She came to Jerusalem with - spices, etc. - Those who contend that she was queen of the Sabaeans, a people of Arabia Felix, towards the southern extremity of the Red Sea, find several proofs of their opinion:
"India furnishes ivory, and the effeminate Sabaeans their frankincense."
Virg. Geor. i., ver. 57.
And again: -
Divisae arboribus patriae: sola India nigrum
Fert ebenum; solis est thurea virga Sabaeis.
Geor. ii., ver. 116.
All sorts of trees their several countries know:
Black ebon only will in India grow;
And odorous frankincense on the Sabaean bough.
Dryden.
- Ubi templum illi centumque Sabaeo Thure calent arae.
Where to her fame a hundred altars rise,
And pour Sabaean odours to the skies.
Pliny (Hist. Nat. lib. xii., c. 17) observes,
Non alia ligni genera in usu sunt quam odorata;
cibosque Sabaei coquunt thuris ligno; alii myrrhae.
"The Sabaeans use odorous wood only, and even use the incense tree and myrrh to cook their victuals."
- Medis levibusque Sabaeis Imperat hic sexus,
reginarumque sub armis Barbariae pars magna jacet.
By this is meant, says Mr. Bruce, the country between the tropic and mountains of Abyssinia, the country of shepherds, from berber, a shepherd. And he contends that these Sabaeans were a distinct people from the Ethiopians and the Arabs, and that Saba was a distinct state.
See 1 Kings 10:10 note.
One of the most touching portions of Solomon's dedicatory prayer was his plea to God for the strangers that should come from countries afar to learn more of Him whose fame had been spread abroad among the nations. “They shall hear,” the king pleaded, “of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched-out arm.” In behalf of every one of these stranger worshipers Solomon had petitioned: “Hear Thou, ... and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for: that all people of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by Thy name.” Verses 42, 43. PK 66.1
At the close of the service, Solomon had exhorted Israel to be faithful and true to God, in order that “all the people of the earth may know,” he said, “that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.” Verse 60. PK 66.2
A Greater than Solomon was the designer of the temple; the wisdom and glory of God stood there revealed. Those who were unacquainted with this fact naturally admired and praised Solomon as the architect and builder; but the king disclaimed any honor for its conception or erection. PK 66.3
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