The Book of Divrei HaYamim II, Chapter 9. We studied this chapter at length in Sefer Melachim: there we elaborated on the meeting between Shlomo and the Queen of Sheba, the riddles she posed to him and his answers, the Midrashic passages detailing the entire exchange and dialogue between them, as well as the tradition cited by Chazal that she conceived from him. As is our approach here in Divrei HaYamim, we will not repeat those details; whoever wishes to explore them at length may look there, and we will focus only on the differences and what is newly taught here.
וּמַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא שָׁמְעָה אֶת־שֵׁמַע שְׁלֹמֹה וַתָּבוֹא לְנַסּוֹת אֶת־שְׁלֹמֹה בְחִידוֹת בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם בְּחַיִל כָּבֵד מְאֹד וּגְמַלִּים נֹשְׂאִים בְּשָׂמִים וְזָהָב לָרֹב וְאֶבֶן יְקָרָה, וַתָּבוֹא אֶל־שְׁלֹמֹה וַתְּדַבֵּר עִמּוֹ אֵת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר הָיָה עִם־לְבָבָהּ. - Now the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and she came to test Solomon with riddles in Jerusalem, with a very large entourage, with camels bearing spices and gold in abundance and precious stones; and she came to Solomon and spoke with him of all that was in her heart.
The Queen of Sheba heard of Shlomo's greatness, and wished to test him with riddles to see whether what she had heard of his wisdom was true or not. How she heard of it, the episode of the hoopoe (tarnegol habar), and similar details - all this we discussed at length in its place in Sefer Melachim. "To test with riddles" is similar to the expression used regarding Shimshon, "Let me pose a riddle to you": to ask him obscure and difficult matters, in order to test whether what was told to her about Shlomo's wisdom was accurate.
"And she spoke with him of all that was in her heart" - the Metzudat David explains: everything she had concealed from everyone and kept in her heart, she revealed entirely to Shlomo. In our times there is no need for this, the police already know everything; but in their days, whatever was in her heart was solely in her heart, and therefore she had to tell it to Shlomo for anyone else to know.
וַיַּגֶּד־לָהּ שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת־כָּל־דְּבָרֶיהָ, וְלֹא־נֶעְלַם דָּבָר מִשְׁלֹמֹה אֲשֶׁר לֹא הִגִּיד לָהּ. - And Solomon explained to her all her questions, and nothing was hidden from Solomon that he did not tell her.
Shlomo explained all her matters to her, and nothing from all that she asked was hidden from him that he did not answer. Once she saw that he answered everything, she verified the report and acknowledged that what had been told regarding Shlomo's wisdom was true.
וַתֵּרֶא מַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא אֵת חָכְמַת שְׁלֹמֹה וְהַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה. וּמַאֲכַל שֻׁלְחָנוֹ וּמוֹשַׁב עֲבָדָיו וּמַעֲמַד מְשָׁרְתָיו וּמַלְבּוּשֵׁיהֶם וּמַשְׁקָיו וּמַלְבּוּשֵׁיהֶם וַעֲלִיָּתוֹ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲלֶה בֵּית ה', וְלֹא־הָיָה עוֹד בָּהּ רוּחַ. - And the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, and the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the standing of his attendants and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and his passageway by which he would ascend to the House of Hashem, and there was no more breath left in her.
She saw Shlomo's tremendous wisdom, and the palace he had built - which was constructed with great wisdom. "And the food of his table" - the commentary attributed to Rashi notes: fatted fowl and a multitude of delicacies that were served at his table. "The seating of his servants" - each one knew his designated place when they sat at the table and regularly appeared before the king, and no one was permitted to sit in his fellow's place all his days; they had orderly and fixed places. "The standing of his attendants" - each retained his standing and post, never deviating from his role. "And their attire" - the clothes they wore today were not what they wore tomorrow; rather, at all times they had matching apparel, according to the role and the occasion. "His cupbearers" - the abundance of his cupbearers. "And his passageway" - the causeways and ascents by which he would go up from his palace to the House of Hashem.
The Queen of Sheba believed that her land was the seat of wisdom, and that all the wise men were with her. For in the East there is vast wisdom, the wisdom of the East, and therefore she was certain that wisdom resided among them. And why was their wisdom so great? The commentary attributed to Rashi explains: because they gaze at the constellations - they were proficient in the celestial movements, in the matters of the stars and constellations. And regarding this it was stated of Shlomo, "And Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the children of the East" - "kedem" means the East, meaning his wisdom exceeded all the wisdom of the East.
