1 Reis 10

ARC · Chapter 10/22

1E ouvindo a rainha de Saba a fama de Salomão, ácerca do nome do Senhor, veiu proval-o por enigmas.

2E veiu a Jerusalem com um mui grande exercito; com camelos carregados de especiarias, e muitissimo oiro, e pedras preciosas: e veiu a Salom o, e disse-lhe tudo quanto tinha no seu coração.

3E Salomão lhe declarou todas as suas palavras: nenhuma coisa se escondeu ao rei, que não lhe declarasse.

4Vendo pois a rainha de Saba toda a sabedoria de Salomão, e a casa que edificara,

5E a comida da sua mesa, e o assentar de seus servos, e o estar de seus creados, e os vestidos d'elles, e os seus copeiros, e a sua subida, pela qual subia á casa do Senhor, não houve mais espirito n'ella.

6E disse ao rei: Foi verdade a palavra que ouvi na minha terra, das tuas coisas e da tua sabedoria.

7E eu não cria n'aquellas palavras, até que vim, e os meus olhos o viram; eis que me não disseram metade; sobre-*pujaste em sabedoria e bens a fama que ouvi.

8Bemaventurados os teus homens, bemaventurados estes teus servos, que estão sempre diante de ti, que ouvem a tua sabedoria!

9Bemdito seja o Senhor teu Deus, que teve agrado em ti, para te pôr no throno de Israel: porque o Senhor ama a Israel para sempre, por isso te estabeleceu rei, para fazeres juizo e justiça.

10E deu ao rei cento e vinte talentos de oiro, e muitissimas especiarias, e pedras preciosas: nunca veiu especiaria em tanta abundancia, como a que a rainha de Saba deu ao rei Salomão.

11Tambem as náos d'Hirão, que de Ophir levavam oiro, traziam de Ophir muitissima madeira de Almug, e pedras preciosas.

12E d'esta madeira d'Almug fez o rei balaustres para a casa do Senhor, e para a casa do rei, como tambem harpas e alaúdes para os cantores: nunca veiu tal madeira de Almug, nem se viu até o dia d'hoje.

13E o rei Salomão deu á rainha de Saba tudo quanto lhe pediu o seu desejo, de mais do que lhe deu, segundo a largueza do rei Salomão: então voltou e partiu para a sua terra, ella e os seus servos.

14E era o peso do oiro que se trazia a Salomão cada anno seiscentos e sessenta e seis talentos de oiro;

15Além do dos negociantes, e do contracto dos especieiros, e de todos os reis da Arabia, e dos governadores da mesma terra.

16Tambem o rei Salomão fez duzentos pavezes de oiro batido; seiscentos siclos de oiro mandou pesar para cada pavez;

17Assim mesmo trezentos escudos de oiro batido; tres arrateis de oiro mandou pesar para cada escudo; e o rei os poz na casa do bosque do Libano.

18Fez mais o rei um grande throno de marfim, e o cobriu de oiro purissimo.

19Tinha este throno seis degraus, e era a cabeça do throno por detraz redonda, e de ambas as bandas tinha encostos até ao assento: e dois leões estavam junto aos encostos.

20Tambem doze leões estavam ali sobre os seis degraus de ambas as bandas: nunca se tinha feito obra similhante em nenhum dos reinos.

21Tambem todos os vasos de beber do rei Salomão eram de oiro, e todos os vasos da casa do bosque do Libano eram de oiro puro: não havia n'elles prata; porque nos dias de Salomão não tinha estimação alguma.

22Porque o rei tinha no mar as náos de Tarsis, com as náos de Hirão: uma vez em tres annos tornavam as náos de Tarsis, e traziam oiro e prata, marfim, e bugios, e pavões.

23Assim o rei Salomão excedeu a todos os reis da terra: tanto em riquezas como em sabedoria.

24E toda a terra buscava a face de Salomão, para ouvir a sua sabedoria, que Deus tinha posto no seu coração.

25E traziam cada um por seu presente vasos de prata e vasos de oiro, e vestidos, e armaduras, e especiarias, cavallos e mulas: cada coisa de anno em anno.

26Tambem ajuntou Salomão carros e cavalleiros, de sorte que tinha mil e quatrocentos carros e doze mil cavalleiros: e os levou ás cidades dos carros, e junto ao rei em Jerusalem.

27E fez o rei que em Jerusalem houvesse prata como pedras: e cedros em abundancia como figueiras bravas que estão nas planicies.

28E tiravam cavallos do Egypto para Salomão: e ás manadas as recebiam os mercadores do rei, cada manada por um certo preço.

29E subia e sahia o carro do Egypto por seiscentos siclos de prata, e o cavallo por cento e cincoenta: e assim, por meio d'elles, os tiravam para todos os reis dos hetheos e para os reis da Syria.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon to test his wisdom with difficult questions, and is deeply impressed by everything she sees. The chapter also describes Solomon's extraordinary wealth: gold, ivory, a magnificent throne, and international trade by sea.

