King James Version

2 Chronicles 9:1

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

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Hebrew

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וּמַֽלְכַּתumalkatand queenמַלְכָּהconjunction, noun, common, feminine, singular, construct — “and queen”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH4436a queenqueen.שְׁבָ֗אshevaShebaשְׁבָאnoun, proper name — “Sheba”H7614Sheba, the name of three early progenitors of tribes and of an Ethiopian districtSheba, Sabeans.שָֽׁמְעָה֮shameahhearשָׁמַעverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “hear”, a completed actionH8085to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)[idiom] attentively, call (gather) together, [idiom] carefully, [idiom] certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, [idiom] diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), [idiom] indeed, listen, make (a) n…אֶתetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).שֵׁ֣מַעshemabruitשֵׁמַעnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “bruit”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8088something heard, i.e. a sound, rumor, announcement; abstractly, audiencebruit, fame, hear(-ing), loud, report, speech, tidings.שְׁלֹמֹה֒shelomoSolomonשְׁלֹמֹהnoun, proper name — “Solomon”H8010Shelomah, David's successorSolomon.וַתָּב֣וֹאvatavoand to comeבּוֹאconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “and to come”, the next action in the storyH935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)abide, apply, attain, [idiom] be, befall, [phrase] besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, [idiom] certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, [idiom] doubtless again, [phrase] eat,…לְנַסּוֹת֩lenasotto adventureנָסָהpreposition, verb, piel, infinitive construct — “to adventure”, the to-form of the verbH5254to test; by implication, to attemptadventure, assay, prove, tempt, try.אֶתetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).שְׁלֹמֹ֨הshelomoSolomonשְׁלֹמֹהnoun, proper name — “Solomon”H8010Shelomah, David's successorSolomon.בְחִיד֜וֹתvechidotin dark sayingחִידָהpreposition, noun, common, feminine, plural, absolute — “in dark saying”, the ordinary formH2420a puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum, sententious maximdark saying (sentence, speech), hard question, proverb, riddle.בִּירֽוּשָׁלִַ֗םbirushalimin Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִםpreposition, noun, proper name — “in Jerusalem”H3389Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of PalestineJerusalem.בְּחַ֣יִלbechayilin armyחַיִלpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in army”, the ordinary formH2428probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strengthable, activity, ([phrase]) army, band of men (soldiers), company, (great) forces, goods, host, might, power, riches, strength, strong, substance, train, ([phrase]) valiant(-ly), valour, virtuous(-ly), war, worthy(-ily).כָּבֵ֣דkavedheavyכָּבֵדadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “heavy”, the ordinary formH3515heavy; figuratively in a good sense (numerous) or in a bad sense (severe, difficult, stupid)(so) great, grievous, hard(-ened), (too) heavy(-ier), laden, much, slow, sore, thick.מְאֹ֡דmeodespeciallyמְאֹדadverb — “especially”H3966properly, vehemence, i.e. (with or without preposition) vehemently; by implication, wholly, speedily, etc. (often with other words as an intensive or superlative; especially when repeated)diligently, especially, exceeding(-ly), far, fast, good, great(-ly), [idiom] louder and louder, might(-ily, -y), (so) much, quickly, (so) sore, utterly, very ([phrase] much, sore), well.וּ֠גְמַלִּיםugemalimand camelגָּמָלconjunction, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “and camel”, the ordinary formH1581a camelcamel.נֹשְׂאִ֨יםnoseimlift upנָשָׂאverb, qal, participle, absolute — “lift up”, a verb used as a describing wordH5375to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relativeaccept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable…בְּשָׂמִ֧יםbesamimsmellבֶּשֶׂםnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “smell”, the ordinary formH1314fragrance; by implication, spicery; also the balsam plantsmell, spice, sweet (odour).וְזָהָ֛בvezahavand goldזָהָבconjunction, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “and gold”, the ordinary formH2091gold, figuratively, something gold-colored (i.e. yellow), as oil, a clear skygold(-en), fair weather.לָרֹ֖בlarovto abundanceרֹבpreposition, noun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “to abundance”, the ordinary formH7230abundance (in any respect)abundance(-antly), all, [idiom] common (sort), excellent, great(-ly, -ness, number), huge, be increased, long, many, more in number, most, much, multitude, plenty(-ifully), [idiom] very (age).וְאֶ֣בֶןveevenand stoneאֶבֶןconjunction, noun, common, feminine, singular, absolute — “and stone”, the ordinary formH68a stone[phrase] carbuncle, [phrase] mason, [phrase] plummet, (chalk-, hail-, head-, sling-) stone(-ny), (divers) weight(-s).יְקָרָ֑הyeqarahbrightnessיָקָרadjective, adjective, feminine, singular, absolute — “brightness”, the ordinary formH3368valuable (objectively or subjectively)brightness, clear, costly, excellent, fat, honourable women, precious, reputation.וַתָּבוֹא֙vatavoand to comeבּוֹאconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “and to come”, the next action in the storyH935to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)abide, apply, attain, [idiom] be, befall, [phrase] besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, [idiom] certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, [idiom] doubtless again, [phrase] eat,…אֶלelamongאֵלpreposition — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).שְׁלֹמֹ֔הshelomoSolomonשְׁלֹמֹהnoun, proper name — “Solomon”H8010Shelomah, David's successorSolomon.וַתְּדַבֵּ֣רvatdaberand speakדָבַרconjunction, verb, piel, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “and speak”, the next action in the storyH1696perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdueanswer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, [idiom] well, [idiom] work.עִמּ֔וֹimvowithעִםpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “with”H5973adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English)accompanying, against, and, as ([idiom] long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-) to, with(-al).אֵ֛תetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).כָּלkalallכֹּלnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “all”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3605properly, 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).אֲשֶׁ֥רasherbecauseאֲשֶׁרparticle, relative — “because”H834who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.[idiom] after, [idiom] alike, as (soon as), because, [idiom] every, for, [phrase] forasmuch, [phrase] from whence, [phrase] how(-soever), [idiom] if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), [idiom] though, [phrase] until, [phrase] whatsoever,…הָיָ֖הhayahbeהָיָהverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “be”, a completed actionH1961to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.עִםimwithעִםpreposition — “with”H5973adverb or preposition, with (i.e. in conjunction with), in varied applications; specifically, equally with; often with prepositional prefix (and then usually unrepresented in English)accompanying, against, and, as ([idiom] long as), before, beside, by (reason of), for all, from (among, between), in, like, more than, of, (un-) to, with(-al).לְבָבָֽהּlevavahbreastלֵבָבnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, feminine, singular — “breast”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3824the heart (as the most interior organ);[phrase] bethink themselves, breast, comfortably, courage, ((faint), (tender-) heart(-ed), midst, mind, [idiom] unawares, understanding.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices and gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she was come to Solomon, she spoke with him of all that was in her heart.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