Therefore, even if you find some ancient wisdom of a Chinese elder - Solomon's wisdom surpassed all the wisdom of all those in the East. And likewise, "more than all the wisdom of Egypt," for in Egypt there were great sages, magicians, necromancers, and sorcerers, yet his wisdom surpassed all the sages of Egypt as well. Furthermore, it is said that he was wise in tayr - meaning birds, as birds are called tayr in Arabic, and in the language of Scripture, "and a winged creature will tell the matter." Solomon possessed wisdom regarding trees, palms, and birds, just as we find in the Gemara concerning Rav Ilish, who was proficient in the language of birds - he would listen and understand what they said and hinted at in their chirping. Solomon was similarly versed in all forms of wisdom, including this one.
וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ: אֱמֶת הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתִּי בְּאַרְצִי עַל־דְּבָרֶיךָ וְעַל־חָכְמָתֶךָ. וְלֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתִּי לְדִבְרֵיהֶם עַד אֲשֶׁר־בָּאתִי וַתִּרְאֶינָה עֵינַי, וְהִנֵּה לֹא הֻגַּד־לִי חֲצִי מַרְבִּית חָכְמָתֶךָ, יָסַפְתָּ עַל־הַשְּׁמוּעָה אֲשֶׁר שָׁמָעְתִּי. - And she said to the king: "The report that I heard in my land concerning your deeds and your wisdom was true. But I did not believe their words until I came and my eyes saw, and behold, not half the greatness of your wisdom was told to me; you have surpassed the report that I heard."
What they told me - I assumed they were exaggerating, and I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes. And then I discover that they did not tell me even half of it: not even half the abundance of your wisdom was told to me, and furthermore, "you have surpassed the report" - your actual wisdom extends far beyond what was described to me. The Malbim notes that in the Book of Kings the phrasing is, "and behold, not half was told to me; you have added wisdom and goodness," and Ibn Ezra explains the meaning to be: not half of the wisdom and goodness which you possess beyond the report was told to me.
אַשְׁרֵי אֲנָשֶׁיךָ וְאַשְׁרֵי עֲבָדֶיךָ אֵלֶּה הָעֹמְדִים לְפָנֶיךָ תָּמִיד וְשֹׁמְעִים אֶת־חָכְמָתֶךָ. - Fortunate are your men and fortunate are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom.
One who is in close proximity to a wise person is fortunate, for he constantly hears words of wisdom from him and can always be enriched by his wisdom. Fortunate are those who continually hear the words of your wisdom.
יְהִי ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ בָּרוּךְ אֲשֶׁר חָפֵץ בְּךָ לְתִתְּךָ עַל־כִּסְאוֹ לְמֶלֶךְ לַה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּאַהֲבַת אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַעֲמִידוֹ לְעוֹלָם, וַיִּתֶּנְךָ עֲלֵיהֶם לְמֶלֶךְ לַעֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה. - Blessed be Hashem your God, who delighted in you to place you on His throne as king for Hashem your God; because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, He made you king over them, to administer justice and righteousness.
The fact that the Holy One, Blessed be He, placed you over the nation is undoubtedly because Hashem loves Israel; for otherwise, why would He appoint such a wise king over this nation? Perforce, it is out of His love for them. And since this throne is the throne of Hashem, the king himself is, as it were, associated with the sovereignty of Hashem. Therefore it says, "because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever" - out of His love, He desired that they endure forever. And in what manner? By appointing over them a king who administers righteousness and justice. "A king by justice establishes a land" - when the land rests upon justice, the land endures; when there is no justice, there is chaos, there is a deluge. Justice is the foundation and bedrock of everything.
From here we see that even among the nations of the world, there can be many transgressions and the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not destroy them. When does He destroy? When there is no justice. So it was with the generation of the Flood, so in Sodom, and so in Nineveh: in all these places there was robbery, there was lawlessness, there was no justice - and then the Holy One, Blessed be He, brings destruction. That is to say, even nations cannot survive without it. But if they commit many sins, even sins of immorality - Egypt was the center of licentiousness, the nakedness of the land, as it says, "You shall not do according to the practices of the land of Egypt" - nevertheless, Hashem did not destroy them. However, a place devoid of justice, integrity, and righteousness cannot survive, for without justice, "men would swallow each other alive."
