The Queen of Sheba appears briefly in 1 Kings, where she meets King Solomon. This short, lightly narrated encounter has inspired many imaginative, interpretive elaborations to fill in the biblical account's sparse detail.
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A Royal Encounter with Wisdom
TANAKH
King Solomon was known for his wisdom and his wealth. The book of I Kings relates the story of the Queen Sheba’s encounter with King Solomon, when she comes to Jerusalem to see if the rumors she has heard were true.
The Riddles of the Queen of Sheba
MIDRASH
The book of Kings narrates that the Queen of Sheba presented riddles to test King Solomon's wisdom, but the text does not recount the riddles! Midrash Mishlei, a medieval midrashic collection on the book of Proverbs, imagines some of the riddles the Queen of Sheba presented to King Solomon.
A Queen or a Kingdom?
COMMENTARY
The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Bava Batra records a suggestion that the Queen of Sheba means the kingdom of Sheba rather than the queen herself. Rabbi Shmuel Eidels, a famed 16th-century rabbi and talmudist better known by the acronym Maharsha, argues for a straightforward reading of the text.
A Royal Summons
TARGUM
The biblical narrative of the Queen of Sheba in I Kings does not offer many details about who the Queen of Sheba was or how she heard about King Solomon. Targum Sheni on Esther, a creative translation that incorporates many midrashic elaborations, offers some insight into why the Queen of Sheba decided to visit Jerusalem.
A Lineage of Kings
REFERENCE
A legend stemming from the encounter between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba connects the lineage of Nebuchandnezzar, the Babylonian king who destroyed the First Temple, with King Solomon, the Jewish king who built that Temple. Rabbi Yechiel Heilprin’s 18th-century work, Seder HaDorot, an encyclopedic work that chronicles the history of the world, includes details of this midrash.
A Quest for Mystical Secrets
KABBALAH
According to a mystical legend, the burial place of the non-Israelite prophet Balaam is the site of powerful magic. In its alternative account of the Queen of Sheba’s riddles, the Zohar, a foundational work of Jewish mysticism, suggests that those riddles involved that powerful magic.
Origins of Ethiopian Jewry
HALAKHAH
The Ethiopian Jewish community, known as Beta Israel, legendarily traces its lineage to the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. In Rabbi Sharon Shalom’s work, From Sinai to Ethiopia, a 21st-century work that explores the history and customs of Ethiopian Jewry, recounts this legend as the possible origin of Ethiopian Jewry.
The Singular Focus of Desire
KABBALAH
The book of I Kings notes that King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba "everything she desires." Reshit Chokhmah, a 16th-century kabbalistic work by Elijah de Vidas, uses this as a linguistic link to explore King Solomon's and the Queen of Sheba's love for each other.
From Wisdom to Wealth
COMMENTARY
In the book of I Kings, the Queen of Sheba initially takes notice of King Solomon's reputed wisdom, though she is soon at least as impressed with his wealth. Everett Fox, a 21st-century Bible scholar, discusses the significant of this shift in focus.
Recognition of Divine Might
MIDRASH
Several prominent non-Jewish figures in Tanakh recognize God's power and praise God. Shemot Rabbah, a medieval midrashic work on the book of Exodus, lists the Queen of Sheba as one of these figures.
Demonic Identity
TARGUM
In the book of Job, marauders from Sheba attack Job's estate. The Aramaic translation of the book identifies the queen of this kingdom — here called the kingdom of Emerald (Zamargad) — as Lilith, a demonic figure of rabbinic legend.
The Queen of Sheba: Her Life and Times by Phinneas A. Crutch (1922), PD
The Queen of Sheba: Her Life and Times by Phinneas A. Crutch (1922), PD
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