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| 1 And the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and came to Jerusalem to prove Solomon with enigmas; with a very great train, and camels that bore spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones; and she came to Solomon, and spoke with him of all that was in her heart. |
The queen of Sheba – Presumed to have been a Negress. The present Emperor of Abyssinia claims to be a descendant of Solomon by this Queen. R3043:1
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| 2 And Solomon explained to her all she spoke of, and there was not a thing hidden from Solomon that he did not explain to her. |
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| 3 And when the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, |
Of Solomon – Type of Christ. A79; B255
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| 4 and the food of his table, and the deportment of his servants, and the order of service of his attendants and their apparel, and his cupbearers and their apparel, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, there was no more spirit in her. |
Spirit in her – It took her breath away. R3284:6
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| 5 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine affairs and of thy wisdom; |
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| 6 but I gave no credit to their words, until I came and mine eyes had seen; and behold, the half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: thou exceedest the report that I heard. |
Was not told me – "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath in reservation for them that love him." (1 Cor. 2:9) R3285:2
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| 7 Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom! |
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| 8 Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king to Jehovah thy God! Because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore did he make thee king over them, to do judgment and justice. |
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| 9 And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in very great abundance, and precious stones; neither was there any such spice as that which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. |
120 talents of gold – Estimated at $3,000,000. R2067:5
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| 10 (And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought sandal-wood and precious stones. |
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| 11 And the king made of the sandal-wood stairs for the house of Jehovah, and for the king's house, and harps and lutes for the singers. And there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.) |
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| 12 And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides what she had brought to the king. And she turned and went to her own land, she and her servants. |
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| 13 And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, |
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| 14 besides what dealers and merchants brought, and what all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought of gold and silver to Solomon. |
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| 15 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold, --he applied six hundred shekels of beaten gold to one target; |
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| 16 and three hundred shields of beaten gold, --he applied three hundred shekels of gold to one shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. |
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| 17 And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold; |
Made a great throne – Solomon laid aside his father's throne, and made a unique and costly one for his own use. R1283:1*
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| 18 and the throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold fastened to the throne; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms; |
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| 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. |
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| 20 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of precious gold: silver was not of the least account in the days of Solomon. |
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| 21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: once in three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. |
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| 22 And king Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. |
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| 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. |
To hear his wisdom – Representatives of many nations will say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." (Isa. 2:3) R2053:1
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| 24 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year. |
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| 25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. |
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| 26 And he ruled over all the kings from the river as far as the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt. |
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| 27 And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he as the sycamores that are in the lowland for abundance. |
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| 28 And they brought to Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands. |
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| 29 And the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last, are they not written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? |
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| 30 And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. |
Forty years – Link No.26 in the chain of Bible chronology. B50; R1980:4
Possibly typifying the harvest of the Millennial age. R4018:2*
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| 31 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead. |
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