2 Chronicles 9:4

2Ch 9:4 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her.

Ver. 4. And their apparel] 1Ki 10:5.

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.

Or, galleries whereby he went up.

Hebrew, there was no spirit in her.

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

(4) And his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord.—Kings, “And his burnt offering which he offered in the house of the Lord.” The LXX., Syr., and Vulg. here agree with Kings; and the Arab. reads, “the altar on which he offered.” In all other passages, the word used in our text (‘alîyâh) means not ascent, but upper chamber; it is likely, therefore, that in the present instance it is merely an error of transcription for the term occurring in Kings (‘ôlâh, “burnt-offering”).

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

4. and their apparel] The phrase is repeated probably through an error of transcription; it occurs once only in the parallel place in 1 Kin.

his ascent by which he went up] Render (if the text be sound), his manner of going up, i.e. the pomp with which he went up (so Targ.); but LXX. and Pesh. give, the burnt-offerings which he used to offer, a rendering which is right in 1Ki_10:5 (cp. R.V. mg.). The difference of reading between Chron. and 1 Kin. in the Heb. is slight.

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.

The meat of his table. (see 1Ki_4:22, 1Ki_4:23) Translating our thoughts rather violently into modern language, we might picture the queen inspecting the kitchens of the palace, and remember that the kitchens of an Oriental court did the work, not of an individual "table," but of those of a very large domestic and official retinue; much more these of Solomon now. Keil and Bertheau, however, with others, refer this expression to the set-out of one meal-table (as e.g. that of a modern banquet, wedding breakfast, or the like), where both the abounding lading of the table and the ample variety of the courses, and the rich foreign or home fruits, in season or out of season, and the furnishing and decorating of the table, all come in to add their contribution of effect; and they quote not inaptly our ver. 20, elucidated by 1Ki_10:21. This was a daily glory with Solomon"s palace-establishment. The immediate connection and the contents of this verse, though difficult, favour this direction of explanation, as will be seen in the succeeding clauses. The sitting of his servants. The word here used (bvwOm) occurs forty-three times, and is rendered in the Authorized Version thirty-two of these times as "habitation" or "dwelling." Of the remaining eleven times, one or other of those words would be almost the synonym of the word used, and in every ease the rendering "dwelling," if kept to the general idea of a dwelling or resting-place more or less temporary, would not be inappropriate or inconsistent with the evident drift of the connection; only here and in the parallel is the inconvenient rendering "sitting" adopted by the Authorized Version. Hence we disagree with Professor Dr. Murphy"s explanation, the sitting, i.e. "in council of his chief officers." What the nature of the location (to use a term least specific) of the servants pointed to here is, nevertheless, still not quite clear. It is evidently placed in some antithesis with the standing (i.e. the standing-place) here rendered "inadequately or incorrectly, the attendance of his ministers. The attendance, i.e. "the station (dm) (see the four other occurrences of this word:" 1Ki_10:5; 1Ch_23:28; 2Ch_35:15; Isa_22:19) Of his ministers; Hebrew, wytrvm, participle of a piel verb, trev; This word, in an amazing majority of the hundred occurrences of it, expresses ministry of sacred service of some kind. It may, indeed, be said that the present passage, with only one or two others, are doubtful in this meaning or character of explanation. To our next clause, referring to their apparel, we find in the parallel mention, as here, of the cupbearers, though the matter of their apparel is not included as it is here. Part of the difficulty of the verse arises from the consideration that up to this point the contents of the successive clauses of it may compose possibly enough a sharp graphic description of the daily banquet scene. An apt reference to similar description of Arabian banquets is given in the "Speaker"s Commentary" as to be found in vol. it. pp. 213-215 of "Ancient Monarchies." Our next clause, however, brings us back into difficulty by its reference to Solomon"s ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord, (1Ch_26:16 with our Exposition, "Pulpit Commentary apparently so unseasonably; nor are we much helped by reading, with the Septuagint, "the burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord." The obscurity and lack of coherence are not formidable, indeed, and perhaps may be with moderate satisfaction set down again to the account of the occasionally careless selection of the compilers from the material of the older work. Possibly the allusion in our ver. 11 to the terraces, or stairs, or highways (see margin) to "the house of the Lord," and to the kings palace, may hold some clue to the ascent being adverted to here. Vers. 4-6.