Explanation

The visit of the Queen of Sheba (likely a region in southern Arabia or the northern Horn of Africa) shows how the fame of Solomon's wisdom crossed borders and cultures, drawing even foreign royalty willing to make a long journey to see it for themselves. Her final declaration, acknowledging God's blessing on Israel, is a rare testimony of a foreigner recognizing the sovereignty of the God of Israel. The wealth described here represents the absolute material peak of the united kingdom, but the chapter also plants seeds of future trouble with its mention of the growing fleet of horses and chariots — something the Mosaic law had warned kings to avoid (Deuteronomy 17:16).

Fun facts

  • Ethiopian tradition (recorded in the book Kebra Nagast) claims that the Queen of Sheba had a son with Solomon, Menelik I, who would become the ancestor of the Ethiopian royal dynasty — a legend with no direct biblical basis, but culturally very influential.
  • The ivory throne overlaid with pure gold, with six steps and twelve lions, had such a unique design that the text states 'nothing like it had ever been made for any kingdom.'

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Reis 10:1Sheba was probably located in southern Arabia, or, by another theory, in the region of Ethiopia, along a spice caravan route. The queen’s visit is described as a royal mission to personally check Solomon’s reputation for wealth and wisdom before sealing any trade deal.
  2. 1 Reis 10:2She arrives in Jerusalem with an enormous retinue, camels loaded with spices, a great deal of gold, and precious stones, and talks with Solomon about everything on her mind.
  3. 1 Reis 10:3Solomon answers all her questions; nothing was too complicated for him to explain.
  4. 1 Reis 10:4When she saw all of Solomon’s wisdom and the palace he had built.
  5. 1 Reis 10:5She sees the food on the royal table, the officials seated in their places, the servants attending, their clothing, the cupbearers, and the sacrifices he offered at the Temple — and it takes her breath away.
  6. 1 Reis 10:6She tells the king that the reports she heard in her own land about him and his wisdom were true.
  7. 1 Reis 10:7She admits she didn’t believe it until she saw it with her own eyes — and what she had been told was only half of it; his wisdom and wealth exceed his reputation.
  8. 1 Reis 10:8She calls Solomon’s men and servants fortunate, since they always stay close to him hearing his wisdom.
  9. 1 Reis 10:9She blesses the LORD for delighting in Solomon and setting him on the throne of Israel — because God’s love for Israel made him king to carry out justice and righteousness.
  10. 1 Reis 10:10She gives Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold, along with a huge quantity of spices and precious stones — never again did that much spice arrive at once.
  11. 1 Reis 10:11Hiram’s ships also brought great quantities of sandalwood and precious stones from Ophir.
  12. 1 Reis 10:12Solomon used that rare wood to make structures for the Temple and the palace, as well as harps and lyres for the singers — wood of that quality never appeared again.
  13. 1 Reis 10:13Solomon gives the queen of Sheba everything she wished to ask for, beyond what he had already given out of his own generosity; then she returns to her land with her servants.
  14. 1 Reis 10:14A talent weighed dozens of pounds, so this figure of six hundred sixty-six talents of gold per year is staggering. Again, it works more as a literary sign of maximum prosperity than as an exact, verifiable accounting.
  15. 1 Reis 10:15Besides that fortune, revenue also came in from traders, merchants, all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of that region.
  16. 1 Reis 10:16Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold, using six hundred shekels of gold in each one.
  17. 1 Reis 10:17He also made three hundred smaller shields of hammered gold, each with three minas of gold, and stored them all in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
  18. 1 Reis 10:18The king also made a great throne of ivory, overlaid with the purest gold.
  19. 1 Reis 10:19The throne had six steps, a rounded top at the back, armrests on both sides of the seat, and two lions standing beside those armrests.
  20. 1 Reis 10:20Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one on each side — a piece unmatched in any other kingdom of that time.
  21. 1 Reis 10:21All of Solomon’s cups were gold, and so were all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon; silver was accounted as almost worthless in his days.
  22. 1 Reis 10:22The king had a fleet of merchant ships at sea, alongside Hiram’s; every three years they returned bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
  23. 1 Reis 10:23So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth, both in wealth and in wisdom.
  24. 1 Reis 10:24People from all over the world sought Solomon’s presence just to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
  25. 1 Reis 10:25Each visitor brought a gift — vessels of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules — and this repeated year after year.
  26. 1 Reis 10:26Buying horses and chariots from Egypt on a large scale directly contradicts an old instruction telling Israel’s king not to multiply horses from there. Read in hindsight, it’s a sign of the excess the next chapter will hold Solomon accountable for.
  27. 1 Reis 10:27Solomon made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowlands.
  28. 1 Reis 10:28Solomon’s horses came from Egypt; the king’s traders bought them in droves at a fixed price.
  29. 1 Reis 10:29A chariot imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse a hundred fifty; through those same traders, they were also resold to the Hittite and Syrian kings.

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