CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
2 Chronicles 9
Chapter 9 of 36
Chapter Overview
What happens in 2 Chronicles 9
The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon and is amazed by his wisdom and wealth. This chapter also describes Solomon's incredible riches — his gold, his throne, his trading ships — and ends with his death after a forty-year reign.
Scripture
2 Chronicles 9
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
Study note
The Queen of Sheba, likely from modern-day Yemen in southern Arabia, traveled a great distance to test Solomon with difficult questions. She arrived with a huge group of attendants, camels loaded with spices, large amounts of gold, and precious stones. After Solomon answered all her questions, she was overwhelmed by his wisdom, the beauty of his palace, the food at his table, and the organization of his servants. She praised the God of Israel and gave Solomon about 4.5 tons of gold, plus spices and precious stones.
1 The Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon's fame. She traveled to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She came with a large group, camels loaded with spices, huge amounts of gold, and precious stones. When she met Solomon, she asked him about everything on her mind. And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
2 Solomon answered every question she had. Nothing was too difficult for him to explain. And Solomon told her all her questions: and there was nothing hid from Solomon which he told her not.
3 When the Queen of Sheba saw Solomon's amazing wisdom and the temple he had built, And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built,
4 She saw the food served at his table and how his officials were seated. She saw how his servants dressed and did their work. She noticed his cup-bearers in their fine clothes and the stairway leading up to the Lord's temple. It all took her breath away. 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.
5 She told the king, 'Everything I heard back home about your accomplishments and wisdom turned out to be true.' And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom:
6 'But I did not believe it until I came and saw it for myself. The truth is, people did not even tell me half of it! Your wisdom is far greater than what I was told.' Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.
7 'How fortunate your people are! How blessed are your servants who stand in your presence every day and get to hear your wisdom!' Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
8 'Praise the Lord your God! He was so pleased with you that he placed you on his throne to rule for him. Because your God loves Israel and wants the nation to stand strong forever, he made you their king to uphold justice and fairness.' Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.
9 She gave the king about 4.5 tons of gold, a great supply of spices, and precious jewels. No one had ever brought Solomon spices as fine as those from the Queen of Sheba. And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.
10 Huram's workers and Solomon's workers, who brought gold from Ophir, also brought algum wood and precious stones. And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.
11 The king used the algum wood to make steps for the Lord's temple and the royal palace, and to craft harps and lyres for the musicians. Nothing like them had ever been seen in the land of Judah. And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king's palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.
12 King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for -- even more than she had brought to him. Then she and her servants returned to her own country. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which she had brought unto the king. So she turned, and went away to her own land, she and her servants.
Solomon's Wealth
Study note
Solomon received about 25 tons of gold each year, not counting what came from traders and merchants or the tribute from Arabian kings. He made 200 large gold shields and 300 smaller gold shields and kept them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. His magnificent throne was made of ivory and covered with gold, with six steps and a gold footstool. Twelve lions stood along the steps. All his drinking cups were gold — silver was considered worthless in his day.
13 Every year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;
14 This did not include the income from traders and merchants. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land also brought Solomon gold and silver. Beside that which chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold, using about 15 pounds of gold for each one. And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one target.
16 He also made 300 smaller shields of hammered gold, using about 7.5 pounds of gold each. The king displayed them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
17 The king also built a beautiful throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
18 The throne had six steps leading up to it and a gold footstool attached to it. There were armrests on both sides, with a lion figure standing beside each armrest. And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays:
19 Twelve lion figures stood on the steps -- one at each end of every step. No other kingdom had a throne like it. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom.
20 Every cup King Solomon drank from was made of gold. Every piece in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon was pure gold. Silver was considered practically worthless during Solomon's time. And all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold: none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
21 The king owned a fleet of merchant ships operated by Huram's experienced crews. Every three years, the ships came back loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
Solomon's Power and Death
Study note
Solomon was the richest and wisest king on earth. Kings from all over the world came to hear his wisdom and brought gifts every year. He had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen. He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the border of Egypt. After reigning in Jerusalem for forty years, Solomon died and was buried in the City of David. His son Rehoboam became king after him.
22 King Solomon surpassed every other king on earth in both riches and wisdom. And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
23 Kings from all over the world traveled to visit Solomon, eager to hear the wisdom God had given him. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.
24 Year after year, every visitor brought gifts. They brought silver and gold items, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen. He stationed some in the chariot cities and kept others near him in Jerusalem. And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
26 He ruled over all kings from the Euphrates River in the north to Philistia in the west and Egypt's border in the south. And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
27 Solomon made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. Cedar wood was as easy to find as the fig trees in the foothills. And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.
28 Horses were brought in for Solomon from Egypt and from many other countries. And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
29 The full story of Solomon's rule is in Nathan the prophet's records. It is also in the words of Ahijah from Shiloh. The visions of Iddo the seer about Jeroboam son of Nebat are there too. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?
30 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
31 When Solomon died, he was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam became the next king. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Key Themes
Themes in 2 Chronicles 9
Wisdom that attracts the nationsThe testimony of a blessed lifeTrue greatness recognized even by outsidersThe danger of wealth without ongoing faithfulness
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
2 Chronicles 9:1-12 Matthew 12:42
Jesus said the Queen of the South would rise in judgment because she traveled far to hear Solomon's wisdom, yet 'something greater than Solomon' — Jesus Himself — stood before those who refused to listen.
Apply This Today
Living 2 Chronicles 9
The Queen of Sheba was overwhelmed by Solomon's God-given wisdom and abundance. When you live faithfully, your life becomes a testimony that draws others toward God. Let your character and conduct speak even louder than your words.
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