This is why one of the Seven Noahide Laws is to establish courts of justice. And according to what shall they judge? According to their own laws. The crucial thing is that there be law. As noted: even if the law is not entirely upright - and this does not mean the tyrannical laws of Sodom - nevertheless, once there is law, the place is orderly. We have cited Iraq as an example: look at what existed in Iraq during Saddam's reign versus the situation today. The same is true of Syria: what it was under the elder Assad compared to today. One can say it was a wicked, corrupt regime with mass killings - true, but the country was orderly; there was a sovereign government. Today, by contrast, there are rival militias; car bombs explode daily, people are murdered every day, warring factions tear everything apart, and each man kills his neighbor. Not that we take pleasure in their misfortune, but in any event one understands that for a society to endure it must be founded upon law and order, even if the legal system is not completely righteous. "Were it not for the fear of the government" - in the words of Chazal, men would swallow each other alive. Therefore, if Hashem desires "to establish them forever," to preserve the Jewish people eternally - how can this be achieved? Only when He appoints over them a king who administers righteousness and justice. When there is righteousness and justice, the world endures.
וַתִּתֵּן לַמֶּלֶךְ מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים כִּכַּר זָהָב וּבְשָׂמִים לָרֹב מְאֹד וְאֶבֶן יְקָרָה, וְלֹא הָיָה כַּבֹּשֶׂם הַהוּא אֲשֶׁר־נָתְנָה מַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא לַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה. - She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, an extraordinary abundance of spices, and precious stones; there never was any spice like that which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Shlomo.
She gave him one hundred and twenty talents of gold, as well as an abundance of various spices, which in those times were considered extremely rare and precious. Spices were sold at very high prices; balsam oil was considered an exceedingly costly oil - and this is not our modern persimmon fruit, but a unique variety of fragrant balsam. Today, raw spices do not carry that kind of trade value, with the exception of commercial perfumery, and they do not command the stature they held in antiquity. "There never was any spice like that" - meaning that there had never been such a vast quantity of spices as she gave, nor such a diverse variety of species: neither in sheer quantity nor in variety had anything like it ever been seen until then.
וְגַם־עַבְדֵי חוּרָם וְעַבְדֵי שְׁלֹמֹה אֲשֶׁר־הֵבִיאוּ זָהָב מֵאוֹפִיר, הֵבִיאוּ עֲצֵי אַלְגּוּמִּים וְאֶבֶן יְקָרָה. - And the servants of Huram as well, and the servants of Shlomo, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones.
The servants of Huram and the servants of Shlomo who brought gold from Ophir also brought algum wood. In one place it is called almugim (in Melachim) and in another algumim (here). Which is correct? The commentary attributed to Rashi explains: algumim is their true name, and they were called almugim because the wood would yield and bend (mitmogeg) from its exquisite softness, like fine goblets that can flex due to their superior craftsmanship. Some suggest that these are sea corals (also called almogim in Hebrew), and seemingly this could fit the context, since Scripture speaks of the ships bringing gold from Ophir, and as these cargo ships traveled by sea, corals could have been brought aboard them as well. Indeed, the Gemara describes how corals were harvested from the sea: they would fill a ship with heavy stones so it sank low, tie ropes to the coral formations at the seabed, and then unload the stones - as the ship rose, it pulled up the coral branches along with it. Yet according to the straightforward meaning indicated by the commentators, it refers to a distinct variety of exceptionally fine timber.
וַיַּעַשׂ הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־עֲצֵי הָאַלְגּוּמִּים מְסִלּוֹת לְבֵית־ה' וּלְבֵית הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְכִנֹּרוֹת וּנְבָלִים לַשָּׁרִים, וְלֹא־נִרְאוּ כָהֵם לְפָנִים בְּאֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה. - And the king made of the algum wood stairways for the House of Hashem and for the palace of the king, and lyres and harps for the singers; and none like them had ever been seen before in the land of Yehudah.
"Stairways (mesilot) for the House of Hashem" - these were steps. In the Book of Melachim, the parallel term is mis'ad (a support), made for those ascending by way of stairs. Some say that mis'ad and mesilah refer to the same thing: a mis'ad generally refers to a handrail one grasps while ascending, whereas others maintain there is no difference between them, and the term simply denotes the surface upon which one treads and climbs. The Radak explains mis'ad leVeit Hashem as ceiling supports - meaning he fashioned pillars from them to support the ceilings, upon which the roofs rested. This is not to be confused with the roof plaster (ma'azivah), which is the upper seal: wooden ceilings were laid, and to ensure weatherproofing they would apply ma'azivah, a type of mortar that sealed against water penetration. Here, however, the verse refers to pillars that held up the ceilings. The Malbim likewise explains that mis'ad was a railing that supported a person along his path on the mesilot (stairways), serving as banisters upon which one leaned while climbing the stairs.
