1 Reis 10

BLIVRE · Chapter 10/22

1E ouvindo a rainha de Sabá a fama de Salomão no nome do SENHOR, veio a provar-lhe com perguntas.

2E veio a Jerusalém com muito grande comitiva, com camelos carregados de especiarias, e ouro em grande abundância, e pedras preciosas: e quando veio a Salomão, propôs-lhe todo o que em seu coração tinha.

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

4E quando a rainha de Sabá viu toda a sabedoria de Salomão, e a casa que havia edificado,

5Também a comida de sua mesa, o assento de seus servos, o estado e roupas dos que lhe serviam, seus mestres-salas, e seus holocaustos que sacrificava na casa do SENHOR, ficou pasma.

6E disse ao rei: Verdade é o que ouvi em minha terra de tuas coisas e de tua sabedoria;

7Mas eu não o cria, até que vim, e meus olhos viram, que nem ainda a metade foi o que se me disse: é maior tua sabedoria e bem que a fama que eu havia ouvido.

8Bem-aventurados teus homens, ditosos estes teus servos, que estão continuamente diante de ti, e ouvem tua sabedoria.

9o SENHOR teu Deus seja bendito, que se agradou de ti para te pôr no trono de Israel; porque o SENHOR amou sempre a Israel, e te pôs por rei, para que faças direito e justiça.

10E deu ela ao rei cento e vinte talentos de ouro, e muita especiaria, e pedras preciosas: nunca veio tão grande quantidade de especiarias, como a rainha de Sabá deu ao rei Salomão.

11A frota de Hirão que havia trazido o ouro de Ofir, trazia também de Ofir muita madeira de sândalo, e pedras preciosas.

12E da madeira de sândalo fez o rei balaústres para a casa do SENHOR, e para as casas reais, harpas também e saltérios para os cantores: nunca veio tanta madeira de sândalo, nem se há visto até hoje.

13E o rei Salomão deu à rainha de Sabá tudo o que quis, e tudo o que pediu, ademais do que Salomão lhe deu como da mão do rei Salomão. E ela se voltou, e se foi a sua terra com seus criados.

14O peso do ouro que Salomão tinha de renda cada um ano era seiscentos sessenta e seis talentos de ouro;

15Sem o dos mercadores, e da contratação de especiarias, e de todos os reis de Arábia, e dos principais da terra.

16Fez também o rei Salomão duzentos paveses de ouro estendido: seiscentos siclos de ouro gastou em cada pavês.

17Também trezentos escudos de ouro estendido, em cada um dos quais gastou três libras de ouro: e os pôs o rei na casa do bosque do Líbano.

18Fez também o rei um grande trono de marfim, o qual cobriu de ouro puríssimo.

19Seis degraus tinha o trono, e o alto dele era redondo pelo recosto: e da uma parte e da outra tinha apoios próximo do assento, junto aos quais estavam colocados dois leões.

20Estavam também doze leões postos ali sobre os seis degraus, da uma parte e da outra: em nenhum outro reino se havia feito trono semelhante.

21E todos os vasos de beber do rei Salomão eram de ouro, e também toda a vasilha da casa do bosque do Líbano era de ouro fino: não havia prata; em tempo de Salomão não era de valor.

22Porque o rei tinha a frota que saía à mar, a Társis, com a frota de Hirão: uma vez em cada três anos vinha a frota de Társis, e trazia ouro, prata, marfim, macacos e pavões.

23Assim excedia o rei Salomão a todos os reis da terra em riquezas e em sabedoria.

24Toda a terra procurava ver a cara de Salomão, para ouvir sua sabedoria, a qual Deus havia posto em seu coração.

25E todos lhe levavam cada ano seus tributos: utensílios de ouro, utensílios de prata, roupas, armas, aromas, cavalos e mulas.

26E juntou Salomão carros e cavaleiros; e tinha mil quatrocentos carros, e doze mil cavaleiros, os quais pôs nas cidades dos carros, e com o rei em Jerusalém.

27E pôs o rei em Jerusalém prata como pedras, e cedros como os sicômoros que estão pelos campos em abundância.

28E traziam cavalos a Salomão do Egito e de Coa: porque os mercadores do rei compravam cavalos de Coa.

29E vinha e saía do Egito, o carro por seiscentas peças de prata, e o cavalo por cento e cinquenta; e assim os traziam por meio deles, todos os reis dos heteus, e da Síria.

📖 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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