1 Kings 10:3
in 1 Kings 10And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king which he told her not.
KJV
And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.
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This verse in 1 Kings 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseSolomon told her all her questions - Riddles, problems, fables, apologues, etc., formed the principal part of the wisdom of the East; indeed they use and delight in them to the present day. See the case of Samson and his friends, Jdg 14:12 (note), Jdg 14:14 (note), and the notes there.
This site's exposition
she came to prove him with hard questions
on 1 Kings 10:1-3
The queen of Sheba travels from southern Arabia to test Solomon's wisdom with hard questions, and Jesus names her the queen of the south at Matt 12:42 and Luke 11:31, rising in judgment against a generation that refuses one greater than Solomon. Solomon answers every question she brings; there is not any thing hid from the king which he told her not. Her hard questions were likely riddles and matters of state as much as philosophy, the kind ancient Near Eastern courts traded to test a ruler's mind.
This site's exposition
nothing was too difficult for the king
Adam Clarke sets her questions among the riddles and fables prized in the East, the kind Samson put to his wedding guests at Judges 14:12 to 14. Matthew Henry reads them as questions asked to learn. Solomon made plain what she had thought too difficult to explain.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Solomon told her all her questions,.... Answered them, told her the meaning of everything she inquired about, expounded her riddles, solved her objections, and gave her satisfaction in all things she proposed unto him: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not; there was not anything, though ever so abstruse and difficult, but what he understood, and gave her a clear and plain solution of.
Were they designed for her own instruction? (as we suppose most of them were), she received abundant instruction from him, and he made things surprisingly easy which she apprehended insuperably difficult, and satisfied her that there was a divine sentence in the lips of this king.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2778: “Consulting With Jesus” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
Those of you who were here last Thursday evening will recollect that I spoke to you upon our Savior's words, "The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here." [Sermon No. 2776, Volume 48— THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, A SIGN].
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2778: “Consulting With Jesus” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
Those of you who were here last Thursday evening will recollect that I spoke to you upon our Savior's words, "The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here." [Sermon No. 2776, Volume 48— THE QUEEN OF SHEBA, A SIGN]. I tried, then, to prove that the queen of Sheba is a condemning sign to those who do not believe our report concerning Him, or who do not act upon it so as to seek His face. Tonight we will follow the queen of the south little further. As our Lord has given the queen of Sheba for a sign, it would be unbecoming if we did not try to learn all that we can from that sign. She came "to hear the wisdom of Solomon." But Christ is "greater than Solomon" in every respect. He is greater in wisdom, for, though Solomon was wise, he was not Wisdom, itself, and that Jesus is. In the Book of Proverbs Jesus is referred to under the name of Wisdom and the Apostle Paul tells us that He is made of God unto us wisdom. They who really know Him know something of how wise He is and how truly He may be called Wisdom. Because He is with the Father and knows the Father, He has such wisdom as no one else can have. "No man knows the Son, but the Father. Neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomever the Son will reveal Him." He knows the deep things of God, for He came down from Heaven bringing His Father's greatest secrets in His heart. To Him, therefore, men ought to come if they wish to be wise, and ought we not to wish for wisdom? To whom else can we go if we go not to Him "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"? In speaking of the queen of Sheba coming to Solomon as a type of our coming to Christ, I will, first, call upon you to admire the queen's mode of procedure.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּגֶּד־ | vaiyaged- | and he told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לָ֥הּ | lah | to her | ||
| שְׁלֹמֹ֖ה | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| דְּבָרֶ֑יהָ | devareiha | words her | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָיָ֤ה | hayah | it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דָּבָר֙ | davar | anything | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| נֶעְלָ֣ם | ne'lam | hidden | H5956 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹ֦א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִגִּ֖יד | higid | he told | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לָֽהּ׃ | lah | to her |
וַיַּגֶּד־and he told
vaiyaged-H5046 →370 times
לָ֥הּto her
lah
שְׁלֹמֹ֖הSolomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
דְּבָרֶ֑יהָwords her
devareihaH1697 →1440 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָיָ֤הit was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
דָּבָר֙anything
davarH1697 →1440 times
נֶעְלָ֣םhidden
ne'lamH5956 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹ֦אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
הִגִּ֖ידhe told
higidH5046 →370 times
לָֽהּ׃to her
lah
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 1:30It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
it leads to
- Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
- Philippians 3:9
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
- Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their…
- Colossians 1:14
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
- Ephesians 1:7
Through
Matthew 13:11He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 2:9–10
Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Matthew 19:11
“Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given.
- 1 Corinthians 2:9–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2778: “Consulting With Jesus” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.