Commentaria in III Regum
Chapter 10
The queen of Saba visits Solomon, and admires his wisdom and magnificence. Then, verse 14, Solomon’s yearly revenues and wealth are recounted; and verse 18, the ivory throne, verse 22, the fleet to Tharsis, and verse 26, the horsemen and cavalry.
1. And the queen of Saba, hearing of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions. 2. And entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that she had in her heart. 3. And Solomon informed her of all that she proposed to him: there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he could not answer her. 4. And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built, 5. And the meat of his table, and the apartments of his servants, and the order of his waiters, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts which he offered in the house of the Lord: she had no longer any spirit in her. 6. And she said to the king: The word is true which I heard in my own country, 7. Concerning thy words and thy wisdom: and I did not believe them that told me, till I came myself, and saw with my eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me: thy wisdom and thy works exceed the fame which I heard. 8. Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand always before thee, and hear thy wisdom. 9. Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved Israel for ever, and hath appointed thee king to do judgment and justice. 10. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there was brought no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon. 11. (Moreover the navy of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones. 12. And the king made of the thyine trees, the frames of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house, and harps and psalteries for singers: there were no such thyine trees seen, nor brought into this day.) 13. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired, and that she asked of him, besides what he offered her of himself of his royal bounty: so she returned, and went to her own country with her servants. 14. Now the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold, 15. Besides that which the deputies of divers men, and the merchants brought, and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the country. 16. King Solomon also made two hundred golden spears of the purest gold, six hundred sicles of gold went to every spear.
17. And three hundred shields of fine gold, three hundred pounds of gold went to cover every shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Libanus. 18. The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. 19. It had six steps: and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were two hands on either side holding the seat: and two lions stood, one at each hand. 20. And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps on the one side and on the other: there was no such work made in any kingdom. 21. And all the vessels, out of which the king Solomon drank, were of gold: and all the furniture of the house of the forest of Libanus was of most pure gold: there was no silver, neither was any account made of it in the days of Solomon: 22. Because the king’s navy once in three years went with the navy of Hiram to Tharsis, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and elephants’ teeth, and apes, and peacocks. 23. And king Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 24. And all the earth desired to see Solomon’s face, to hear his wisdom, which God had given in his heart. 25. And every one brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, garments, and armour, and spices, horses and mules, every year. 26. And Solomon gathered together chariots, and horsemen, and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he bestowed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem. 27. And he made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars as plentiful as the sycamores which grow in the plains. 28. And horses were brought for Solomon out of Egypt, and from Coa: for the king’s merchants went, and bought them out of Coa, and brought them at a set price. 29. And a chariot came out of Egypt for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: and in this manner, all the kings of the Hethites and of Syria sold their horses.
1. AND THE QUEEN OF SABA, HEARING OF THE FAME OF SOLOMON IN THE NAME OF THE LORD (that is, hearing the fame of the wondrous wisdom of Solomon given him by God, and of his stupendous buildings and the works which he did “in the name,” that is, by the help and power “of the Lord”: for “in the name of the Lord” is to be referred to “fame,” not to “came,” as is plain from the Hebrew) CAME TO TRY HIM WITH HARD QUESTIONS,—that by obscure and intricate riddles she might prove his wisdom.
You will ask whose queen she was, and from what region this queen came. Saba is twofold: one is a city of Arabia Felix, and then it is written with the letter schin, whence its inhabitants were called Sabaeans (according to that: “India sends ivory, the soft Sabaeans their frankincense”), founded by Saba son of Regma, Genesis 10:7. The other Saba is in Ethiopia, which is written with the letter samech, or its equivalent sin, founded and named by Saba son of Chus, Genesis 10:7, from whom the Abyssinians seem to descend, whose king is Prester John. This was the capital of Ethiopia, and afterwards was called Meroe by Cambyses from the name of his sister, according to Josephus, book 2 Antiquities, chapter 10, and Strabo, books 16 and 17. Mention is made of both in Psalm 71, 10: “The kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts.” For the kings of Sheba (that is, of Arabia) and Seba (that is, of Ethiopia) shall offer gifts.
Now some think that this queen came from Saba, which is in Arabia Felix: for this abounds in frankincense and spices; and because “Saba” is here written with schin. So think Cajetan, Eugubinus, Pererius, Gagneius, Baronius, Suarez and others, whom Pineda cites and follows, book 5 On the Affairs of Solomon. Others, however, commonly think that this queen came from Saba, which is in Ethiopia. They prove it first, because this queen came from the ends of the earth, as Christ says, Matthew 12:42. Therefore she did not come from Arabia; for this is neighbouring to Judea; but from Ethiopia, which is farthest distant from it. Secondly, because Ethiopia, more than Arabia, abounds in gold, and exposes for sale almost nothing else than gold, as I said on Psalm 71. The same land bears frankincense and spices. Thirdly, because in Ethiopia women are wont to rule, whence their queens were commonly called Candaces, as is plain from Acts chapter 8, and from Pliny, book 6, chapter 29. Fourthly, because among the Ethiopians, or Abyssinians, there is a continual and constant tradition of it, of which more presently. Again, because this queen is called by Christ “queen of the South.” But Ethiopia is to the South of Judea, whereas Arabia is rather to the East of it. Moreover, when she is called “queen of the South,” she seems to have reigned very widely over the whole as it were Southern quarter, as vast Ethiopia is, not little Arabia. Fifthly, because from this queen the Ethiopians received circumcision from Solomon, and knowledge of holy Scripture and the worship of the true God of Israel; whence the eunuch of Candace queen of the Ethiopians, coming in his chariot to Jerusalem to adore God, was reading Isaias the prophet when Philip approached him, and instructed him in the faith of Christ, Acts 8. For he was the first of the Gentiles made a Christian, and spread the faith of Christ in Ethiopia. Whence the Psalmist sang of him: “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God,” Psalm 67:32. And a type of this was this queen: for as she first came from a distant region to Solomon to hear his wisdom, so also Ethiopia first came to the faith and worship of Christ. So think in this place Josephus, Rabanus, Abulensis, Hugh, Dionysius, likewise Maldonatus, Toletus, Jansenius, Barradius, Francis Lucas on Matthew 12, St. Jerome on Isaias 43, Origen, homily 2 on the Canticle, St. Augustine, sermon 252 On the Seasons, who says “she came from the parts of Ethiopia,” Nazianzen, oration 40, calling her “queen of the Ethiopians,” Nyssen, homily 7 on the Canticle, calling her “the Ethiopian woman,” and saying she crossed the great intervening space to come to Solomon.