1 Kings 10

1 Then, too, the queen of Sheba, having heard of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord, arrived to test him with enigmas.

The queen [who ruled the] Sheba [area] heard that Yahweh had caused Solomon to become famous, so she traveled to Jerusalem to ask him questions that were difficult [to answer].

2 And entering into Jerusalem with a great retinue, and with riches, and with camels carrying aromatics, and with an exceedingly great quantity of gold and precious stones, she went to king Solomon. And she spoke to him all that she held in her heart.

She came with a large group of wealthy/influential people, and she brought camels that were loaded with spices, and valuable gems, and a lot of gold. When she met Solomon, she asked him questions about all the topics/things in which she was interested.

3 And Solomon taught her, in all the words that she had proposed to him. There was not any word which was able to be hidden from the king, or which he did not answer for her.

Solomon answered all her questions. He explained everything that she asked about, even things that were very difficult.

4 Then, when the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,

The queen realized that Solomon was very wise. She saw his palace;

5 and the food of his table, and the dwelling places of his servants, and the rows of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts that he was offering in the house of the Lord, she had no longer any spirit in her.

she saw the food that was served on his table [every day]; she saw where his officials lived (OR, how his officials were seated at the table), their uniforms, the servants who served the food and wine, and the sacrifices that he took to the temple to be offered. She was extremely amazed.

6 And she said to the king: “The word is true, which I have heard in my own land,

She said to King Solomon, “Everything that I heard in my own country about you and about how wise you are is true!

7 about your words and your wisdom. But I did not believe those who explained it to me, until I went myself and saw it with my own eyes. And I have discovered that the half of it has not been told to me: your wisdom and works are greater than the report that I have heard.

But I did not believe it was true until I came here and saw it myself. But really, what they told me is only half [of what they could have told me about you]. You are extremely wise and rich, more than what people told me.

8 Blessed are your men, and blessed are your servants, who stand before you always, and who hear your wisdom.

Your wives are very fortunate! Your officials who are constantly standing in front of you and listening to the wise things that you say are also fortunate!

9 Blessed is the Lord your God, whom you have greatly pleased, and who has placed you upon the throne of Israel. For the Lord loves Israel forever, and he has appointed you as king, so that you may accomplish judgment and justice.”

Praise Yahweh, your God, who has shown that he is pleased with you by causing you to become the king of Israel! God has always loved the Israeli people, and therefore he has appointed you to be their king, in order that you will rule them fairly and righteously.”

10 Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, and an exceedingly great amount of aromatics and precious stones. No greater quantity of aromatics was ever again brought forth as these, which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

Then the queen gave to the king [the things that she had brought. She gave him] almost five tons of gold and a large amount of spices and valuable gems. Never again did King Solomon receive more spices than the queen gave him at that time.

11 Then, too, the navy of Hiram, which carried gold from Ophir, brought an exceedingly great quantity of thyine wood and precious stones from Ophir.

In the ships that belonged to King Hiram, in which they had previously brought gold from Ophir, they also brought a large amount of juniper wood and gems/valuable stones.

12 And the king made, from the thyine wood, the posts of the house of the Lord, and of the house of the king, and citharas and lyres for the musicians. No thyine trees of this kind were ever again brought forth or seen, even to the present day.

King Solomon told his workers to use that wood to make railings/supports in the temple of Yahweh and in the king’s palace and also to make harps and lyres for the (musicians/men who played musical instruments). That wood was the largest amount of (OR, the finest) wood that had ever been seen [in Israel]. And no one since then has ever seen so much wood of that kind.

13 Then king Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all that she desired and requested of him, aside from what he himself had offered to her from his royal bounty. And she returned and went away to her own land, with her servants.

King Solomon gave to the queen from Sheba everything that she wanted. He gave her those gifts in addition to the gifts that he always gave [to other rulers who visited him]. Then she and the people who came with her returned to her own land.

14 Now the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon each year was six hundred sixty-six talents of gold,

Each year there was brought to Solomon a total of 25 tons of gold.

