9:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp, bringing with her camels carrying spices, a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind.
Many scholars believe that the Queen of Sheba traveled 1,200 miles from Arabia on the back of a camel in order to hear the wisdom of Solomon. During the days of Solomon, many nations from all over the world came to visit Solomon. They most likely heard about the glory of the Israelite kingdom from the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were next door neighbors and close friends of Israel. The Phoenicians also controlled the sea trade on the Mediterranean Sea.
9:2 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.
Solomon answered all of her questions, including the theological questions about the identity of the one true God who had made Israel great. The Queen of Sheba would learn the historical truth of creation, the truth of the flood, the truth of the Tower of Babel, and the origin of false religion. Many years later, Philip the Evangelist will explain Isaiah 53 to the Ethiopian Eunuch. Information of the one true God could have been passed down from the royal house of the Queen of Sheba to the royal house that this Ethiopian eunuch served.
9:3 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, the palace he had built, 9:4 the food in his banquet hall, his servants and attendants in their robes, his cupbearers in their robes, and his burnt sacrifices which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed.
She must have been really amazed at the burnt offerings, because they pointed to a coming Jewish Messiah. This Jewish Messiah was the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 in whom the Ethiopian eunuch would ask Philip about.
9:5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight was true!
Evidently, the sea-faring Phoenicians had informed her nation about their next door neighbor Israel.
9:6 I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! Your wisdom surpasses what was reported to me.
The wisdom of Solomon included the true history of God’s dealings with mankind.
9:7 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy!
Israel was a joyful nation, because they were blessed by God for keeping the Mosaic Law.
9:8 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored you by placing you on his throne as the one ruling on his behalf! Because of your God’s love for Israel and his lasting commitment to them, he made you king over them so you could make just and right decisions.”
Notice that she said “the Lord your God.” She may have seen Jehovah as just one of many gods.
9:9 She gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very large quantity of spices and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched.
The Queen of Sheba made a huge offering to Solomon. Some scholars see this as tribute. Others see it as an offering. The Gentiles will bring similar offerings to Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom.
9:10 (Huram’s servants, aided by Solomon’s servants, brought gold from Ophir, as well as fine timber and precious gems.
Huram was the Phoenician King of Tyre. Israel and Tyre joined together in the shipping business. They both controlled the shipping trade on the Mediterranean Sea. The Greeks would also hear about the wisdom of Israel and send visitors. These visitors would take this information back to Greece. It is very possible that the philosophical teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were derived from Solomon. Zoroaster from Persia, Confucius from China, and Siddhartha Gautama from India may have been influenced by Solomon as well.
9:11 With the timber the king made steps for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that.)
The Mediterranean sea trade brought many valuable resources to Israel. With the cedars from foreign nations, many musical instruments were made.
9:12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, more than what she had brought him. Then she left and returned to her homeland with her attendants.
The Queen of Sheba prospered both spiritually and materially. It seems as God rewarded her for her long trip to hear the truth.
9:13 Solomon received 666 talents of gold per year, 9:14 besides what he collected from the merchants and traders. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
Solomon received 666 talents “per year.” This would be equal to 25 tons per year. Israel had cornered the gold market in that day. Solomon also exacted tribute from all of the Arabian kings. Israel became the wealthiest nation in history.
9:15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures of hammered gold were used for each shield. 9:16 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest.
Gold is a soft metal. The shields were used for display, not war. These golden shields were later plundered by Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt. Sargon’s cuneiform clay prisms gloat over the capture of several shields of gold from the city of Muoasir in Urartia.
9:17 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.
Most of the ivory probably came from African trade.
9:18 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and a gold footstool was attached to the throne. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side.
Even the steps to the throne were made of gold. The lions may have symbolized the Lion of Judah. Solomon was from the tribe of Judah. Jesus was also from the tribe of Judah. Jacob prophesied that the Messiah would come from this tribe.
9:19 There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom.
The twelve lions may have stood for the twelve tribes of Judah.
9:20 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time.
Belshazzar of Babylon will later take these utensils into his palace and mock the God of Israel. On that same night, the Medes and Persians will sneak under the castle walls and take Babylon without a fight.
9:21 The king had a fleet of large merchant ships manned by Huram’s men that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet came into port with cargoes of gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.
Notice that as Solomon grows wealthier, he shifts his focus from witnessing to the Gentile nations to gathering apes and peacocks. Many churches today are more interested in gathering apes and peacocks than they are in teaching the whole counsel of the Word of God.
9:22 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.
Solomon was given supernatural political wisdom directly from God. This was why he was able to effectively lead the most powerful and wealthiest nation in history.
9:23 All the kings of the earth wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom.
The Phoenicians took knowledge of Solomon all over the earth. All of the kings desired to hear the wisdom of Solomon. The church today is to take the gospel to the nations. During Israel’s tenure, the nations were to envy Israel and travel to hear Israel's wisdom. The wisdom of Israel pointed others to the one true God. Therefore, the nations had no excuse. Their ambassadors received divine knowledge and rejected it.
9:24 Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules.
Solomon received gifts from kings all over the world. These gifts made Israel even more powerful.
9:25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem.
It was against the Mosaic Law for kings to multiply horses. Some of these stalls have been found in Megiddo. Megiddo is the future location of the Battle of Armageddon.
9:26 He ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines as far as the border of Egypt.
These nations did not fulfill the land promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, because they were tribute nations. They paid tribe to Israel out of fear, not because of love for Jehovah.
9:27 The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands.
There was as much silver in Israel as their were stones. There was as much cedar as their was sycamore trees. This meant that Israel was extremely wealthy and they lived in the most beautiful houses.
9:28 Solomon acquired horses from Egypt and from all the lands.
Egypt was known for her chariots and horses. Multiplication of horses was a violation of the Mosaic Law.
9:29 The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded in the Annals of Nathan the Prophet, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Vision of Iddo the Seer pertaining to Jeroboam son of Nebat.
These three books no longer exist.
9:30 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years.
Solomon ruled for forty years. The only two historical events recorded in Chronicles about Solomon was his building of the temple and his witness to Gentile nations.
9:31 Then Solomon passed away and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king.
Rehoboam was the son of Solomon. He became the next king of Israel.