What Does 1 Kings 10:1 Mean?

And when the queen of Sheba heard the report of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with riddles.

1 Kings 10:1 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

THE KEY

Hebrew uses the same root for her hearing and Solomon’s report, then echoes its sound in “name” (⁨שֵׁם⁩, shem), so the renown points toward the LORD’s nature.

THE MEANING

The report about Solomon is tied directly to the LORD’s name, so acclaim points beyond a person to the nature his wisdom is said to carry. The queen arrives with hard questions, and the claim meets her scrutiny through an encounter with that wisdom.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that a reputation alone proves wisdom: what is heard still meets the test of encounter.

THE ROOT

שֹׁמַעַת

shōmaʿat

GROWS FROM

שמע

To hear, listen, or heed.

The queen “hears” (⁨שֹׁמַעַת⁩, shōmaʿat) the “report” or “fame” (⁨שֵׁמַע⁩, shēmaʿ) of Solomon; both words grow from ⁨שמע⁩, the root of hearing. The following “name” (⁨שֵׁם⁩, shem) echoes those consonants but is not the same root, drawing the report toward the LORD’s nature.

ALSO GROWS

shāmaʿ: To hear, listen, or heed.

שָׁמַע

This verb is the root beneath the queen’s act of hearing.

shemuʿah: A report or news.

שְׁמוּעָה

This related noun shows how hearing becomes a report that can travel and be tested.

THE PATTERN

Wisdom associated with God becomes recognizable through its fruits and can withstand scrutiny.

Guard them therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, who will hear all these statutes and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

Deuteronomy 4:6 · SDVWisdom becomes visible to others through what is lived out, until those who hear it recognize its character.

But the wisdom that is from above is first set apart, then whole, gentle, and easy to yield to, full of faithful love and good fruits, undivided, and without a mask.

James 3:17 · SDVWisdom from above is identified by the qualities and fruits that accompany it.

Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel. Because the LORD loved Israel for the ages, he set you as king, to do judgment and alignment.

1 Kings 10:9 · SDVAfter the queen encounters Solomon’s wisdom, she names the LORD as its source and sees its purpose in judgment and justice.

THE THREAD

The queen of the south will stand up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the far edges of the ground to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 12:42 · SDV

This verse names the queen’s journey and places someone greater than Solomon before the reader. Her search for Solomon’s wisdom becomes a sign that wisdom can point beyond even its wisest bearer.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us