Bible Commentaries
Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible
1 Kings 10
1 Kings 10. Visit of the Queen of Sheba.—By Sheba or Saba a district in S. Arabia is meant. The Sabæans were known to the Israelites as exporters of gold (Isaiah 60:6, Psalms 72:15); Ezekiel (Ezekiel 27:23) says that they dealt extensively with Tyre. In Job (Job 1:15, Job 6:19), they are represented as marauders. The civilisation of Arabia was considerable, and much light has been thrown on it by scholars like Hommel and Glaser. Our Lord calls the queen of Sheba the "queen of the south" (Matthew 12:42); for an Eastern queen reigning independently, cf. Candace, queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8:27). The rest of the chapter is occupied by an account of Solomon's wealth and magnificence and his trade. "The ships of Tarshish" (1 Kings 10:22) were Phœnician trading vessels suitable for a visit to that place, which was either Tarsus in Asia Minor or Tartessus in Spain (Isaiah 2:16*). Ships used in the Red Sea naturally did not go there, nevertheless they are so called; see 1 Kings 22:48, where Jehoshaphat "made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold."
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