(8) On his throne--i.e., Jehovah's throne. (Comp. 1Chronicles 28:5.) Kings has, "on the throne of Israel." To be king for the Lord thy God.--A further insistance on the idea that Solomon was but the vicegerent of Jehovah. The clause is added by the chronicler, but need not be called "an evidently wilful alteration" (Thenius). To establish.--This phrase is wanting in the Hebrew of Kings, but is probably original, as the LXX. there has it. Verse 8. - The abstinence on the part of the queen in her mention of the Lord God of Israel, and of the Lord thy God, of any indication of a desire that he should become her God, is as suggestive as it is noticeable (compare Hiram's language in 2 Chronicles 2:12). 9:1-12 This history has been considered, 1Ki 10; yet because our Saviour has proposed it as an example in seeking after him, Mt 12:42, we must not pass it over without observing, that those who know the worth of true wisdom will grudge no pains or cost to obtain it. The queen of Sheba put herself to a great deal of trouble and expense to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and yet, learning from him to serve God, and do her duty, she thought herself well paid for her pains. Heavenly wisdom is that pearl of great price, for which, if we part with all, we make a good bargain.See Chapter Introduction |