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CHAPTER IX.

1 The queen of Sheba admireth the wisdom of Solomon. 13 Solomon's gold. 15 His targets. 17 The throne of ivory. 20 His vessels. 23 His presents. 25 His chariots and horses. 26 His tributes. 29 His reign and death.

AND 'when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

2 And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.

3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

4 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his "cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

5 And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:

6 Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.

7 Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

8 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.

9 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.

10 And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and pre

cious stones.

11 And the king made of the algum trees 5 terraces to the house of the LORD, and to

the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers and there were none such seen before in the land of Judalı.

12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.

13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

14 Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and 'governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.

15 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.

16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

18 And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:

19 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.

20 And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

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21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

22 And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

23 ¶ And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.

24 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen ; whom he bestowed in

11 Kings 10. 1, &c. Matt. 12. 42. Luke 11. 31. 2 Or, butlers. Heb. highways. 7 Or, captains. 8 Heb. hands. 11 Or, elephants' teeth.

3 Heb. word.

9 Heb. shut up.

4 Or, sayings. 5 Or, stays. 10 Or, there was no silver in them.

12 1 Kings 4. 26.

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Verse 1. The queen of Sheba.-This princess is called the queen of the south' in Luke xi. 31. There has been much elaborate discussion, having for its object to determine from what country this queen came. One of the principal alternatives makes this country to have been at the southern extremity of Arabia; and the other asserts the claim of Ethiopia or Abyssinia.

With respect to the first alternative, which places Sheba in Arabia, it is unquestionable that one of the most celebrated nations of Arabia-Felix was known as the Sabæi, and their territory as Sabea. This territory was also celebrated in profane antiquity for its ample possession of such articles as the queen of Sheba brought to Solomon. The spices, the incense, the gold of Sabea-its abundance in every production which could make life happy, and the consequent luxury and redundant wealth of the inhabitants, procured for southernmost Arabia the surname of Felix, the Happy,-and the glowing and exaggerated statements which Greek and Roman writers have transmitted in reference to it, clearly shew that almost nothing was practically known of the country; and the Oriental produce of which the Sabai and other maritime Arabians were the carriers, being considered the actual produce of the country, rendered it a sort of el-Dorado to the ancient imagination. At whatever conclusion we may arrive with reference to the present text, there cannot be the least doubt that this, the Arabian Sabea, is frequently to be understood by the Sheba or Seba of the Scriptures.

The other opinion in favour of Abyssinia, although not taken up first by him, has found its most powerful advocacy in the statements and reasonings of Mr. Bruce. It has the (in such a matter) valuable sanction of Josephus, as Bruce fails not to state: and, what is of still greater importance, the opinion not only forms the unanimous belief of a great nation, but has left a most sensible impress upon the whole system of its laws, manners, and institutions.

It is first necessary to observe that three sources are intimated in Scripture from whence the name of Sheba or Seba might be derived. 1. From a son and grandson of Cush (Gen. x. 7). 2. From a son of Joktan (Gen. x. 28). 3. From a grandson of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. xxv. 3). Now it is reasonable to suppose that these denominations did not coalesce in any one people, but formed as many independent tribes: for they were of families different and remote in time. The first was of Ham, the second of Shem, the third, also of Shem, was long posterior. Arabian traditions confirm the probability that the Sabeans of south Arabia were from the second of these stocks, forming the people to whom the preceding statements refer. The third we probably find in the marauding nomade tribe mentioned in Job i. 15, and vi. 19. And the first, being from Ham, probably originated the denomination of Saba, in African Ethiopia. Now we apprehend that much confusion of ideas has arisen from the hasty conclusion that in every text the name Sheba or Seba always denotes the same country, and Sabeans the same people. Omitting

from the present consideration the Bedouin Sabeans, it is easy to shew that two other Shebas are distinguished in Scripture most clearly. As this is much overlooked, we may quote Psalm Ixxii. 10,-The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts;' and Ezek. xxvii. 22, 23,-'The merchants of Sheba and Raamah occupied in

