The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-03-28
THE
QUEEN
OF SHEBA.
Legend Of a Wandering
Poya! Scholar.
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Of Sheba, thanks to its romantic
character, has had noteworthy ca
rear IL was cmbellished BY post
biblical Jewish writer's with vast
amount Of fanciful detail From Jews
in North Arabia il passed to the Arabs
ren; in South Arabia likewise Arabs
received it from Jews and carried It
acrOs the Red Sea to Abvssinia. and
learned histOriographe traced the
lineage of the royal family of Abys-
,.nia 70 the famous Queen. Sha be-
came and is sill name for all that
is magnificent and intaligently Curl
Gus.
According to the narrative q Kings
\. IL Chronicles tx. the Queen hay
ling heard Of Solomons wisdom,
come. to Jerusalem in great state.
with spices, COLL and precious stones.
TO test him: she plies him with hard
questions concerning everything that
interests her and receives satisfactory
answers-there was no problem that
solomon was not able to solve. Fur
Their he shows her his pa'dce and
his household arrangements. inclui
ing the fine bearing and splendid
dress OF his attendants. with the re-
suit that she is lost in admiration
Of his riches and wisdom. Happy"
she exclaims, ARE those who serve
nd hno .i,,IN
ed be your God who has bestowed on
YOU such excellence and happiness"
Then after the usual exchange OF
presents she goes back 10 her own
land and we hear no more OF her
in the Old Testament.
The story cannot be taken as his
tOrical. The "Sheba'' meant. as is
evident from the presents brought
by the Queen. is the famous region
in Southwest Arabia later known as
Yemen. the South" the Arabic
name (yaman) by confusion with
similar word (yamin) was understood
to mean fortunate" and the conse-
quent Roman designation. Arabia Fe-
raphcal nomenclature. Though the
early history Of this region is not
known to us it is not improbable that
a kingdom of Sheba (the native name
is Saba existed as early as the
lines Of Solomon middle OF the tenth
century B. c.. But it is not prob
able that the Israelites were acqua:nt-
ed with the Sabean land in Solomon's
time The other mentions Of Sheba
in the Old Testament all belong in
the period after the capture Of .Jeru-
salem by the Chaldeans 1856 B. c.,
when the Jews came into possession
Of Babylonian geographical learning.
The story in Kings is part Of the
idealizing legendary matter that gath
cred about SolOmOn's name
Doubtless he had a reputation in
his day for some sort Of wisdom, as
David in his day was esteemed as a
poet: but David became in the ira.
dition the ideal religious poet and
Solomon the ideal sage. He is said
to have composed 5000 proverbs and
all plants and animals-of which lit
erary activity no trace has come to
us. The exuberance OF the legend
appears in the statement Il Kings
iv, "a. in the English version) that
visitors from all peoples and all
kings of the earth came to him to
hear his wisdom-a form of state
Ment that betrays the late date when
the Jews came into contact with
great number of Nations. The visit
of the Queen of Sheba is particular
illustration of the general statement
Sheba is chosen as far-off and ia
nous land. She is herself sage
or student troubled by difficulties.
and she seeks a great man to solve
her problem. just as long afterward
wandering scholars in the absence of
books sought learned m~i every
where as teachers: but this rehec-
tive attitude is not in accord with
what we may surHise to have been
the state OF culture in Sheba and in
Israel In the tenth century b. c.
The story is not the less interest
ing for being Legendary IT, as seems
probable. it arose in the sixth or
fifth century B. e.. when Sheba be-
came prominen: in the Old Tesla
ment. we may infer that Solomon
was thought of at that tine mainly
as splendid and practically wise
king and had not attained the repu-
tation assigned him by the authors
and editors of Proverbs, the Song !
OF Songs and Ecclesiasties 1t Is
noteworthy also that the custom OF !
asking hard questions" existed at
that time. Unfortunately the story /