Chapter 10 of Melachim A is the climactic chapter of Shlomo's reign. His fame and greatness spread throughout the entire world, until a queen from the ends of the earth arose and came to see with her own eyes. The chapter opens with the visit of the Queen of Sheba, continues with a description of the tremendous wealth that flowed into Yerushalayim, and concludes by noting that Shlomo was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and in wisdom. We will proceed through the pesukim in the order they appear, in light of the Malbim's explanations, adding the words of Chazal and the Midrashim.
וּמַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא שֹׁמַעַת אֶת־שֵׁמַע שְׁלֹמֹה לְשֵׁם יְהֹוָה וַתָּבֹא לְנַסֹּתוֹ בְּחִידוֹת׃ - And the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Shlomo, in connection with the Name of Hashem, and she came to test him with riddles.
The Abarbanel explains how the report reached her ears: Shlomo's servants set sail in ships to Ophir (Africa), and on their way they passed through the land of Sheba. Apparently they anchored there to rest or to stock up on provisions, and there she saw them and heard of Shlomo's greatness. "אֶת־שֵׁמַע שְׁלֹמֹה לְשֵׁם יְהֹוָה" - she heard that his wisdom was not a physical wisdom but a Divine wisdom, a wisdom that comes only from Hashem.
From this we understand why specifically "וַתָּבֹא לְנַסֹּתוֹ בְּחִידוֹת", she came to test him with riddles. Why did she not come to examine whether he was expert in matters of wisdom and science? Because wisdom and science depend on how much a person has learned, but a riddle does not depend on study. I can pose a riddle to someone and he may never be able to answer it. Take, for example, Shimshon's riddle to his companions: "מֵעַז יָצָא מָתוֹק וּמֵהָאוֹכֵל יָצָא מַאֲכָל", out of the strong came forth sweetness, and out of the eater came forth food. Who could answer such a thing? You would need to be a prophet to know what happened to him, which lion he killed, and how bees came to be in the lion's carcass. That is why Shimshon told them "go out and search": it is impossible to know the answer without going out into the field, so go around until you see a carcass, and from it begin to connect and understand. But they were lazy, and so they turned to his wife instead of searching for the solution to the riddle.
We learn from here that testing with riddles is something that cannot be solved through natural wisdom, for no person knows what is going on in another's mind. Only Divine wisdom can solve riddles. And since she heard of Shlomo's fame "לְשֵׁם יְהֹוָה", meaning that his wisdom was Divine, she therefore came to test him specifically with riddles.
וַתָּבֹא יְרוּשָׁלַמָה בְּחַיִל כָּבֵד מְאֹד גְּמַלִּים נֹשְׂאִים בְּשָׂמִים וְזָהָב רַב־מְאֹד וְאֶבֶן יְקָרָה וַתָּבֹא אֶל־שְׁלֹמֹה וַתְּדַבֵּר אֵלָיו אֵת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר הָיָה עִם־לְבָבָהּ׃ - And she came to Yerushalayim with a very great retinue, camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones, and she came to Shlomo and spoke with him of all that was in her heart.
The Malbim says: she could have come by ship, but because of her great stature she traveled by way of the desert, and came with a very great retinue. Since the route through the desert was dangerous and full of bandits, great protection was required, and so she came with a large army.
At the end of the pasuk Shlomo's Divine wisdom is again revealed: "וַתְּדַבֵּר אֵלָיו אֵת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר הָיָה עִם־לְבָבָהּ". When a person speaks, I know what is in his mouth; but Shlomo, from her very speech, understood what was in her heart. This was the extent of his wisdom.
וַיַּגֶּד־לָהּ שְׁלֹמֹה אֶת־כׇּל־דְּבָרֶיהָ לֹא־הָיָה דָבָר נֶעְלָם מִן־הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר לֹא הִגִּיד לָהּ׃ - And Shlomo answered her all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he did not tell her.
