a tree (from its firmness) · noun, common masculine plural construct
precious
יְקָרָֽהye.ka.Rah
H3368
valuable (objectively or subjectively) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
stones
וְאֶ֥בֶןve.'E.ven
H68
a stone · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Kings 9:27-28 And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
2 Chronicles 2:8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and,…
2 Chronicles 8:18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomo…
2 Chronicles 9:10-11 And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.
Psalms 45:9 Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 10:1-13
We have here an account of the visit which the queen of Sheba made to Solomon, no doubt when he was in the height of his piety and prosperity. Our Saviour calls her the queen of the south, for Sheba lay south of Canaan. The common opinion is that it was in Africa; and the Christians in Ethiopia, to this day, are confident that she came from their country, and that Candace was her successor, who is mentioned Act 8:27. But it is more probable that she came from the south part of Arabia the happy. It should seem she was a queen regent, sovereign of her country. Many a kingdom would have been deprived of its greatest blessings if a Salique law had been admitted into its constitution. Observe,
I.…
almug trees--Parenthetically, along with the valuable presents of the queen of Sheba, is mentioned a foreign wood, which was brought in the Ophir ships. It is thought by some to be the sandalwood; by others, to be the deodar--a species of fragrant fir, much used in India for sacred and important works. Solomon used it for stairs in his temple and palace (Ch2 9:11), but chiefly for musical instruments.
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 10:11
Great plenty of almug trees - In the parallel place, Ch2 9:10, Ch2 9:11, these are called algum trees, the ם mem and the ג gimel being transposed; probably the latter is the more correct orthography. What the algum trees were we do not exactly know. The Vulgate calls it ligna thyina, the thya or lignum vitae wood; and Mr. Parkhurst thinks that the original אלגומים algumim, comes from אל al, not, and גם gem, to fill; because the lignum vitae is of so close a texture that it can imbibe no water, and cannot be affected by wet weather. The Septuagint translate it ξυλα πυκινα, pine timber; the Syriac kaise dakisotho, probably cypress wood, or what the translators render ligna brasilica; the Arabi…
Algum — (2 Chr. 2:8; 9:10, 11), the same as almug (1 Kings 10:11).
Algum Or Almug Trees — the former occurring in (2 Chronicles 2:8; 9:10,11) the latter in (1 Kings 10:11,12) These words are identical. From (1 Kings 10:11,12; 2 Chronicles 9:10,11) we learn that the almug was brought in…
Almug — (1 Kings 10:11, 12) = algum (2 Chr. 2:8; 9:10, 11), in the Hebrew occurring only in the plural almuggim (indicating that the wood was brought in planks), the name of a wood brought from Ophir to be…
Cup — A wine-cup (Gen. 40:11, 21), various forms of which are found on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold (1 Kings 10: 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament…
Harp — (Heb. kinnor), the national instrument of the Hebrews. It was invented by Jubal (Gen. 4:21). Some think the word kinnor denotes the whole class of stringed instruments. It was used as an…
Hiram — High-born. (1.) Generally “Huram,” one of the sons of Bela (1 Chr. 8:5). (2.) Also “Huram” and “Horam,” king of Tyre. He entered into an alliance with David, and assisted him in building his palace…
House — Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites were…
Merchant — The Hebrew word so rendered is from a root meaning “to travel about,” “to migrate,” and hence “a traveller.” In the East, in ancient times, merchants travelled about with their merchandise from place…
Ophir — (1.) One of the sons of Joktan (Gen. 10:29). (2.) Some region famous for its gold (1 Kings 9:28; 10:11; 22:48; Job 22:24; 28:16; Isa. 13:12). In the LXX. this word is rendered “Sophir,” and “Sofir”…
Sheba — An oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf. (2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan (Gen. 10:28), probably the founder of…
And the navy also of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir,.... This perhaps was before Solomon was concerned with Hiram in navigation and merchandise; though in 2 Chronicles 9:10 both their servants are said to bring it; and it is here inserted perhaps to show that Solomon had not his gold, at least all of it, from the queen of Sheba; but much from Hiram, who fetched it from Ophir; and as this was in India, as observed on 1 Kings 9:28, many writers make mention of gold in that part of the world, as Diodorus Siculus (w), Strabo (x), Dionysius (y), Curtius (z), Pliny (a), and others: and this navy also
brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees: or algum trees, by transposition of letter…
Visit of the Queen of Saba (cf. Ch2 9:1-12). - When the fame of Solomon's great wisdom came to the ears of the queen of Saba, probably through the Ophir voyages, she undertook a journey to Jerusalem, to convince herself of the truth of the report which had reached her, by putting it to the test by means of enigmas. שׁבא, Σαβά, is not Ethiopia or Mero, as Josephus (Ant. viii. 6, 5), who confounds שׁבא with סבא, and the Abyssinian Christians suppose (vid., Ludolfi hist. Aeth. ii. 3), but the kingdom of the Sabaeans, who were celebrated for their trade in incense, gold, and precious stones, and who dwelt in Arabia Felix, with the capital Saba, or the Μαριάβα of the Greeks. This queen, who is…
Sandalwood is a reddish-brown wood native to India and valued for its aromatic essential oil. Cuneiform tablets found at Ras Shamra and Alalakh also indicate its value for making fine furniture and musical instruments.
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
Algum · Al — Al
Commerce · General references — General references
Diplomacy · . — .
Exports · .Of gold — .Of gold
Gold · From Ophir — From Ophir
Hiram · .Makes presents of gold and sailors to — .Makes presents of gold and sailors to
Navy · Hiram’s — Hiram’s
Ophir · .Products of, used by — .Products of, used by
Precious Stones · Brought from Ophir — Brought from Ophir
Queen · Of Sheba, visits — Of Sheba, visits
Ship · .With Ophir — .With Ophir
Trees · Mentioned in scripture: Almug or algum — Mentioned in scripture: Almug or algum
Tyre · .Commerce of — .Commerce of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
