Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The Queen of Sheba comes to Solomon. The annual revenues of Solomon, lances, shields, and other golden furnishings, the throne of ivory interwoven with gold, his death and burial.
Vulgate Text: 2 Paralipomenon 9:1-31
1. The Queen of Sheba also, when she had heard the fame of Solomon, came to try him with riddles in Jerusalem, with great riches, and camels that carried spices, and a great abundance of gold, and precious gems. And when she had come to Solomon, she spoke to him all that was in her heart. 2. And Solomon explained to her all that she had proposed; and there was nothing that he did not make clear to her. 3. And when she had seen these things, namely the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built, 4. and also the food of his table, and the dwellings of his servants, and the duties of his ministers, and their garments, the cupbearers also and their apparel, and the victims which he offered in the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her because of her amazement. 5. And she said to the king: The report is true which I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and your wisdom. 6. I did not believe those who told me, until I came myself and saw with my own eyes, and I found that scarcely half your wisdom had been told to me: you have surpassed your fame by your accomplishments. 7. Blessed are your men, and blessed are your servants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wisdom. 8. Blessed be the Lord your God, who was pleased to set you upon His throne, as king of the Lord your God. Because God loves Israel, and wills to preserve him forever, therefore He has placed you over him as king, to execute judgments and justice. 9. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very many spices, and most precious gems: there were no spices such as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 10. And the servants of Hiram also, with the servants of Solomon, brought gold from Ophir, and thyine wood and most precious gems. 11. of which the king made, of the thyine wood that is, steps in the house of the Lord and in the royal house, and also harps and psalteries for the singers: there were never seen in the land of Judah such wood. 12. And King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba all that she desired and asked for, and far more than she had brought to him; and she returned and went to her own land with her servants. 13. And the weight of gold that was brought to Solomon every year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14. besides that sum which the ambassadors of various nations and the merchants were accustomed to bring, and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the lands, who brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15. King Solomon therefore made two hundred golden lances, of the sum of six hundred gold pieces which were spent on each lance; 16. and three hundred golden shields of three hundred gold pieces, which covered each shield; and the king placed them in the armory, which was set in a grove. 17. The king also made a great ivory throne, and overlaid it with the purest gold. 18. There were also six steps by which one ascended to the throne, and a golden footstool, and two arms on either side, and two lions standing beside the arms, 19. and also twelve other little lions standing upon the six steps on either side: there was no such throne in any kingdom. 20. And all the vessels of the king's banquet were of gold, and the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of the purest gold. For silver was counted as nothing in those days; 21. for the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram, once every three years; and they brought from there gold and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 22. So Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth for riches and glory. 23. And all the kings of the earth desired to see the face of Solomon, to hear the wisdom which God had given in his heart; 24. and they brought him gifts, vessels of silver and of gold, and garments, and armor, and spices, horses and mules, every year. 25. Solomon also had forty thousand horses in his stables, and twelve thousand chariots and horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot cities, and where the king was in Jerusalem. 26. He also exercised dominion over all the kings, from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt. 27. And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as plentiful as sycamores which grow in the plains. 28. And horses were brought to him from Egypt and from all regions. 29. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are written in the words of Nathan the Prophet, and in the books of Ahijah the Shilonite, and also in the vision of Iddo the Seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 30. And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31. And he slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
I have explained this chapter in 3 Kings chapter X.
Verse 5: Of Your Accomplishments
5. OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. — The Hebrew, Septuagint, and Chaldean have: of your words, that is, of your deeds accomplished by you, or things pertaining to you.
Verse 16: In the Armory Set with a Grove
16. IN THE ARMORY WHICH WAS SET WITH A GROVE — that is, in the house of the forest of Lebanon, as the Septuagint translates. Moreover the three hundred and six hundred gold pieces of the shields and lances were shekels, each of which weighed and was worth four drachmas, that is, four crowns, as I showed in 3 Kings chapter X, verse 16.
Verse 21: To Tarshish
21. TO TARSHISH. — The Hebrews called the sea, and thence overseas regions, Tarshish; especially distant ones, unknown to them, such as Ophir and India. See what was said in 3 Kings chapter IX, verse 28, and Jonah chapter I, verse 3.