2 Chronicles · chapter 9 of 36
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2 Chronicles 9 tells of the visit of the queen of Sheba to Jerusalem: she arrives with camels loaded with spices, gold and precious stones, tests Solomon with hard questions and is amazed by his wisdom and his house. The chapter then describes the king's wealth and power and ends with his death after forty years of reign, with his son Rehoboam as successor.
Chapter 9 is the peak of Solomon's reign. The fame God promised him in 2 Chronicles 1 is confirmed before the eyes of a foreign queen. The chronicler shows the king's greatness but ends soberly: Solomon dies and the kingdom passes into other hands. That mix of glory and limit prepares the next chapters, in which the kingdom divides.
The queen of Sheba hears of Solomon's fame and comes to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrives with a great retinue, with camels carrying spices, much gold and precious stones. She speaks with Solomon about everything on her mind, and he answers all her questions; nothing is hidden from the king that he cannot explain to her.
When the queen sees Solomon's wisdom, the house he had built, the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the attendants in their clothing, the cupbearers and the burnt offerings he made at the house of the Lord, she is left breathless. She tells him that what she heard in her own land was true, and that not even half had been told her. She blesses the Lord, who delighted in Solomon and set him on his throne to do justice. She gives him one hundred twenty talents of gold, many spices and precious stones, and Solomon gives her everything she desired. She returns to her land.
The chronicler then describes the king's wealth: six hundred sixty-six talents of gold a year, two hundred large shields and three hundred small shields of gold, and a great ivory throne overlaid with gold with six steps and lions. All his drinking vessels are gold and silver is not valued. All the kings of the earth seek to see his face and hear his wisdom. He has four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. He reigns forty years, dies and is buried in the city of David, and his son Rehoboam reigns in his place.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The queen admits that what she heard in her land was true, but that she did not believe it until she saw with her own eyes, and that not even half of his wisdom had been told her. The visit confirms that Solomon's fame was real.
The queen blesses the Lord, who delighted in Solomon and set him on the throne to be king for the Lord. She recognizes that the kingdom belongs to the Lord and that the king's wisdom is his gift.
Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, and all sought his face to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. What was promised in 2 Chronicles 1:12 is fulfilled.
Solomon reigns forty years in Jerusalem over all Israel, dies and is buried in the city of David. Despite all his glory, the kingdom passes to another and the story turns to his son Rehoboam.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: She had heard of his fame and wanted to test him with hard questions. — 2 Chronicles 9:1
Answer: Camels carrying spices, much gold and precious stones. — 2 Chronicles 9:1
Answer: That it was true, but that not even half of his wisdom had been told her. — 2 Chronicles 9:5-6
Answer: The Lord, Solomon's God. — 2 Chronicles 9:8
Answer: They sought to see him and hear the wisdom God had put in his heart, and they brought gifts each year. — 2 Chronicles 9:23-24
Answer: Forty years. — 2 Chronicles 9:30
The visit of the queen of Sheba reminds us that our lives can be a witness to those who do not know God. She travels far, asks, observes and ends by blessing the Lord. In Sunday school we can talk about how the way we work, welcome others and handle money can lead others to ask about God.
At the same time, the chapter ends with a death. Solomon's glory was real but fleeting. Christians look beyond it to Jesus, whom Jesus himself presented as greater than Solomon, and whose wisdom and kingdom do not pass away.
2 Chronicles 9 closes Solomon's reign with glory and with his death, and leaves the throne to Rehoboam. In 2 Chronicles 10 a new stage begins: the people ask the new king to lighten their load, and Rehoboam's answer divides the kingdom.
The text does not say precisely. Many place it in the south of the Arabian peninsula, in the region of present-day Yemen, while others propose East Africa. What the text stresses is that she came from far away, with spices and gold, and that her journey had one purpose: to hear Solomon's wisdom.
In Matthew 12:42 Jesus says the queen of the South will rise at the judgment against that generation, because she came from far away to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and something greater than Solomon is here. Christians see in Jesus the fulfillment and surpassing of Solomon's wisdom.
To show that God fulfilled what he promised in 2 Chronicles 1. Wealth is not the goal but a sign of God's blessing on the faithful king who built his house. The following chapters will show that this blessing depends on continuing to seek the Lord.