1 Kings 4:34

1 Kings 4:34

And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.

a. ASV: And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

b. YLT: And there come out of all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth who have heard of his wisdom.

c. Amplified Bible Classic: Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.

d. Septuagint [1 Kings 5:14]:  And all the nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and [ambassadors] from all the kings of the earth, as many as heard of his wisdom.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: They came from all the nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, [emissaries] from all the kings of the land had heard of his wisdom.

1. “And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon…”

a. [And there] came [Strong: 935 bôwʼ, bo; a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):—abide, apply, attain, × be, befall, besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, ×certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, ×doubtless again, eat, employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, have, × indeed, (in-) vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, × (well) stricken (in age), × surely, take (in), way.] [The KJV translates Strong's H935 in the following manner: come (1,435x), bring (487x), ... in (233x), enter (125x), go (123x), carry (17x), ...down (23x), pass (13x), ...out (12x), miscellaneous (109x).]

b. [of] all [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

c. people [Strong: 5971  ʻam, am; from H6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:—folk, men, nation, people.] [The KJV translates Strong's H5971 in the following manner: people (1,836x), nation (17x), people (with H1121) (4x), folk (2x), Ammi (1x), men (1x), each (1x).]

d. [to] hear [Strong: 8085 shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):—× attentively, call (gather) together, × carefully, × certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, × diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), × indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, × surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.] [The KJV translates Strong's H8085 in the following manner: hear (785x), hearken (196x), obey (81x), publish (17x), understand (9x), obedient (8x), diligently (8x), shew (6x), sound (3x), declare (3x), discern (2x), noise (2x), perceive (2x), tell (2x), reported (2x), miscellaneous (33x).]

e. [the] wisdom [Strong: 2451  chokmâh, khok-maw'; from H2449; wisdom (in a good sense):—skilful, wisdom, wisely, wit.] [The KJV translates Strong's H2451 in the following manner: wisdom (145x), wisely (2x), skilful man (1x), wits (1x).]

f. [of] Solomon’s [Strong: 8010 Shᵉlômôh, shel-o-mo'; from H7965; peaceful; Shelomah, David's successor:—Solomon.] [The KJV translates Strong's H8010 in the following manner: Solomon (293x).]

2. “...from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.”

a. from [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

b. all [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

c. kings [Strong: 4428 melek, meh'-lek; from H4427; a king:—king, royal.] [The KJV translates Strong's H4428 in the following manner: king (2,518x), royal (2x), Hammelech (1x), Malcham (1x), Moloch (1x).]

d. [of the] earth [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × natins, way, + wilderness, world.] [The KJV translates Strong's H776 in the following manner: land (1,543x), earth (712x), country (140x), ground (98x), world (4x), way (3x), common (1x), field (1x), nations (1x), wilderness (with H4057) (1x).]

e. who [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

f. [had] heard [Strong: 8085 shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):—× attentively, call (gather) together, × carefully, × certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, × diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), × indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, × surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.] [The KJV translates Strong's H8085 in the following manner: hear (785x), hearken (196x), obey (81x), publish (17x), understand (9x), obedient (8x), diligently (8x), shew (6x), sound (3x), declare (3x), discern (2x), noise (2x), perceive (2x), tell (2x), reported (2x), miscellaneous (33x).]

g. of [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

h. [his] wisdom wisdom [Strong: 2451  chokmâh, khok-maw'; from H2449; wisdom (in a good sense):—skilful, wisdom, wisely, wit.] [The KJV translates Strong's H2451 in the following manner: wisdom (145x), wisely (2x), skilful man (1x), wits (1x).]

1). The Queen of Sheba.

a). 1 Kings 10:1-13 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.

10:2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

10:3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

10:4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,

10:5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

10:6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

10:7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

10:8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

10:9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

10:10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

10:11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.

10:12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

10:13 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.

2). Special attention must be given concerning the phrase “there was no more spirit in her” in 1 Kings 10:5. We know that because of this visit the Queen became a believer, Jesus said as much when he stated that this Queen would rise in judgment against those who rejected Christ (Matthew 12:42), and we know that only believers will judge the world (1 Corinthians 6:2). The Hebrew words are used also in Joshua 2:11, “neither did there remain any more courage in any man”. Rahab became a believer when this happened to her just as it did to the Queen of Sheba. I believe that this is referring to the state when men come to the end of themselves and that God is their only help. Rahab embraced God as well as the Queen of Sheba, but the rest of Canaan did not.