Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 10:15

"besides [that which] the traders [brought], and the traffic of the merchants, and of all the kings of the mingled people, and of the governors of the country." — 1 Kings 10:15 (ASV)

The original text does not mention 'spice merchants.' Two classes of traders are spoken of, but both terms are general.

Kings of Arabia - This should instead be read as “kings of the mingled people” . These were likely tribes of mixed Jewish and Arabian heritage on the borders of the western desert. The author of Chronicles also regards them as Arabs.

Governors - The word used here is thought to be of Aryan origin. It appears to have been a title given by the Persians to minor governors, who were inferior to the great satraps of the provinces. We find this title held by, among others, Tatnai (Ezra 5:6), Zerubbabel (Haggai 1:1), and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:14).

This title is unlikely to have been in use among the Jews as early as Solomon’s time, so we must assume it was substituted by the author of Kings for a corresponding Semitic term. Solomon’s empire was not a state governed from a single center by an organization of satrapies or provinces (see the note on 1 Kings 4:21). However, in some parts of the empire, kings had exceptionally been replaced by “governors” (compare 1 Kings 20:24).