Since Shlomo understood from her speech all that was in her heart, he was therefore able to know all of her riddles. It was as though he could read her: when she posed a question, he already understood from her words what her intent was and what she was hiding within that riddle, and from this he would tell her the solutions as well.
וַתֵּרֶא מַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא אֵת כׇּל־חׇכְמַת שְׁלֹמֹה וְהַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר בָּנָה׃ - And the Queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Shlomo, and the house that he had built.
She saw all of Shlomo's wisdom, how great and mighty it was, and also the buildings he had constructed, which were in themselves astonishing in their wisdom, their beauty and their splendor. And she was greatly impressed by this, as we will see in the following pasuk.
וּמַאֲכַל שֻׁלְחָנוֹ וּמוֹשַׁב עֲבָדָיו וּמַעֲמַד מְשָׁרְתָו וּמַלְבֻּשֵׁיהֶם וּמַשְׁקָיו וְעֹלָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲלֶה בֵּית יְהֹוָה וְלֹא־הָיָה בָהּ עוֹד רוּחַ׃ - And the food of his table, and the seating of his servants, and the standing of his attendants, and their garments, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he would go up to the house of Hashem, and there was no more spirit left in her.
The Malbim spells out the details: "the food of his table" - which was superior to the table of other kings, both in quantity and in quality. "The seating of his servants" - these are the ones who ate at the king's table, where everything was arranged according to ranks and levels, not in confusion. "The standing of his attendants" - for they too, each one had his own station according to the service he provided. "And their garments" - for each one had a uniform of a different style and a different color according to his work, so that there would be no confusion among them: the cooks had special attire, the perfumers and the bakers had special attire, each one knew his place and knew his garment. "And his cupbearers" - for he had drinks of many kinds and from all sorts of countries, for they all brought him gifts, and among them the most special of drinks.
"And his ascent by which he would go up to the house of Hashem" - this does not refer to an olah offering here, but rather "olah" is from the word ma'alot, steps. Shlomo had, as we will see later in the chapter, a kind of ramp and steps that he made from his house up to the Beit HaMikdash, and these steps were most special, made of almug wood. This too she saw, and she was greatly impressed by the beauty and the splendor.
וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ אֱמֶת הָיָה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתִּי בְּאַרְצִי עַל־דְּבָרֶיךָ וְעַל־חׇכְמָתֶךָ׃ - And she said to the king: True was the report that I heard in my land about your matters and about your wisdom.
The meaning is this: when a person hears about someone's wisdom, and that wisdom is natural, then when he draws close to him he discovers that the wisdom is limited. "Ah, they told me stories, they exaggerated a bit." And so it is many times, they tell you about a person that he is a Torah scholar, a genius, a great man, and when you draw close to him you suddenly see that he too is a human being. But here she says: the report was true, exactly as they told.
"About your matters" - the word davar, an expression of conduct, the running of the household and the kingdom. "And about your wisdom" - wisdom in intellectual and spiritual matters. And note: many times intellectual matters and physical matters border on one another, meaning they come at each other's expense. A person who has perfected himself in theoretical, intellectual wisdom - ask him to screw in a screw and he is incapable, he will put it in crooked. And the opposite: a very technical person, who knows how to assemble, to sand and to smooth, sit him down beside a book and he does not understand, it is not for him. In Shlomo, the Queen of Sheba saw how these two kinds of wisdom complete one another.
וְלֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתִּי לַדְּבָרִים עַד אֲשֶׁר־בָּאתִי וַתִּרְאֶינָה עֵינַי וְהִנֵּה לֹא־הֻגַּד־לִי הַחֵצִי הוֹסַפְתָּ חׇכְמָה וָטוֹב אֶל־הַשְּׁמוּעָה אֲשֶׁר שָׁמָעְתִּי׃ - And I did not believe the words until I came and my eyes saw, and behold, the half was not told me; you have surpassed in wisdom and goodness the report that I heard.