15 aside from what was brought to him by the men who were over the tributes, and by the merchants, and by those selling every kind of small item, and by all the kings of Arabia, and by the rulers of the land.

That was in addition to [the taxes] paid to him by the merchants and traders, and the annual taxes paid by the kings of Arabia and by the governors of [the regions in] Israel.

16 Also, king Solomon made two hundred large shields from the purest gold. He dispensed six hundred shekels of gold for the layers of one shield.

King Solomon’s workers [took this] gold and hammered it into thin sheets and covered 200 large shields with those thin sheets of gold; they put (almost 15 pounds/more than 6 kg.) of gold on each shield.

17 And for the three hundred crescent-shaped shields of tested gold, there were three hundred minas of gold covering one shield. And the king placed these in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

His workers made 300 smaller shields. They covered each of them with (almost 4 pounds/1.5 kg.) of gold. Then the king put those shields in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon.

18 Also, king Solomon made a great throne from ivory. And he clothed it with a great quantity of red gold.

His workers also made for him a large throne. [Part of it was] covered with (ivory [decorations made from)] tusks of elephants and [part of it was covered] with very fine gold.

19 The throne had six steps, and the summit of the throne was rounded in the back section. And there were two hands, on one side and the other, holding the seat. And two lions were standing beside each hand,

There were six steps in front of the throne. There was a statue of a lion on both sides of each step. So altogether there were twelve statues of lions. The back of the throne was rounded at the top. At each side of the throne there was an armrest, and alongside each armrest there was a small statue of a lion. No throne like that had ever existed in any other kingdom.

20 with twelve little lions standing upon the six steps, on one side and the other. No similar work has been made, ever in any kingdom.

21 Moreover, all the vessels from which king Solomon would drink were of gold. And all the items in the house of the forest of Lebanon were of the purest gold. There was no silver, nor was any accounting made of silver in the days of Solomon.

All of Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the various dishes in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were made of gold. They did not make things from silver, because during the years that Solomon [ruled], silver was not considered to be valuable.

22 For the navy of the king, once every three years, went with the navy of Hiram by sea to Tarshish, bringing from there gold, and silver, and elephant tusks, and primates, and peacocks.

The king had a (fleet/large number) of ships that sailed with the ships that King Hiram owned. Every three years the ships returned [from the places to which they had sailed], bringing gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and baboons (OR, peacocks).

23 And so, king Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.

King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king.

24 And all the earth desired to see the face of Solomon, so as to hear his wisdom, which God had granted to his heart.

People from all over the world wanted to come and listen to the wise things that Solomon said, things that God had put into his mind.

25 And each one brought him gifts, vessels of silver and of gold, clothing and weapons of war, as well as aromatics, and horses, and mules, throughout each year.

All the people who came to him brought presents: They brought things made from silver or gold, or robes, or weapons (OR, myrrh), or spices, or horses, or mules. The people continued to do this every year.

26 And Solomon gathered together the chariots and horsemen. And he had one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And he placed them in the walled cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

Solomon acquired 1,400 chariots and 12,000 men who rode [on the horses] (OR, [in the chariots]). Solomon put some of them in Jerusalem and some of them in other cities where he kept his chariots.

27 And he caused silver to be as abundant in Jerusalem as stones, and he supplied a multitude of cedars like the sycamores that grow in the plains.

During the years that Solomon was king, silver became as common in Jerusalem as stones; and [lumber from] cedar trees in the foothills of Judah was as plentiful as [lumber from] fig trees.

28 And horses were brought for Solomon from Egypt and from Kue. For the merchants of the king were buying these from Kue. And they paid out the established price.

Solomon’s agents bought horses and supervised the men who brought them into Israel from the areas of Musri and Cilicia [that were famous for breeding horses].

29 Now a four-horse chariot would be sent from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty. And in this manner, all the kings of the Hittites and of Syria were selling horses.

In Musri they bought chariots and horses; they paid 600 pieces of silver for each chariot and 150 pieces of silver for each horse. They brought them to Israel. Then they sold many of them to the kings of the Heth people-group and the kings of Syria.