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1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

2 And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.

3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

4 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

5 And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

6 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

7 Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

8 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

9 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

10 And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

11 And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the Lord, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

14 Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

18 And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:

19 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

20 And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

22 And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

24 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

26 And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.

27 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

28 And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.

29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.

31 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

<html><b>to test Solomon</b> whether that which she had heard about his wisdom was true, and she came to test him. <b>with riddles</b> - Heb. בְחִידוֹת like (Jud. 14:12): “Let me ask you a riddle (אָחוּדָה נָא לָכֶם חִידָה),” [in the story] of Samson.</html>

<html><b>and nothing was hidden</b> Since she saw that he told her everything, and nothing that she asked him was hidden, she admitted that the report she had heard was true. In the <i>Targum</i> (<i>Sheni</i>) of Megillath Esther (1:2), some of the riddles that she asked him are written.</html>

<html><b>And the food of his table</b> fowl (I Kings 5:3) and kinds of delicacies that were served on his table in abundance. <b>and the seating of his servants</b> That each one recognized his place when they were seated at the table, and of those who constantly saw the king’s face, no one was allowed to sit in his neighbor’s place all the days of his life. <b>and the station of his attendants</b> Each one would retain his station and his position, and he would not change it the next day. <b>and their attire</b> The attire that they would wear tomorrow was not the same as, the attire that they wore today. <b>and his cupbearers</b> most of his cupbearers. <b>and his ascent</b> the stairway by which he ascended from his palace to the Temple. <b>and she was breathless</b> because she thought that there was no wisdom in any of the kingdoms but in her own country and like that of her wise men, because her country was in the east; they were wise because they were stargazers, as is stated in the first chapter of Tractate <i>Rosh Hashanah</i>, for Eretz Israel is west of Babylon, and that is what is written (I Kings 5:10): “And Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the children of the east,” for they were in the east, as it is written (Gen. 11: 2): “And it came to pass as they migrated from the east.” (I Kings 5:10) “And all the wisdom of Egypt,” for they were sorcerers, necromancers, and astrologers, and he was wise in divination (טַיִיר). So it is written in <i>Pesikta (d’Rav Kahana</i> p. 33b). The word (טַיִיר) is Arabic, and in <i>Leviticus Rabbah</i> (32:2), in the chapter dealing with the son of the Egyptian (24:10): (Eccl. 10:20): “for a bird of the air shall carry the voice.” This is the raven and refers to the art of bird divination (טוּיאַרִי).</html>

<html><b>half of your abundant [wisdom]</b> The many wisdoms.</html>

<html><b>algom wood</b> In <i>Pesikta</i> it is explained: One verse (I Kings 10:11) says אַלְמֻגִּים, and one verse says אַלְגּוּמִּים. The truth is that its name is אַלְגּוּמִּים, but it is called אַלְמֻגִּים because it melted and bent because of its softness, (like cups, which bend because of their value.)</html>

<html><b>a path</b> מְסִלּוֹת, stairs. In I Kings (10:12) it is written מִסְעָד, [a support] after the manner that they make for those who ascend by way of elevated places and stairs. Some say that מִסְעָד and מְסִילָה are one and the same. <b>and harps and psalteries for the singers</b> Some say (Jonathan and Rashi to Kings) for the Levites who sing with musical instruments, and Rabbi Eliezer explained it to mean: for the singers who stroll before the king. A similar case is (I Kings 5:12): “and his songs were a thousand and five.” These were secular songs that he composed to sing before him, and that is what is meant (below 35:25): “And Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and all the male singers and the female singers recited in their lamentations, etc.”</html>

<html><b>aside from that which she brought</b> This is written here in deference to the honor of the kings of Judah; it means that she gave him more than he gave her, and in I Kings (10:13) it is written: “aside from that which he gave her according to King [Solomon’s] ability.” [He gave her] things that were common in the land of Israel, but were not common in her country.</html>

<html><b>Aside from that which the guides</b> - Heb. הַתָּרִים. They were afraid to pass from province to province or from kingdom to kingdom without a guide, and they would give him the guide’s fee. <b>and the merchants would bring</b> They would bring him [gold] on a pretext in order to see his wisdom.</html>

<html><b>two hundred shields</b> צִנָּה which encompasses the person from his three sides, as is written (Ps. 5: 13): “As a shield You encompass him with favor” (כַּצִּנָּה). <b>malleable gold</b> gold that is soft and easily flattened out. It had great value because it could be spun like a thread. <b>six hundred gold pieces</b> Six hundred zehubim, the equivalent of six manehs, for the zahab is the dinar.</html>

<html><b>the forest of Lebanon</b> Solomon built a huge house in Jerusalem, as is proven further, and Shishak took all those shields (below 12:9), and he made them (sic) from an abundance of the large trees of Lebanon, as it is written in I Kings (7:2): “And he built the house of the forest of Lebanon, etc. on four rows, etc.,” and there he deposited those shields, and that is what is written (Isa. 22:8): “and you looked on that day to the weapons of the house of the forest.”</html>

<html><b>ivory throne</b> the ivory of elephants.</html>

<html><b>And there were six steps to the throne</b> steps by which to ascend. <b>with armrests on either side by the place of the seat</b> like rods from corner to corner, from the right and from the left, upon which to support his arms.</html>

<html><b>and two lions were standing beside the armrests</b> [The lions were made] of gold, and the entire form of the throne and the forms of the beasts that were in the throne are depicted in the <i>Targum</i> of the Scroll of Esther (1:2).</html>

<html><b>ivory</b> the tusks of elephants and the elephants themselves. <b>and apes</b> In German, <i>meerkats</i>, long- tailed monkeys. <b>and peacocks</b> - Heb. וְתוּכִּיִּים.</html>

<html><b>Now King Solomon transcended, etc.</b> To fulfill that which He said to him, (I Kings 3:13): “And I have also given you that which you have not asked, etc. and honor.”</html>

<html><b>And all the kings of the earth, etc.</b> To fulfill that which He said to him, (ibid. verse 12): “Behold I have given you a wise and understanding heart; so that there was none like you before you.”</html>

<html><b>And each one would bring his gift</b> as a pretext because they were [really] coming to hear [his wisdom], since it is disrespectful to come before a king empty-handed, similar to (Deut. 16:16): “and he shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.” <b>weapons</b> - Heb. נֶשֶׁק.</html>

<html><b>and he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.</b> some of them. He transgressed [the negative commandment of] (Deut. 17:17): “Only he shall not multiply horses to himself.”</html>

<html><b>in the words of Nathan the prophet</b> (II Sam. 12:25): “And He sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.” <b>and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite</b> (I Kings 11:31) who rent the kingdom from him and gave it to Jeroboam.</html>

<html><b>over all Israel forty years</b> unlike David, who reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.</html>