She says: I did not believe that these two things would be together, and I also did not believe what they told about the greatness of your wisdom. And behold, I see both your theoretical wisdom and your political wisdom in governance, and I see that the half was not told me. What they told me is not even half of the true wisdom that you possess.
The reason is as we said: natural intellectual wisdom is limited, and natural wisdom has a boundary. Therefore, when you meet a wise person you say, "Fine, I have come to know the limits of his wisdom." Divine wisdom, by contrast, is a flowing stream, a wellspring of wisdom, wisdom that never ceases and is never limited. That is why she was so amazed by that wondrous wisdom.
אַשְׁרֵי אֲנָשֶׁיךָ אַשְׁרֵי עֲבָדֶיךָ אֵלֶּה הָעֹמְדִים לְפָנֶיךָ תָּמִיד הַשֹּׁמְעִים אֶת־חׇכְמָתֶךָ׃ - Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.
Here she addresses two groups. Regarding the way you lead the people she says, "Happy are your men" - happy are those who are led by a wise man such as you. And regarding those who are always close to the king and hear his wisdom, those who continually enjoy that wondrous light of mighty wisdom, of them she says, "Happy are these your servants who stand continually before you." For it is truly a very great privilege to be close to such a wise man, so that all the words of his wisdom are constantly poured out upon you.
יְהִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בָּרוּךְ אֲשֶׁר חָפֵץ בְּךָ לְתִתְּךָ עַל־כִּסֵּא יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאַהֲבַת יְהֹוָה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעֹלָם וַיְשִׂימְךָ לְמֶלֶךְ לַעֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה׃ - Blessed be Hashem your God, who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; because Hashem loved Israel forever, He made you king to do justice and righteousness.
She says to him: I have no doubt that the fact that Hashem chose you is out of His love for Israel. As the well known and famous parable teaches: when the flock causes trouble and problems, the shepherd places at its head a blind ewe, which leads them into all sorts of ravines and pits so that they will come to harm. But when the flock is worthy, he places at its head a wise ewe, which will take them to a place that is good for them. When she sees such a leader she says: I have no doubt that out of Hashem's love for Israel He gave them a good provider like you, one who does justice and righteousness.
And this was the essence of Shlomo's request for wisdom: why did he specifically request that special wisdom of justice and righteousness? So that he could judge the people of Israel with justice and fairness. And since Hashem watches over them in His love, He gave them a wise king who loves righteousness and justice.
וַתִּתֵּן לַמֶּלֶךְ מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים כִּכַּר זָהָב וּבְשָׂמִים הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד וְאֶבֶן יְקָרָה לֹא בָא כַבֹּשֶׂם הַהוּא עוֹד לָרֹב אֲשֶׁר־נָתְנָה מַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא לַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה׃ - And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones; there never again came such an abundance of spices as that which the queen of Sheva gave to King Shlomo.
She gives him a hundred and twenty talents of gold, which is an enormous amount, and abundant spices. And the verse testifies that such a quantity of spices had never come as at that time when she gave it to him.
וְגַם אֳנִי חִירָם אֲשֶׁר־נָשָׂא זָהָב מֵאוֹפִיר הֵבִיא מֵאֹפִיר עֲצֵי אַלְמֻגִּים הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד וְאֶבֶן יְקָרָה׃ - And the fleet of Chiram, which brought gold from Ofir, also brought in from Ofir a very great quantity of almug trees and precious stones.
"אֳנִי" means ships. The ships of Chiram, who had a great friendship with Shlomo, helped him in the building of the Beit HaMikdash, supplied him with wood and supplied him with gold. And as we saw, they had a partnership in which both of them, that is, their servants, would sail together on ships in order to bring gold from Ofir.
What is almug wood? This is what we call coral today: a kind of tree that grows in the sea, a sort of amphibious creature, and when it dries out it contains a very high level of calcium, so that it becomes like wood - it has the appearance of wood but made of lime, wood shaped from stone. These are the coral reefs. The verse emphasizes that these trees were very plentiful and extremely precious, along with precious stone.