"And lyres and harps for the singers" - to which singers does this refer? One explanation is that it refers to the Levites who sang and played musical instruments in the Beit HaMikdash, and for them he fashioned lyres from this special algum wood. On the other hand, the commentary attributed to Rashi cites Rabbi Eliezer, explaining that it refers to musicians who performed as the king strolled - that is, for the king's private pleasure. He had an orchestra; all monarchs maintained a private court orchestra that played before them. Regarding this it is said, "and his songs were a thousand and five" (Melachim I 5:12), referring to secular compositions created for royal entertainment and pleasure.
At the feast made by Achashverosh, musical instruments were conspicuously absent, a detail noted by many commentators: everything was provided in abundance, yet musical instruments were excluded. Many explanations are offered for this, as discussed in the lessons on Megillat Esther. One insightful explanation, cited from the Chida, is that musical tastes are inherently subjective; each individual has their own preference, style, and melody. What music could the king have provided? Persian melodies? Some might prefer Median tunes. Whatever tune might be played, it could appeal to one guest while displeasing another. Yet the king's stated goal at the banquet was "to do according to the will of each and every man." Regarding food and drink, it is possible to cater to each guest individually, but an orchestra plays collectively for the entire room: music that delights one person may grate on another's ears. Therefore, he avoided introducing anything that might cause annoyance to even a single guest. There are additional reasons for this omission, but this provides a fitting insight.
וְהַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה נָתַן לְמַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא אֶת־כָּל־חֶפְצָהּ אֲשֶׁר שָׁאָלָה מִלְּבַד אֲשֶׁר־הֵבִיאָה אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ, וַתַּהֲפֹךְ וַתֵּלֶךְ לְאַרְצָהּ הִיא וַעֲבָדֶיהָ. - And King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba all her desire that she requested, besides what she had brought to the king; and she turned and went back to her country, she and her servants.
Notice that there is a difficulty in this verse: He gave her all her desire that she asked, "besides what she brought to the king." Who phrases things like that? One could understand saying that he gave her all that she asked besides what he had already given her previously, or besides what he bestowed upon her beyond that - but to say that he gave her all she asked besides what she brought to him? That seems to be an unnatural and problematic phrasing. Radak points out that in Sefer Melachim (I Kings 10:13) it says, "besides that which Solomon gave her according to the royal bounty," which sounds clear: besides what he gave her according to his royal generosity, he also gave her all her desire.
Therefore, Radak explains here: "besides what she brought to the king" means besides what he gave her of his own accord in return for what she had brought him. The Gemara speaks of the concept of reciprocity (gomlin) - that when someone gives you a gift, you are expected to return one; this is also the halachah regarding mishloach manot, bridal gifts (sivlonot), and wedding presents. When someone gives you something, you reciprocate in kind, as is customary. Thus, besides what she brought him - in return for which he was already expected to reciprocate according to royal protocol - he gave her, out of his own generosity, all her desire that she asked for, gifts far beyond what he was obligated to return to her.
Radak adds further that he gave her, according to the royal bounty, items found in the Land of Israel that were not found in her country, since such things were rare and precious to her. It is also possible to explain that "all her desire that she asked" refers to the riddles and matters of wisdom that she asked: she posed difficult questions and riddles of wisdom to him, and he answered them all. Just as Radak explains, the Malbim likewise interprets this expression of "besides what she brought to the king."
Chazal expound "all her desire that she asked" to mean that she conceived a child from him. Some bring support for this down to our very day: in Cush and Abyssinia (Ethiopia), the names "Solomon" and "David" are very common - as seen in "Operation Solomon" and among the Ethiopian community. In other words, the name Solomon is widely accepted in Cush, evidently because there was a king there descended from Solomon, as the verse says regarding the Queen of Sheba, "all that she asked," and they have continued using these names ever since.
Chapter 9 opens with the visit of the Queen of Sheba, who came to test Solomon with riddles and discovered that not even half of his great wisdom had been told to her - wisdom far greater than that of the people of the East, the wisdom of Egypt, and all other wisdom. From her blessing we learn two core principles: fortunate are those who stand continually before a wise person and absorb his wisdom; and the existence of a nation - and indeed of all mankind - depends on a king who practices justice and righteousness, for without justice the world cannot endure. From there, the text turns to Solomon's immense wealth: the gold, the precious spices, the algum wood from which he fashioned walkways for the House of Hashem and harps and lyres for the singers, and the gifts he returned to the Queen of Sheba according to the royal bounty - all demonstrating that Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.