Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/268

204 them, to do judgement and justice. And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones. And the king made of the algum trees terraces for the house of the, and for the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah. 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 to her own land, she and her servants. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold; beside that which the chapmen and merchants brought: and

9. an hundred and twenty talents of gold] A sum so large must be regarded rather as tribute than as a complimentary gift.

any such spice] i.e. as in 1 Kin. "such abundance of spices."

10, 11. These vv. interrupt the connection in Kings as in Chron. They are an interpolation. Ver. 12 concludes the account of the visit of the Queen of Sheba.

10. algum trees] In 1 Kin. "almug trees." Cp. ii. 8 (note).

11. terraces] Perhaps "raised paths." In 1 Kin. x. 12 a different Heb. word is used, which may mean "railings" ("pillars," A.V.).

psalteries] Cp. 1 Chr. xiii. 8 (note).

in the land of Judah] Here the Chronicler speaks as a man of his own age. We should expect, land of Israel.

12. beside that which she had brought unto the king] This means that the king beside returning the queen the value of her present to him, also gave her additional gifts; cp. 1 Kin. x. 13.

13—28 (= 1 Kin. x. 14—27).&emsp;

13. six hundred and threescore and six] This may be called a "round" number, for a system of counting based on the number six was known in ancient times, e.g. among the Assyrians. Taken literally, the amount, which would be equal to about £4,000,000 and of course of vastly greater purchasing power than the same sum to-day, is fantastically large. For similar high figures, cp. 1 Chr. xxii. 14 (note).

14. chapmen] The English word means "merchant"; cp. the verb,