And why does the verse insert here once again the joint voyages of Shlomo and Chiram, when we already saw this in the previous chapter? The Malbim says: this comes for the sake of the next verse.
וַיַּעַשׂ הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־עֲצֵי הָאַלְמֻגִּים מִסְעָד לְבֵית־יְהֹוָה וּלְבֵית הַמֶּלֶךְ וְכִנֹּרוֹת וּנְבָלִים לַשָּׁרִים לֹא בָא־כֵן עֲצֵי אַלְמֻגִּים וְלֹא נִרְאָה עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ - And the king made of the almug wood a support for the House of Hashem and for the king's house, and lyres and harps for the singers; no such almug wood came, nor was seen, until this day.
The verse comes to describe the special support that existed for the House of Hashem and for the king's house. This means that from Shlomo's house up to the Beis HaMikdash there were steps, a special and most magnificent path, a kind of special bridge, and on this bridge there was a kind of railing along its sides, and the railing was made of almug wood. For this, special corals were needed, for ordinary coral is small, whereas here we are speaking of tall, long corals, and such a thing was rare and uncommon.
And this is the meaning of "לֹא בָא־כֵן עֲצֵי אַלְמֻגִּים" - the commentators say: such large ones had not existed before that, and no one had seen such a large quantity of almug wood, each of them so tall that this railing could be made from them. And since the verse wished to describe the passage that Shlomo had from his house to the Beis HaMikdash, it took the opportunity to tell you where he got the corals from: from the joint voyages of his servants together with Chiram's servants, who brought corals from Ofir.
וְהַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה נָתַן לְמַלְכַּת־שְׁבָא אֶת־כׇּל־חֶפְצָהּ אֲשֶׁר שָׁאָלָה מִלְּבַד אֲשֶׁר נָתַן־לָהּ כְּיַד הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה וַתֵּפֶן וַתֵּלֶךְ לְאַרְצָהּ הִיא וַעֲבָדֶיהָ׃ - And King Shlomo gave to the Queen of Sheva all that she desired, whatever she asked, besides what he gave her out of the bounty of King Shlomo; and she turned and went to her land, she and her servants.
What is "אֶת־כׇּל־חֶפְצָהּ"? Rashi says: this giving refers only to the teaching of wisdom. That is, he taught her and made her wise in all her questions and in everything she wished to know.
And what is "וַתֵּפֶן וַתֵּלֶךְ לְאַרְצָהּ"? Why is it important to emphasize this, rather than simply saying "she turned and went"? The Malbim says: the reader might have thought that perhaps the Queen of Sheva had a visit to Egypt, and said, "On the way let us stop by and see what the story is with Shlomo, everyone is already talking about him so much." The verse tells you: no. She came on a special journey in order to see the report of Shlomo, and after she finished she returned to her land. This was not a casual visit along the way, nor a hop to another country while she happened to be in the region. Therefore it says that she returned to her land after she had seen, for as far as she was concerned this was the entire visit, and with this the whole matter was completed.
And there is an addition here printed in Rashi, which is not from Rashi himself, for Rashi did not see the Arizal, and not because of geographic distance but for a simple reason: he lived four hundred years before him. It is brought there: what is "he gave her all that she desired"? He came to her, and from her Nevuchadnetzar was born. This does not mean that he was born from her directly, for that was only about four hundred years later, but rather it means that descendants were born from her, from whom Nevuchadnetzar was ultimately born, who destroyed the House that stood for four hundred and ten years, in the portion of all twelve tribes. So says the Arizal. That is, her desire was to have a continuation from the dynasty of this wise and special man, Shlomo, and therefore he married her and fathered a son from her.
I want to look with you at a bit of Shlomo's wisdom as it appears in the Midrash. Chazal say: whoever says the Queen of Sheva was a woman is mistaken. What does "malkas Sheva" mean? The kingdom of Sheva. What did Chazal wish to say with this? For without any doubt, anyone who reads the verses realizes that it is speaking of a woman, since she is mentioned throughout in the feminine form, and no one understands "malkas Sheva" to mean the kingdom of Sheva and that a man arrived.
