1 Kings 10:13

1Ki 10:13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside [that] which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Ver. 13. All her desire, whatsoever she asked.] Some say she came to Solomon, as Thalestris queen of the amazons afterwards did to Alexander the Great, to have issue by him; and that he married her and sent her away to her own country great with a son, whom she called David, whose race continueth to this day. {a}

{a} Justin., lib. xii.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 10:13. Solomon gave unto the queen all her desire — By their mutual presents they testified their friendship to each other; wishing by these things to be remembered. Whatsoever she asked, besides what Solomon gave her of his royal bounty — He desired to know what things would be acceptable to her among all the rarities she had seen, and those he bestowed upon her: besides which he added other things of value, which, it is likely, she had not in her own country. Thus they who apply to our Lord Jesus will find him not only greater and wiser than Solomon, but more kind. Whatsoever we ask, it shall be done for us; nay, he will, out of his divine bounty, which infinitely excels royal bounty, even that of Solomon, do for us more than we are able to ask or think. Reader, hast thou no wants? no desires? Wilt thou not apply to him? Ask, and it shall be given thee.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:13 whatever she asked for: As befitting a royal host, Solomon reciprocated with gifts. The amicable relationship between Solomon and the queen of Sheba may have culminated in a commercial agreement. Subsequent Jewish, Arabian, and Ethiopian tales of a romantic relationship between them have no foundation in fact.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Hebrew, by the hand of the King.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

King Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside--that is, Solomon not only gave his illustrious guest all the insight and information she wanted; but, according to the Oriental fashion, he gave her ample remuneration for the presents she had brought.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. All her desire whatsoever she asked] Some imagine she desired progeny from the wise king of Israel; and all the traditions concerning her state that she had a son by Solomon called Menilek, who was brought up at the Israelitish court, succeeded his mother in the kingdom of Saba, and introduced among his subjects the Jewish religion. See at the end of the chapter. 1Kg 10:29.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) All her desire.—The terms here employed indicate a position of inferiority, although well graced and honoured, in the queen of Sheba. Her present is of the nature of tribute. Solomon gives her of “his bounty,” both what she asked for (probably by praising it) and what else he would.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty] The Hebrew is literally ‘beside that which he gave to her according to the hand of king Solomon.’ For the phrase ‘according to the hand’ signifying ‘after the liberality’ compare Est_1:7; Est_2:18, where the same Hebrew is translated ‘according to the state of the king,’ i.e. ‘according to his bounty’ where the narrative relates to a magnificent feast, and presents given to the guests. In the parallel passage (2Ch_9:12) we have ‘beside that which she had brought unto the king,’ which is very difficult to make any sense of.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And King Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire,

whatsoever she asked,.... Some curious things she saw, and was desirous of, she asked for, and had them:

besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty; of his own good will and pleasure, without asking:

so she turned and went to her own country: the country of Sheba in Arabia Felix:

she and her sergeants: the train or retinue she brought with her, which was large, Kg1 10:2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13. All her desire — Whatever of a portable nature she desired to carry home with her as mementos of Solomon’s greatness and glory.

Besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty — Or, as the margin has it, gave her according to the land of king Solomon. That is, besides giving her the things she asked for, he gave her presents becoming his vast wealth. As she had brought him presents of such great value, it was but a matter of kingly courtesy for him to respond by similar gifts.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba on her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. Heb. according to the hand of king Solomon. The chronicler has, "beside that which she had brought unto the king." That is to say, in addition to the fitting presents which he made in return for her gifts, he freely gave her whatsoever she asked for. To ask for a coveted thing is no breach of Oriental propriety. The Ethiopian Christians find in these words (and considering the character of Solomon and the license of that age, perhaps not altogether without reason) a basis for their belief that she bore Solomon a son, Melimelek by name, from whom, indeed, the present sovereigns of Abyssinia claim to derive their descent. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

Bishop Wordsworth has remarked (p. 44) that the record of this visit disappoints us. He says, "He (Solomon) answered her hard questions. He showed her his palace but we do not hear that he invited her to go up with him into the house of the Lord," etc. Again: "The visit of the queen of Sheba seem to have been without any spiritual result." "In like manner," he adds, "we hear nothing of any attempt on Solomon"s part to improve his friendship and commercial relations with Hiram into an occasion for communicating the better merchandise of Divine truth to the Sidonians." But surely this criticism overlooks the fact that Judaism was not a missionary religion, and that the chosen people had no sort of commission to convert the heathen, It is, no doubt, a mystery; but it is a fact, that for 2, 000 years the light of God"s truth was, by the counsel and purpose of God, restricted within the extremely narrow confines of Israel, and that the "fulness of the time," when the Gentiles should be "fellow heirs," was distant from Solomon"s day by a whole millennium.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

everything she wished for, whatever she asked

These two phrases mean basically the same thing and are combined for emphasis. (See: Parallelism)

of his royal bounty

"because as king he had so much"

translationWords

royal

servant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Gave to the queen of Sheva. This giving refers only to the teaching of wisdom.

All that she desired. (He had relations with her and Nevuchadnetzar was born, and he later destroyed the Beis [Hamikdosh] that had stood 410 years in the territory of all the twelve tribes. Rabbi Yitzchok [Luria] of blessed memory) [He gave her more,] in addition to giving her gifts and delicacies that are found here but are not found in her place.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.