...
/.../wells/bible stories and religious classics/the history of solomon.htm

Results of Transgression
... Thus it was when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon. ... "When the Queen of Sheba
had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, . . . ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 4 results of transgression.htm

Book 8 Footnotes
... That this queen of Sheba was a queen of Sabea in South Arabia, and not of Egypt
and Ethiopia, as Josephus here asserts, is, I suppose, now generally agreed. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/book 8 footnotes.htm

Thou Dost not Hide Thyself in Thy Bareness, O Pearl!
... 3. The Queen of Sheba [531] was a sheep [532] that had come into the place of wolves;
the lamp of truth did Solomon give her, who also married [533] her when ...
/.../ephraim/hymns and homilies of ephraim the syrian/hymn iii thou dost not.htm