2 Chronicles 9:9
And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.
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EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)
(9) Spices.B’sāmîm, from which come our words balsam and balm.

Great abundance.—See Note on 2Chronicles 9:1. Here lārōb is substituted for the ancient harbēh.

Neither was there any such spice.—Or, there had not been such spicery, i.e., in Jerusalem. A defect in the chronicler’s MS. authority probably occasioned this deviation from the phrase which we find in the older text, “There came no more such abundance of spicery” (1Kings 10:10).

2 Chronicles 9:9. She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, &c. — This was indeed a royal gift, for the gold alone amounted to more than sixty-nine thousand pounds sterling.

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.The narrative here is parallel with that in marginal reference, from which it varies but little, and to which it adds nothing.CHAPTER 9

2Ch 9:1-12. The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon; She Admires His Wisdom and Magnificence.

1-4. when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon—(See on [428]1Ki 10:1-13). It is said that among the things in Jerusalem which drew forth the admiration of Solomon's royal visitor was "his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord." This was the arched viaduct that crossed the valley from Mount Zion to the opposite hill. In the commentary on the passage quoted above, allusion was made to the recent discovery of its remains. Here we give a full account of what, for boldness of conceptions for structure and magnificence, was one of the greatest wonders in Jerusalem. "During our first visit to the southwest corner of the area of the mosque, we observed several of the large stones jutting out from the western wall, which at first seemed to be the effect of a bursting of the wall from some mighty shock or earthquake. We paid little regard to this at the moment; but on mentioning the fact not long after to a circle of our friends, the remark was incidentally dropped that the stones had the appearance of having once belonged to a large arch. At this remark, a train of thought flashed across my mind, which I hardly dared to follow out until I had again repaired to the spot, in order to satisfy myself with my own eyes as to the truth or falsehood of the suggestion. I found it even so. The courses of these immense stones occupy their original position; their external surface is hewn to a regular curve; and, being fitted one upon another, they form the commencement or foot of an immense arch which once sprung out from this western wall in a direction towards Mount Zion, across the Tyropœon valley. This arch could only have belonged to the bridge, which, according to Josephus, led from this part of the temple to the Xystus (covered colonnade) on Zion; and it proves incontestably the antiquity of that portion from which it springs" [Robinson]. The distance from this point to the steep rock of Zion Robinson calculates to be about three hundred and fifty feet, the probable length of this ancient viaduct. Another writer adds, that "the arch of this bridge, if its curve be calculated with an approximation to the truth, would measure sixty feet, and must have been one of five sustaining the viaduct (allowing for the abutments on either side), and that the piers supporting the center arch of this bridge must have been of great altitude—not less, perhaps, than one hundred and thirty feet. The whole structure, when seen from the southern extremity of the Tyropœon, must have had an aspect of grandeur, especially as connected with the lofty and sumptuous edifices of the temple, and of Zion to the right and to the left" [Isaac Taylor's Edition of Traill's Josephus].

No text from Poole on this verse.

See Chapter Introduction And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave king Solomon.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
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.”

Verse 9. - An hundred and twenty talents of gold. Putting the value of gold at £4 per ounce, the value of one talent would be £5476, making a total of £657,120. Poole makes it £1,250,000; S. Clarke, f 720,000. From our vers. 13, 14 we learn that in one year Solomon received 666 talents, beside what merchants brought. Any such spice. The parallel has "no more such abundance of spices," and "of spices very great store." The Arabian spices, and their land and even sea borne fragrance, as also the very lucrative trade they created, are often alluded to by historians (see, among many others, Herod., 3:113; Diod., 3:46; Strabo, 16:4, § 19). Much of all this so-termed giving was evidently matter of exchange. The queen got quid pro quo, while ver. 13 of the parallel (1 Kings 10.) seems to speak of the other truer giving. 2 Chronicles 9:9The visit of the queen of Sheba. Cf. 1 Kings 10:1-13. - This event is narrated as a practical proof of Solomon's extraordinary wisdom. The narrative agrees so exactly in both texts, with the exception of some few quite unimportant differences, that we must regard them as literal extracts from an original document which they have used in common. For the commentary on this section, see on 1 Kings 10:1-13.
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