Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

She came to Jerusalem with - spices, etc. - Those who contend that she was queen of the Sabaeans, a people of Arabia Felix, towards the southern extremity of the Red Sea, find several proofs of their opinion: 1. That the Sabaeans abounded in riches and spices. India mittit ebur, molles sua thura Sabaei "India furnishes ivory, and the effeminate Sabaeans their frankincense." Virg. Geor. i., ver. 57. And again: - Divisae arboribus patriae: sola India nigrum Fert ebenum; solis est thurea virga Sabaeis. Geor. ii., ver. 116. All sorts of trees their several countries know: Black ebon only will in India grow; And odorous frankincense on the Sabaean bough. Dryden. - Ubi templum illi centumque Sabaeo Thure calent arae. Where to her fame a hundred altars rise, And pour Sabaean odours to the skies. Pliny (Hist. Nat. lib. xii., c. 17) observes, Non alia ligni genera in usu sunt quam odorata; cibosque Sabaei coquunt thuris ligno; alii myrrhae. "The Sabaeans use odorous wood only, and even use the incense tree and myrrh to cook their victuals." 2. All ancient authors speak, not only of their odoriferous woods, but of their rich gold and silver mines, and of their precious stones. See Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvii., c. 6, etc. 3. It is also well known that the Sabaeans had queens for their sovereigns, and not kings. So Claudian, in Eutrop. lib. i. - Medis levibusque Sabaeis Imperat hic sexus, reginarumque sub armis Barbariae pars magna jacet. By this is meant, says Mr. Bruce, the country between the tropic and mountains of Abyssinia, the country of shepherds, from berber, a shepherd. And he contends that these Sabaeans were a distinct people from the Ethiopians and the Arabs, and that Saba was a distinct state.