Rather, the explanation is as follows: one might have thought that the king was the king of Sheba, and that he was married to a woman who, as the king's wife, was considered a queen, and it was she who came to visit. And what difference does that make? It transforms the entire visit from a lofty and high ranking visit into a minor one, involving second and third tier officials. If the king comes, it carries significance: the kingdom has arrived. But if the king's wife comes, that is even less than a foreign minister, she just "popped over here." Says the Gemara: you are mistaken. That woman was herself the very sovereignty, which she inherited from her father. Here was a woman who was the sole queen, not subordinate to any king. And if so, it was indeed a lofty and high ranking visit: she herself was the monarch.
How did she come there? Our Sages say: when the heart of King Shlomo was merry with wine, he sent and summoned all the kings of the east and west who were near the Land of Israel, and seated them in the king's palace. This was after he had built the Beit HaMikdash and made a great celebration with all of Israel. Afterward he commanded that harps and cymbals, drums and lyres, upon which his father David had played, be brought, and he commanded that they play before him. He also commanded that there be brought before him the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, and the creeping things of the earth, along with the demons, the spirits, and the night spirits, to dance before him. As is known, Shlomo had dominion over the upper and lower worlds, and this was before he sinned. He even ruled over the demons, and when he needed to, he summoned Ashmedai to him as well, until he received a kick from him, but in any case we see that he had dominion over them.
At that time the wild rooster was sought among the birds and was not found. They searched for it and could not find it, one of those invited had not arrived. The king commanded that it be brought and sought to punish it. The rooster said to him: my lord, for three months I have taken counsel with myself and have not eaten and have not drunk, and I said, I will roam the world and see whether there is a land that does not accept the king's authority, for Shlomo ruled over the whole globe and had dominion over the entire world. And I saw one country, Kitor is its name, in the land of the east, whose dust is more precious than gold and whose silver lies in the streets like refuse, and its ruler is the Queen of Sheba. And if it please the king, I will go there and bring their kings to you bound in chains.
The matter found favor in the king's eyes. The scribes wrote a letter and tied it to the wing of the wild rooster, and it flew among the birds, and they flew after it to the city of Kitor in the land of Sheba. It took with it a great army of birds and they arrived in Sheba. At morning time the Queen of Sheba went out to bow to the sun, and behold, the birds darkened the sun. She seized her garments and tore them, and was astonished: how could it be that the sun, which was her god, was suddenly darkened precisely when she went out to bow to it.
The wild rooster descended to her, and she saw a letter tied to its wings and read: "From me, King Shlomo, peace to you and peace to your officers. Do you not know that the Holy One, blessed be He, has made me king over the beasts of the field and over the birds of the sky and over demons and night spirits? If you will come and inquire after my welfare, I will accord you greater honor than all the kings who sit before me." Is there a more distinguished invitation than this?
When she heard the words of the letter, she sent and summoned the elders and the officers and said to them: do you not know what King Shlomo has sent me? They said to her: we do not know King Shlomo, and we do not honor his kingdom. He is not familiar to us, we have no diplomatic ties with that kingdom, we have checked, unfamiliar and unknown. But she did not heed their words, and she sent and summoned all the sailors of the sea, and loaded them with cypress wood and pearls and precious stones, and sent to King Shlomo six thousand boys and girls, all of them one year old, one month old, one day old, and one hour old, meaning they were all born in the same year, the same month, the same day, and the same hour, all of one height and one stature, and all clothed in garments of purple. And she wrote a letter and sent it in their hands: "From the city of Kitor to the Land of Israel is a journey of seven years, and now that I have asked and requested, I will come to you at the end of three years." She informs him that it will take her a long time to arrive, and she sends the message beforehand so that he will know she received his letter and is preparing, and in three years she will be with him.
