What Does 1 Kings 10:13 Mean in the King James?
And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The gift has two measures: what she asks for, and what the king’s hand gives beyond her asking.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two gifts together: what the queen names in her request, and what comes from the king’s hand beyond it. Her asking is answered, yet it does not set the limit of what is given. The giving reaches beyond what she knows to ask for.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that you can receive only what you know how to ask for.
THE ROOT
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
to give, set, or place
The two instances of “gave” come from the same root, yet the verse sets them in two measures: what answers her request, and what comes according to the king’s hand. The Hebrew hand makes the surplus an image of the reach of his giving.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: gift
מַתָּנָה
The gift noun shares the root of “gave,” making the queen’s requested and additional gifts expressions of the same act of giving.
netinim: the given ones
הַנְּתִינִים
This form shows the root can describe not only giving, but people set apart as given; here, the root marks what the king places in the queen’s hands.
חֶפְצָהּ
cheftzah
GROWS FROM
חפץ
ḥ-p-ṣ
to take delight in, desire, or find pleasure in
The word rendered “desire” carries the sense of delight or what is pleasing. The verse presents what she desires as something she can name and ask for, while the king’s giving extends beyond it.
ALSO GROWS
chephets: delight, pleasure, or desire
חֵפֶץ
This noun shows that what she asks for is what she finds desirable, not merely a list of objects.
chafets: to delight in or take pleasure in
חָפֵץ
The related verb gives “desire” the shade of something that draws delight, deepening the personal quality of her request.
שָׁאָלָה
sha'alah
GROWS FROM
שאל
sh-ʾ-l
to ask, request, or inquire
“asked” in this verse is sha'alah. The request is explicit: she asks, and the king gives what she asks for. But the verse then names another giving beyond the request, so asking and receiving do not exhaust the scope of generosity.
ALSO GROWS
she'elah: a question or request
שְׁאֵלָה
This noun names the act that sets the first measure of the giving.
sha'ul: asked for
שָׁאוּל
This related form describes what has been requested, echoing the verse’s distinction between what is asked for and what is given beyond it.
THE PATTERN
A request can be answered by a gift whose measure exceeds what was asked.
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.THE THREAD
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.The same Hebrew root for “gave” appears when Solomon receives what he did not ask for. The queen’s surplus and Solomon’s unasked gifts reveal the same pattern: the request is answered, but it does not set the limit of giving.
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