1 Kings 10

The queen of Sheba travels far to test Solomon’s wisdom and leaves amazed, praising the LORD who set him on the throne. The rest of the chapter catalogs Solomon’s astonishing wealth, from gold shields to an ivory throne. Quiet warnings hide in the details: the stockpiling of gold and horses, and trade with Egypt, run against what God told Israel’s kings.

1 Kings 10:1

Word of Solomon’s fame reached Sheba, a land in southern Arabia, and it was tied to the name of the LORD. His wisdom pointed beyond himself to Israel’s God. She came to test him with hard questions, not to flatter him.

BSA: questions (“riddles, enigmas”): These were puzzling, clever sayings meant to stretch and test a famous sage.

Hebrew: חִידוֹת (chidot, H2420) — “riddles, puzzles.” The Hebrew word is used for riddles and dark sayings. Her questions were riddles designed to trip up a wise man.

See also: Matthew 12:42.

1 Kings 10:2

She came with a huge caravan loaded with spices, gold and gems. Then she held nothing back and told Solomon all that was on her mind. A seeker who comes honestly can bring every question.

BSA: mind (“heart, innermost being”): She opened her inner self, not only her clever puzzles.

1 Kings 10:3

Solomon answered every question. Nothing was hidden from him or too hard to make clear. This fulfills what God gave him when he asked for an understanding heart.

BSA: difficult (“hidden, concealed”): Nothing stayed veiled from Solomon; he could bring hidden things into the open.

See also: 1 Kings 3:12.

1 Kings 10:4-5

She saw everything: his wisdom, his palace, his food, the order of his court, and his burnt offerings at the LORD’s house. The sacrifices are the last and most telling item. It took her breath away; she was left with no spirit in her, overwhelmed.

BSA: burnt offerings (“sacrifices, atonements”): Solomon’s worship at the temple stood at the center of his glory.

1 Kings 10:6-7

She admits she doubted the reports until she saw for herself. Then she confesses that not even half had been told her. Seeing firsthand surpassed hearsay, as many believers find when they come to know God for themselves.

BSA: half (“less than, under”): The report fell short of the reality; the truth was greater than the news.

1 Kings 10:8

She calls Solomon’s attendants blessed because they stand continually in his presence and hear his wisdom. To be near wisdom day after day is a rare privilege. A greater than Solomon invites us into such nearness.

BSA: blessed (“truly happy, fortunate”): She means deeply happy, favored by their place near the king.

See also: Luke 10:23-24.

1 Kings 10:9

She turns her praise to the LORD. She sees that Solomon’s throne is God’s gift, given because of his lasting love for Israel. She also names the king’s purpose: justice and righteousness. Power exists to serve what is right.

BSA: eternal (“forever, everlasting”): God’s love for Israel is not temporary; it is the root of Solomon’s reign.

See also: Psalm 72:1-2.

1 Kings 10:10

She gives Solomon 120 talents of gold, a great store of spices, and gems. The spices were so fine that nothing like them ever came again. Her gifts honor a king she now respects.

1 Kings 10:11-12

This aside about Hiram’s ships shows where Solomon’s wealth came from. They brought gold, gems and rare almug wood from Ophir. Solomon used the wood for the temple and palace and for musical instruments for the singers, so some of his treasure served worship.

BSA: almug (“a type of sandalwood, highly valued”): It was a rare, fragrant timber, prized and never matched again.

1 Kings 10:13

Solomon gave her all she asked, besides his own royal gifts. Both rulers left richer. A king with great bounty can be generous without being diminished, a faint picture of God’s own giving.

BSA: bounty (“generous gift, kingly liberality”): He gave in the open-handed way a king gives, over and above what she requested.

1 Kings 10:14-15

Solomon’s yearly gold income was 666 talents, besides what came from merchants, traders, and Arabian kings and governors. The text simply reports the figure. His wealth came from trade, tribute and taxes, and it was enormous.

BSA: revenue (“taxes, tributes, income”): Beyond the gold itself, steady income flowed in from trade and from subject rulers.

1 Kings 10:16-17

Solomon made hundreds of shields of hammered gold and hung them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, a palace building. These were for show and display, not for battle. They announced a glory that gold could never truly secure.

BSA: hammered (“beaten”): The gold was beaten into thin sheets and shaped by hand, careful royal craftsmanship.

See also: 1 Kings 14:25-27.

1 Kings 10:18-20

His great throne was ivory overlaid with pure gold. It had six steps and a lion at each end of every step, twelve in all, with two more by the armrests. No kingdom had anything like it. It showed royal strength and judgment on display.

BSA: lion (“firmly positioned”): The lions stood guard in fixed places, giving the throne an air of strength.

1 Kings 10:21

All his drinking cups and the vessels of the Forest House were gold. Silver was thought of as nothing. Such a remark shows how dazzled the age was by wealth, and it hints at how far prosperity can warp what people count valuable.

BSA: nothing (“of no value or importance”): Even silver, precious elsewhere, was treated as worthless in Solomon’s day.

1 Kings 10:22

Solomon had a fleet of Tarshish ships sailing with Hiram’s, returning every three years with gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. Foreign trade brought treasures and curiosities from distant lands, adding to his fame.

BSA: Tarshish (“a merchant vessel, a place on the Mediterranean”): The phrase likely names large seagoing trading ships, and may also point to a far western place.

1 Kings 10:23-24

Solomon surpassed all earth’s kings in riches and wisdom. People from everywhere came to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. The writer is clear that the source is God. Solomon’s wisdom was a gift, not self-made.

BSA: heart (“mind, inner being”): In Scripture the heart is the seat of understanding, where God placed his gift.

See also: James 1:5.

1 Kings 10:25

Each visitor brought yearly tribute: silver and gold articles, clothing, weapons, spices, horses and mules. The nations sent gifts to Israel’s king, as had been hoped for the reign of God’s chosen ruler.

BSA: tribute (“offering, gift”): These were gifts of honor that visitors brought, year after year.

See also: Psalm 72:10-11.

1 Kings 10:26

Solomon gathered 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, stationed in chariot cities and in Jerusalem. This is a quiet warning sign. God had told Israel’s kings not to multiply horses, so that they would trust him and not military might.

BSA: accumulated (“gathered together, collected”): He kept piling up military strength, the very thing the law cautioned a king against.

See also: Deuteronomy 17:16; Psalm 20:7.

1 Kings 10:27

Silver was as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as the sycamore in the foothills. This is a picture of dazzling abundance. Yet it also shows how prosperity can make precious things seem ordinary.

BSA: common (“abundant, plentiful”): Silver lay about the city as freely as rocks on the ground.

1 Kings 10:28-29

Solomon’s horses came from Egypt and Kue, and chariots cost 600 shekels of silver each. He then resold them to the Hittite and Aramean kings. He was running a profitable horse trade, and the Egyptian source again touches the law’s caution against going back to Egypt for horses.

BSA: imported (“brought out, received”): The horses were brought out of Egypt, the place God had told kings not to return to for horses.

See also: Deuteronomy 17:16.