The unimaginable.

The Queen of Sheba was completely overwhelmed by what she saw at the court of Jerusalem. When she had seen and heard everything there was to see and hear, "there was no more spirit in her." She was "astonished with a great astonishment." She had not credited what she had been told (ver. 6); but she found that there was a great deal more to find than anything that had been described. What she realized altogether surpassed her anticipation. Her experience was very remarkable of its kind, but in this particular it was by no means exceptional. We have much to do with the unimaginable. It meets us or awaits us in

I THE MATERIAL CREATION. What wholly unanticipated wonders have been disclosed by the advance of human science! The men of remote generations had not the faintest notion of the powers we have discovered to reside in the material universe. And what still undiscovered forces await our inquiry and investigation as we patiently plod on in the paths of knowledge! Surely one-half hath not been told us or imagined by us.

II OUR HUMAN EXPERIENCE. We have our expectation concerning the life that is before us; but it is very little like the reality, as experience will prove. Many things we may picture to ourselves which will find no fulfilment; but many other things there are, of which we have no discernment, that will find their place on the page of our biography. Of these some are unexpected sorrows losses, disappointments, separations, struggles of which we can form no idea; others are unanticipated blessings-comforts, relationships, joys, triumphs exceeding and excelling our hopes. We do not anticipate, for good or evil, one-half of the bright or dark reality.

III THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD. "Eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor had it entered into man"s heart to conceive" one-half of "what God had prepared for them that love him." No man could or did imagine that such wealth of grace and goodness as that which the gospel of Christ contains would be brought to us by the Anointed of God, would be purchased for us by a Saviour"s sacrifice, would be pressed upon us by a heavenly Father"s urgent and persistent love.

IV THE GLORY WHICH IS TO BE REVEALED. In that "land of great distances" we are one day to traverse, in that home of love in which we are soon to dwell, what unimaginable good is in reserve! What joy and what glory; what rest and what activity; what realization and what hope; what knowledge of God and what pursuit of that knowledge; what royalty and what service; what purity and what progress; what unanticipated and inconceivable blessedness to satisfy but not satiate the soul! C.

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

And the food of his table fowl (I Kings 5:3) and kinds of delicacies that were served on his table in abundance.

and the seating of his servants That each one recognized his place when they were seated at the table, and of those who constantly saw the king’s face, no one was allowed to sit in his neighbor’s place all the days of his life.

and the station of his attendants Each one would retain his station and his position, and he would not change it the next day.

and their attire The attire that they would wear tomorrow was not the same as, the attire that they wore today.

and his cupbearers most of his cupbearers.

and his ascent the stairway by which he ascended from his palace to the Temple.

and she was breathless because she thought that there was no wisdom in any of the kingdoms but in her own country and like that of her wise men, because her country was in the east; they were wise because they were stargazers, as is stated in the first chapter of Tractate Rosh Hashanah, for Eretz Israel is west of Babylon, and that is what is written (I Kings 5:10): “And Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the children of the east,” for they were in the east, as it is written (Gen. 11: 2): “And it came to pass as they migrated from the east.” (I Kings 5:10) “And all the wisdom of Egypt,” for they were sorcerers, necromancers, and astrologers, and he was wise in divination (טַיִיר). So it is written in Pesikta (d’Rav Kahana p. 33b). The word (טַיִיר) is Arabic, and in Leviticus Rabbah (32:2), in the chapter dealing with the son of the Egyptian (24:10): (Eccl. 10:20): “for a bird of the air shall carry the voice.” This is the raven and refers to the art of bird divination (טוּיאַרִי).

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.