Sheba

Sheba is a place-name in Scripture, associated with a trading people and with the queen who visited Solomon and is called “the Queen of the South” in Luke 11:31. The text says the name appears in more than one genealogical line: Genesis 10:7 lists Sheba among the sons of Raamah son of Cush, while Genesis 25:3 lists Sheba among the sons of Jokshan son of Abraham. Historically, Sheba is most commonly identified with the South Arabian kingdom of Saba, in what is now Yemen, though some interpreters connect certain biblical references with African regions, and the identification is not equally certain in every case.

The main narrative is the queen’s visit to Solomon. 1 Kings 10:1 says she heard of Solomon’s fame “concerning Yahweh’s name” and came to test him with hard questions; 1 Kings 10:10 records her gift of one hundred twenty talents of gold, a very great quantity of spices, and precious stones; and 1 Kings 10:13 says Solomon gave her all her desire before she returned to her own land. 2 Chronicles 9:1 retells the visit with a very great caravan and says she spoke with Solomon about all that was in her heart, and 2 Chronicles 9:8 records her blessing of Yahweh.

Sheba also appears as a source of wealth and incense. Psalms 72:10 names “the kings of Sheba and Seba” as gift-bearers, and Psalms 72:15 speaks of Sheba’s gold; Isaiah 60:6 says “all from Sheba will come” bringing gold and frankincense; Jeremiah 6:20 asks why frankincense from Sheba comes to Yahweh when sacrifices are not acceptable. In Luke 11:31 Jesus calls the queen “the Queen of the South” and says she came “from the ends of the earth” to hear Solomon’s wisdom, using her as a sign in judgment.

Traditions read Sheba and its queen differently. Ethiopian Orthodox tradition identifies the queen with Makeda and holds that she bore Solomon a son, Menelik I, a claim that rests on tradition rather than on the scriptural text. Many Christian interpreters have read the queen typologically, as a Gentile seeker drawn to divine wisdom or as a figure of the nations’ homage to God, while historical-critical scholarship often treats the account as a theological narrative about Solomon’s God-given fame and its limits. These readings disagree about whether “Sheba” and “the South” point primarily to a literal southern kingdom, to a symbolic figure, or to both.

AI-generated reference entry, grounded in the passages where this term appears — history and Scripture stated as such, interpretation labeled as interpretation. Not a substitute for the text itself.