thy fairs with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and gold. Haran and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.' This last passage is of great importance. It specifies two mercantile Shebas most distinctly. If we look to either of them as that from which the queen came, it will doubtless be to the first, because the specified products are the same which the queen of Sheba brought to Solomon; the excellence of the spices in particular being in both instances particularly indicated. It is not too much to suppose that one of them was the Sheba of Arabia, the other of African Ethiopia; and if so, then this very same Sheba on which we have fixed must certainly be the African one; for the names of Raamah and Sheba, which are here connected, are connected also in Gen. x. 7, as the names of a son and grandson of Cush, who gave to Ethiopia its Hebrew name. It is indeed true that South Arabia is also called Ethiopia, and that the original Cushite settlement was there; but as we have here two Shebas, of which that in Arabia claims to have taken its name from Sheba, the son of Joktan, and grandson of Shem, we are bound to find another place for that Sheba to which the grandson of Cush gave his name; and where shall this be but in African Ethiopia? To this we shall be further led by the consideration that the African Sheba or Saba, towards the south of the Red Sea, was famous for producing incense, spices, and gold, which Arabia did not and does not produce. So, upon the whole, if Scripture does anywhere acknowledge the African Sheba, we may conclude it to be here intended: and that it does acknowledge it, appears from the manner in which it is associated with Egypt in such passages as these:-'I give Egypt for thy ransom; Ethiopia and Seba for thee' (Isa. xliii. 3); and 'The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans' (Isa. xlv. 14). This is the more remarkable when we consider that the geographical order corresponds with this enumeration- the African Ethiopia being to the south of Egypt, and Saba to the south, or in the most southern part, of Ethiopia. We are aware that some, unreasonably, contend that the African Ethiopia is never noticed in Scripture; but we have not the least doubt that it is so, when mentioned thus along with Egypt. How else is the following passage explained? Describing the invasion of Judah by Shishak king of Egypt, the sacred historian says, 'The people were without number that came with him out of Egypt-the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians." These Ethiopians were surely not Arabians.

Without at present entering into the discussion whether the African Saba were considered a distinct state, or merely a southern part of Ethiopia, we may observe that

Mr. Bruce, who finds in Abyssinia, near and bordering on the southern part of the Red Sea, and opposite the Arabian Saba, a country which native histories testify to have been anciently called Saba or Azaba, does not derive its name naturally from the son or grandson of Cush, but explains it by its meaning, 'south,' with a view to shew why the queen of Sheba is, in the New Testament, called the queen of the south. His account is confirmed by Strabo, who mentions an Ethiopian port called Saba on the Red Sea. The Abyssinians certainly believe the Sheba, whose queen We

know that Solomon had the maritime commerce of the Red Sea, on the African shores of which this Saba was situated. Its shores were doubtless among those which that commerce visited, and, as Bruce observes, what the queen heard of the great king, for whom so much wealth was continually being exported from her dominions, might naturally create a desire to visit him. She might have gone by land through Egypt-a journey which is now constantly performed by the Abyssinian pilgrims to and from Jerusalem; or she may have sailed up the Red Sea, and have passed from Suez or Ezion-geber to Jerusalem on camels, in the usual manner; or, she may have crossed the Red Sea into the Arabian Sabea, and thence journeyed on camels through Arabia to Jerusalem. This last course might help to make both the theories under discussion coalesce; particularly if, as Bruce tells us, the opposite coasts formed at times but one dominion, so that the queen of Sheba' may at this time have been the queen of both the Sabea of Ethiopia and that of Arabia.

The Abyssinian histories state that the queen remained to acquaint herself with the Hebrew religion; to comprehend the order of that government and royal establishments which the Scriptures tell us she so much admired. And here it is important to note that the consequences of that admiration, which would naturally lead to imitation, can be discovered even at this day in Abyssinia, but have left no trace in Arabia. And also that the protracted stay of the queen in Judæa is corroborated by the independent

tradition of the Moslems, who tell us that Baalbek was, in the first instance, built by Solomon as a residence for the queen of Sheba. The Abyssinians further state that the queen ultimately returned with a son which she had borne to Solomon, who was afterwards sent back to be educated at Jerusalem, and who finally returned home with a colony of Jews, consisting of priests and other able and learned persons, by whose aid the people were instructed in the Hebrew religion and laws, and the government modelled on the plan which that of Solomon offered. The son of ever

sovereigns descended from him have ever gloried in tracing their origin to the wise and renowned Hebrew king. Such is the substance of Abyssinian history and tradition on the subject. If it had been a dry unsupported legend, we should be strongly inclined to reject it. But this we hesitate to do when we observe the permanent and otherwise unaccountable corroboration it has received from the still subsisting ideas, usages, laws, and even the religion of the Abyssinians. There is no existing nation which in these respects so much resembles the Jews: their religion itself, though called Christian, having rather more of Judaism than Christianity in it. We, of course, cannot say that we implicitly believe all the details of this account; bnt it is difficult not to acquiesce in it as a general statement. Do we not also find a corroboration of it in the fact that the treasurer of Candace queen of Ethiopia was of the Jewish religion, and had been up to Jerusalem to worship, when he was met near Gaza and converted by the preaching of Philip the deacon? (Acts viii.) Upon the whole, we are inclined to think that there is great moral probability in the leading facts of the Abyssinian narrative; and that the geographical probability is not incompatible with it.

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10. Algum trees.'-Where there is so little to assist conjecture, it may seem hazardous to guess, but as the algum-tree, among other purposes, was employed in the construction of musical instruments, we are naturally led to suppose that it was a kind of pine-tree. It came from

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Lebanon, but a much better sort was brought from Ophir; and as that place is supposed to have been either an Indian port or an emporium on the coast of Arabia for the produce of India, we may, without much violence to verisimilitude, suppose that the foreign or better kind was the Pinus deodara of India, which affords a very beautiful wood of great fragrance. All the most sacred and valuable works in that peninsula are made of this wood-and not unworthily, for such is the odour, hardness, and veiny colourations of the wood, that those who have seen articles of furniture manufactured from it, cannot wonder at the preference. We have given a picturesque illustration of this pine, to invite the attention of the reader to it, though we are not disposed to affirm positively that the deodara was the algum of Solomon and nothing else. Dr. Royle, with reference to the conclusion here exhibited, admits that if a species of fir is to be understood, none is more worthy of selection than the deodar (deo god, dar wood), but objects that it is found only in very inaccessible situations (art. ALGUM' in Kitto's Biblical Cyclopædia.) But this objection is hardly conclusive. The cedars and other timbers of Lebanon grow in not very accessible situations, as shewn in the note to 1 Kings v. 6, and were yet obtained by the process there described; and in the note on the next verse it is seen that the rivers of India in time of flood afford still greater facilities for bringing timber from the mountains to the sea. As this, therefore, is the only ground on which Dr. Royle declares his preference of the sandal-wood (Santalum album), we do not feel justified in abandoning the deodar; but are not unwilling to concede that the question lies between it and the sandalwood, although it is admitted that musical instruments are not now made of the latter, and this is the principal use to which Solomon applied the algum-wood he obtained.

11.

And the king made of the algum-trees terraces and harps, and psalteries.'-The following passage from Sir J. G. Wilkinson's curious and valuable work on the Ancient Egyptians contains information not obtainable from any other source; and although Palestine possessed many native woods which Egypt had not, much of it must be equally applicable to the former country, particularly the statement with reference to the use of rare foreigu woods, which were so extensively imported into Palestine in the time of Solomon:- Egypt produced little wood; and, with the exception of the date and doum palms, the sycamore, tamarisk, and acacias, few trees of native growth afforded timber either for building or for ornamental purposes. Of the date-palm, the trunk served for beams, either entire or split in half; of the gereet, or branches, were (and are) made wicker baskets, bedsteads, coops, and ceilings of rooms, answering every purpose for which laths, or other thin wood-work might be required. The wood of the doum-palm, being much more compact and solid than that of the date-tree, was found to answer as well for rafts and other purposes connected with water as for beams and rafters. For coffins, boxes, tables, doors, and other objects, which required large and thick planks, for idols and wooden statues, the sycamore was principally employed. . . . . The tamarisk was preferred for the handles of tools, wooden hoes, and other things requiring a hard and compact wood; and of the acacia were made the planks and masts of boats, the handles of offensive weapons of war, and various articles of furniture. Besides the sont or Acacia (Mimosa) Nilotica, other acacias which grew in Egypt were also adapted to various purposes; and some instances are met with of the wood of the eqleeq, or Balanites Egyptiaca, and of different desert trees having been used by the Egyptian carpenters. For ornamental

