Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 10

A question has arisen as to whether the "Queen of Sheba" was an Ethiopian or an Arabian princess. Both countries claim traditions connecting the Queen of Sheba to their history, and interestingly, government by queens was common in both places. However, the claims of Arabia are decidedly stronger. The Arabian Sheba was the great spice country of the ancient world, whereas Ethiopia produced no spices. Additionally, the Arabian Sheba was an important kingdom, while Sheba in Ethiopia was merely a town subject to Meroe.

Furthermore, it is doubtful whether the Cushite Sheba mentioned in Scripture (Genesis 10:7) should not instead be located on the shores of the Persian Gulf (see the note on Genesis 10:7), a place from which no one supposes the Queen of Sheba came. If Ophir is located in Arabia, this provides an additional reason to place Sheba in the same region, because Solomon’s trade with Ophir would then explain how his fame reached the Sabaean princess.

The phrase "the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD" has been explained in various ways and is admittedly very obscure. Could it not mean what we would call his "religious fame," as distinct from his artistic, literary, military, or political fame? In other words, could it refer to "his fame with respect to God and the things of God," or simply "his moral and religious wisdom"? (Compare to 1 Kings 10:6).

Hard questions—Or "riddles" (Judges 14:12), though not exactly riddles in our modern sense. People of the ancient Near East have always been fond of wordplay and of testing each other’s wit and intelligence with various kinds of verbal puzzles. This practice seems to have been particularly common in Solomon’s time, as Josephus records other such contests of wit with Hiram of Tyre and another Tyrian named Abdemonus.

See 1 Kings 10:10 note.

And the food of his table - Compare 1 Kings 4:22–23. The scene described here is well illustrated by Assyrian banquet scenes, where we see numerous guests sitting, dressed handsomely in fringed robes, with armlets on their arms and bracelets around their wrists. Attendants stand behind them, and the guests hold magnificent drinking cups, evidently of a costly metal, which are filled from a great wine bowl at one end of the chamber.

And his ascent by which he went up - A rendering preferable to “the burnt-offering which he offered in.” The “ascent” was probably a private way by which the king passed from his palace on the western hill, across the ravine (Tyropoeum) and up the eastern hill, to the west side of the temple area (compare the marginal reference).

Blessed be the Lord your God — This acknowledgment of Yahweh falls below the confessions of Hiram (2 Chronicles 2:12) and Cyrus (Ezra 1:3). It does not imply more than an admission of His power as a local deity, namely, that He is the God of the Jews and of their country.

Strabo relates that the Sabaeans were enormously wealthy and used gold and silver in a most lavish manner for their furniture, their utensils, and even on the walls, doors, and roofs of their houses. That the gold of Sheba should be given to Solomon was prophesied in Psalm 72:15.

The immense abundance of spices in Arabia, and especially in the Yemen or Sabaean country, is noted by many writers. According to Strabo, the spice trade of Arabia was in the hands of two nations, the Sabaeans and the Gerrhaeans. The spices in which they dealt seem to have been only partly the produce of Arabia itself; some of the most important kinds, such as cinnamon and cassia, must have been imported from India, since Arabia does not yield them.

The chief precious stones that Arabia now yields are the onyx and the emerald. In ancient times, it is said to have produced other gems. Pearls, too, were readily obtainable in Arabia from the Persian Gulf fishery.