When she came at the end of three years, he sent to her Benayahu son of Yehoyada, who resembled the morning star that appears at daybreak, and resembled the planet Venus and a lily beside streams of water. When the queen saw him, she descended from her chariot. He said to her: why did you descend? She said to him: are you not King Shlomo? He said to her: I am not King Shlomo, but one of his servants. He offered a parable to his servants: if you have not seen the lion, come and see its den, meaning, from the den you can deduce who the lion is, if this is merely Shlomo's servant.
Benayahu brought her to the king. When Shlomo heard of this, he sat in a house of glass, and she thought he was sitting in water, it seemed to her as if he were speaking with her from within water. And she began to ask him questions.
The first riddle: who are three that neither ate nor drank yet saved three lives? He said to her: three that neither ate nor drank, these are the signet, the cord, and the staff of Yehuda; and they saved three lives, these are Tamar, Peretz, and Zerach.
She asked him another question: here are figures, choose for me which are female and which are male. She dressed boys and girls in identical clothing, so that one could not tell them apart by their faces, and said to him: tell me who here are males and who are females. The king ordered that nuts and roasted grain be brought and distributed to them. The boys, who were bashful, put them in their garments, while the girls, who were not bashful, put them in their kerchiefs. He said to her: these are males and these are females.
She also brought before him circumcised and uncircumcised men, and said to him: distinguish for me the circumcised from the uncircumcised. Immediately he gave a signal, and what did the High Priest do? He opened the Ark of the Covenant. The circumcised among them bowed to half their height, and moreover their faces were filled with the radiance of the Shechinah; while the uncircumcised among them fell on their faces. He immediately said to her: these are circumcised and these are uncircumcised. She said to him: how do you know? He said to her: from Bilaam, as it is written "נֹפֵל וּגְלוּי עֵינָיִם" - had he not been falling, he would not have seen anything at all. That is to say, the moment he reached a state of revelation of the Shechinah, he immediately fell on his face.
This is also what we saw with Avraham Avinu. It is recorded that when Hashem came to command him regarding circumcision it is said "וַיִּפֹּל אַבְרָם עַל פָּנָיו", because he was not yet circumcised. And why, on the previous occasions when Hashem appeared to Avraham, is it not written that he fell on his face? We explained there: from the very moment that Hashem commanded him to circumcise himself, the foreskin acquired the status of a foreskin, and this imposed upon it a status of impurity - and at that moment Avraham fell on his face. On all the previous occasions when Hashem appeared to him he did not fall on his face, because He had not yet commanded him regarding circumcision, and the foreskin had no status of a foreskin, and there was no impurity in it, and therefore Avraham was able to receive prophecy directly.
It emerges that those who lived before Avraham's generation, in being uncircumcised had no blemish in them, since Hashem had not yet condemned the foreskin as an impure thing requiring circumcision, and therefore there was no deficiency in it. But from the moment Hashem condemned the thing as impure, from that moment a person cannot stand and speak with Hashem while uncircumcised.
Chapter 10 lays before us the peak of Shlomo's greatness. The Queen of Sheba, who had heard that his wisdom was "לְשֵׁם יְהֹוָה", that is, divine and not natural wisdom, came to test him specifically with riddles - the very test that natural wisdom cannot withstand. And Shlomo, who understood from her speech what was in her heart, solved everything for her, until she admitted: "לֹא־הֻגַּד־לִי הַחֵצִי", for natural wisdom has a limit, while divine wisdom is a flowing stream. She also saw the perfection of his governance: the arrangements of the table, the servants, the attendants, the garments, and the ascents that led from the king's house to the Beit HaMikdash - and she blessed: happy is the people whom Hashem loved and set over them a wise sheep and not a blind sheep, a king who does justice and righteousness. And our Sages added that she herself was the sovereign, not a king's wife, and they told how the wild rooster brought her Shlomo's letter, and how Shlomo withstood all her riddles - and yet, in the end, from that very visit came the descendants from whom arose Nevuchadnetzar who destroyed the Beit HaMikdash.