Old Testament · History

1 Kings chapter 10

The heard about Solomon’s connected to the name of Yahweh, so she came to test him with .She arrived in Jerusalem with a massive entourage — camels loaded with , enormous amounts of gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind.Solomon every one of her questions. Nothing was too complex for the king to explain to her.When the queen of Sheba saw all of Solomon’s , the palace he had built,the food on his table, how his officials were seated, how his servants attended and how they were dressed, his , and the he presented at the house of Yahweh — it completely .She said to the king, “Everything I heard back in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom was true.But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw it with my own eyes. And honestly? I wasn’t even told the half of it. Your wisdom and go way beyond what I’d heard.How your people are! How fortunate these servants of yours who constantly stand in your presence and get to hear your wisdom!May Yahweh your God be — the one who was so pleased with you that he placed you on the throne of Israel. Because Yahweh loves Israel with an , he made you king to carry out and do .”She gave the king , a huge quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again did such an abundance of spices arrive as what the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon., which brought gold from , also brought huge quantities of and precious stones from there.The king used the almug wood to make supports for the and for the royal palace, and also and harps for the musicians. That much almug wood has never been imported or even seen since that day.King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for, on top of what he had already given her from his . Then she left and returned to her own country with her servants.The weight of gold that came to Solomon in a single year was ,besides what came from , the trade of traveling dealers, all the , and the governors of the land.King Solomon made two hundred of hammered gold — six hundred of gold went into each shield —and three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, with three of gold in each shield. The king put them in the .Then the king made a great throne of and overlaid it with the finest gold.The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was rounded at the back. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, with two standing beside the armrests. stood on the six steps, one on each end of every step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom.All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the items in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver — silver was considered in Solomon’s time.The king had a fleet of at sea alongside Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years the Tarshish fleet would come back loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and .King Solomon every king on earth in both wealth and wisdom.People from all over the world wanted an audience with Solomon, to hear the wisdom that God had put in his .Every visitor would bring a — items of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses, and mules — and this happened year after year.Solomon accumulated and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the and with the king in Jerusalem.The king made silver as common as rocks in Jerusalem, and cedar wood as plentiful as in the .Solomon’s horses were imported from and from . The king’s traders would buy them from Kue at the going rate.A chariot could be imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the and through Solomon’s traders.