1 Koningen 10:2

2 En zij kwam te Jeruzalem, met een zeer zwaar heir, met kemelen, dragende specerijen, en zeer veel gouds, en kostelijk gesteente; en zij kwam tot Salomo, en sprak tot hem al wat in haar hart was.

1 Koningen 10:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 10:2

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train
With many of her courtiers and principal men, as well as with a large retinue of servants:

with camels that bare spices;
her country abounded both with camels and spices; (See Gill on Isaiah 60:6), (See Gill on Jeremiah 6:20), and as Pliny ^F6 observes, who says their spices used to be carried on camels, particularly frankincense, for which Sheba was famous, and is therefore called by him "regio thurifera", the frankincense country ^F7, being to be had nowhere else; and Strabo ^F8 speaks of "cinamon, cassia", and other spices here in such plenty, that the inhabitants burnt the wood of them for fuel; and Diodorus Siculus ^F9 represents this country as exceeding odoriferous, and as having besides the above spices, balsam, myrrh, calamus, costus, and others, in such abundance that they heated their ovens with them:

and very much gold;
see ( 1 Kings 10:10 ) , the gold of Sheba is spoken of in ( Psalms 72:15 ) and Pliny ^F11 observes, that the Sabeans are exceeding rich, as in other things, so in gold; and Diodorus Siculus ^F12 and Strabo ^F13 speak of gold found here in large lumps, very pure, and of a fine colour:

and precious stones;
as crystals, emeralds, beryls, and chrysolites, mentioned by Diodorus ^F14 as in those parts; and a late traveller says {o}, that Arabia Felix abounds with balsam, myrrh, cassia, manna, dates, gold, frankincense, and pearl:

and when she was come to Solomon;
unto his palace, and admitted into his presence:

she communed with him of all that was in her heart;
which she had in her mind to discourse with him about, and which she had laid up in her memory for that purpose; and some things which she had kept to herself, and had never imparted to any before, as some think; all which she had full liberty from Solomon to propound unto him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 14.
F7 Ibid. "----Molles sua thura Sabaei", Virg. Georg l. 1. v. 57. & l. 2. v. 117. Thurilegos Arabes, Ovid. Fast. l. 4. Vid. Plant. Trinum. Act. 4. Sc. 2. v. 89.
F8 Geograph. l. 16. p. 535.
F9 Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 132.
F11 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28.
F12 Ut supra, (Bibliothec. l. 2.) p. 133. l. 3. p. 181.
F13 Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 16. p. 535.)
F14 Ut supra, (Bibliothec. l. 2.) p. 134. & l. 3. p. 181.
F15 Ovington's Voyage to Surat, p. 421.

1 Koningen 10:2 In-Context

1 En toen de koningin van Scheba het gerucht van Salomo hoorde, aangaande den Naam des HEEREN, kwam zij, om hem met raadselen te verzoeken.

2 En zij kwam te Jeruzalem, met een zeer zwaar heir, met kemelen, dragende specerijen, en zeer veel gouds, en kostelijk gesteente; en zij kwam tot Salomo, en sprak tot hem al wat in haar hart was.

3 En Salomo verklaarde haar al haar woorden; geen ding was er verborgen voor den koning, dat hij haar niet verklaarde.

4 Als nu de koningin van Scheba zag al de wijsheid van Salomo, en het huis, hetwelk hij gebouwd had,

5 En de spijze zijner tafel, en het zitten zijner knechten, en het staan zijner dienaren, en hun kledingen, en zijn schenkers, en zijn opgang, waardoor hij henen opging in het huis des HEEREN, zo was in haar geen geest meer.