Young’s Literal Translation

And the queen of Sheba hath heard of the fame of Solomon, and cometh in to try Solomon with acute sayings, to Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels bearing spices and gold in abundance, and precious stone; and she cometh in unto Solomon, and speaketh with him all that hath been with her heart,

World English Bible

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to test Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great caravan, including camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. When she had come to Solomon, she talked with him about all that was in her heart.

Darby Translation

And the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, and came to Jerusalem to prove Solomon with enigmas; with a very great train, and camels that bore spices and gold in great abundance, and precious stones; and she came to Solomon, and spoke with him of all that was in her heart.

Douay-Rheims

And when the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to try him with hard questions at Jerusalem, with great riches, and camels, which carried spices, and abundance of gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she proposed to him all that was in her heart.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And the queen of Saba heard of the name of Solomon, and she came to Jerusalem with a very large force, to prove Solomon with hard questions, and she had camels bearing spices in abundance, and gold, and precious stones: and she came to Solomon, and told him all that was in her mind.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ βασίλισσα Σαβὰ ἤκουσε τὸ ὄνομα Σαλωμὼν, καὶ ἦλθε τοῦ πειρᾶσαι Σαλωμὼν ἐν αἰνίγμασιν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐν δυνάμει βαρείᾳ σφόδρα, καὶ κάμηλοι αἴρουσαι ἀρώματα εἰς πλῆθος, καὶ χρυσίον, καὶ λίθον τίμιον· καὶ ἦλθε πρὸς Σαλωμὼν, καὶ ἐλάλησε πρὸς αὐτὸν πάντα ὅσα ἦν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτῆς.