1 Kings

Visit of the Queen of Sheba

The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame and came to test him with difficult questions.

She arrived in Jerusalem with a vast entourage and camels loaded with spices and abundant gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she told him everything on her mind,

and Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing that the king could not explain to her.

When the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built,

the food on his table, the residence of his officials, the attendance of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings which he offered at the Lord’s house, it left her breathless.

Then she said to the king: “All that I heard in my land concerning you and your wisdom was true.

But I did not believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. And what did I see! I was told only half the story, for your wisdom and wealth surpass the report I heard.

Fortunate are your wives! Fortunate are your servants who are ever in your presence and hear your wisdom!

Blessed be the Lord your God, who has looked kindly on you and has placed you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king so that you may dispense justice and righteousness.”

Then she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, abundant spices, and precious stones. Such an abundance of spices as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon was never again seen.

Foreign Trade and Wealth

Moreover, the Hiram fleet brought gold from Ophir and a considerable amount of almug wood and precious stones from Ophir.

The king used the almug wood to make supports for the Lord’s house and the royal palace, and to make lyres and harps for the singers. Such almug wood has never been brought or seen to this day.

King Solomon, in turn, gave the queen of Sheba all that she desired and all that he, in his generosity, wanted to give her. Then she returned to her land, accompanied by her servants.

Now, the weight of gold that Solomon received in one year was six hundred and sixty-six gold talents,

not counting that brought by traders, merchants, the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land.

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, six hundred shekels of gold going into each shield.

He made three hundred shields of beaten gold with three minas of gold in each shield. And the king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon.

The king also made a huge ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold.

The throne had six steps and a rounded back, and on each side of the seat were the armrests with two lions standing beside the armrests.

The six steps had twelve lions, one on each end of a step. Nothing like this was ever made in any kingdom.

All of King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold, and none of the silver, for silver was not considered of much value in the days of Solomon.

The king had a fleet of Tarshish ships at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years, the fleet of Tarshish ships would bring gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.

And the whole world sought an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom which God had put into his mind.

Everyone brought a present: articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much every year.

Solomon gathered together chariots and horses—fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

The king made silver as standard as stone in Jerusalem and cedar as plentiful as sycamore in the lowland.

Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt and Cilicia. The king’s traders purchased them from Cilicia at the prevailing price.

A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They were exported similarly to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.