purposes, and sometimes even for coffins, doors, and boxes, foreign woods were employed. Deal and cedar were imported from Syria, and part of the contributions exacted from the conquered tribes of Ethiopia and Asia consisted in ebony and other rare woods, which were annually brought by the chiefs deputed to present their country's tribute to the Egyptian monarchs. Boxes, tables, chairs, sofas, and other pieces of furniture, were frequently made of ebony inlaid with ivory, sycamore and acacia were veneered with thin layers, or ornamented with carved devices, of rare wood, applied, or let into them; and a fondness for this display suggested to the Egyptians the art of painting common boards to imitate foreign varieties, so generally adopted at the present day. The colours were usually applied on a thin coating of stucco, laid smoothly upon the previously prepared wood, and the various knots and grains painted upon this ground indicated the quality of the wood they intended to counterfeit.' -Ancient Egyptians, ii. 177, 178; iii. 167-9.

17.

The king made a great throne.'-This famous

throne stood upon a raised platform, to which there was an ascent by steps. From the Scriptural description, compared with that of Josephus (Antiq. viii. 5. 2); assisted by the particulars preserved by early traditions, we collect that to the raised daïs, or platform, on which the throne rested, there was an ascent by six steps. The balustrade (so to speak) of these steps was formed by the figures of couching lions of gold, twelve in all, being two to each step. The throne itself was of ivory (a material which appears to have been unknown in Palestine until the time of Solomon), studded and enriched with gold, and over it was a semi-spherical canopy. Besides the twelve lions on the six steps of ascent, there were two as 'stays' on each side of the seat, the back of which appears to have been concave (see 1 Kings x. 18-20).

Now although, for its cost and materials, the like of this throne had not been made in any kingdom,' it is easy to shew the correspondence of its general plan and details with those of the thrones of the ancient and modern East.

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The annexed engravings, representing the thrones on which gods and kings are the most usually seated in the Egyptian sculptures, evince that the throne, as a raised platform or daïs, was common among that people; and to this daïs was usually an ascent by steps. There is another class of Egyptian seats, which we introduce to

THRONE WITH STEPS.

the reader's notice, not only on account of the illustration which they furnish, but for the sake of the demonstration which they offer of the high pitch to which the arts of domestic civilisation had, at a very early date, attained among the next neighbours (and now friends and allies)

of the Israelites. They form the first class of seats among that people, and whether we look to the elegance and convenience of their forms, their exquisite workmanship, or the richness of their materials, it is difficult to say in what they are surpassed by modern art. The illustrative points, with reference to the seat of Solomon's throne, are afforded by the lions, and by the concavity of the back,-points which did not escape the notice of Sir J. G. Wilkinson, who observes, with reference to this class of seats, the back of the chair was equally light and strong. It was occasionally concave, like some Roman chairs, or the throne of Solomon (1 Kings x. 19); and in many of the large fauteuils, a lion forms an arm at each side. But the back usually consisted of a single set of upright and cross bars, or of a frame, receding gracefully, and terminating at its summit in a graceful curve, supported from without by perpendicular bars; and over this was thrown a handsome pillow of coloured cotton, painted leather, or gold and silver tissue, like the beds at the feast of Ahasuerus, mentioned in Esther (i. 6); or like the feather cushions covered with stuffs, and embroidered with silk threads of gold, in the palace of Scaurus' (Ancient Egyptians, ii. p. 196). To which we may add that the frames of some of these fauteuils are coloured yellow in the pictures of them in the royal tombs, from which the examples are copied, suggesting that they were overlaid with gold, or, at the least, gilded. The lions are always, and the other ornamental parts are often, coloured yellow, even when the rest is of a different colour, confirming the probability of the intention to represent gold. We cannot dismiss these old Egyptian thrones and seats, without

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