Sheba - UPDV Updated Bible Version

The name Sheba attaches to several distinct figures and one famous land. In the Table of Nations and the patriarchal genealogies it is borne by three different ancestors whose descendants populated parts of Arabia. In the United Monarchy a Benjamite named Sheba leads a short-lived revolt against David. A Gadite of the same name appears among the chiefs of his fathers' houses. And the queen of a southern Arabian land called Sheba comes to Jerusalem to test Solomon, after which the prophets repeatedly invoke Sheba as the byword for caravans bearing gold, frankincense, and spices.

Sheba in the Genealogies

Three lines converge on the name Sheba in the Genesis genealogies. The first is Cushite, traced through Raamah: "And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan" (Gen 10:7). The Chronicler repeats the line with minor spelling variation: "And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raama, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan" (1 Chr 1:9).

The second is Joktanite, in the line of Shem: among the sons of Joktan stand "Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba" (Gen 10:28), repeated by the Chronicler with the variant Ebal in place of Obal (1 Chr 1:22).

The third runs through Abraham's sons by Keturah. Jokshan becomes the father of a Sheba in the next generation: "And Jokshan begot Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim" (Gen 25:3). The Chronicler again preserves the same descent: "And the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan: Sheba, and Dedan" (1 Chr 1:32). The pairing of Sheba with Dedan in two of the three genealogies is striking, and the prophets later treat Sheba and Dedan as a recurring trade-pair.

Sheba the Benjamite Insurrectionist

In the wake of Absalom's revolt a second rebellion breaks out, this one led by a Benjamite. The narrator introduces him sharply: "And there happened to be there a base fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew the trumpet, and said, We have no portion in David, neither do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel" (2 Sam 20:1). The northern tribes peel off behind him: "So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah stuck to their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem" (2 Sam 20:2).

David rates the threat as more dangerous than Absalom's. He gives Abishai the order: "Now Sheba the son of Bichri will do us more harm than did Absalom: you take your lord's slaves, and pursue after him, in case he found himself fortified cities, and tears out our eye" (2 Sam 20:6). Joab's professional troops, with the Cherethites and Pelethites and the mighty men, take up the chase out of Jerusalem (2 Sam 20:7). The pursuit follows him north: "he went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth-maacah. And all those who joined him were gathered together, and also went after him. And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah" (2 Sam 20:14-15).

The siege is broken not by storm but by negotiation. A wise woman parleys with Joab from the wall, and Joab states his terms: "a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city" (2 Sam 20:21). The city consents: "Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. And he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king" (2 Sam 20:22).

Sheba the Gadite

Among the Gadite chiefs of fathers' houses settled east of the Jordan, the Chronicler lists a Sheba in passing: "And their brothers of their fathers' houses: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven" (1 Chr 5:13). Nothing further is recorded of him.

A City in the Inheritance of Simeon

"Sheba" is sometimes assigned to the cities of Simeon's lot, but the UPDV text of Joshua reads Beer-sheba in that position: "And they had for their inheritance Beer-sheba, and Shema, and Moladah" (Jos 19:2). The list belongs to the second lot, "for the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah" (Jos 19:1).

The Queen of Sheba and Solomon's Court

The longest narrative attached to the name belongs to a queen who hears of Solomon and travels to test him. The opening line is preserved twice. Kings reads: "And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Yahweh, she came to prove him with hard questions" (1 Kgs 10:1). Chronicles expands the entrance: "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 came to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart" (2 Chr 9:1).

The questions are answered without remainder: "And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king which he did not tell her" (1 Kgs 10:3). What undoes her, however, is not the disputation but the cumulative spectacle of the court: "the food of his table, and the sitting of his slaves, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her" (1 Kgs 10:5). She concedes the report had been true and incomplete: "It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. Nevertheless I didn't believe the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it: and, look, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard" (1 Kgs 10:6-7).

Her confession turns toward Solomon's God: "Blessed be Yahweh your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel: because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness" (1 Kgs 10:9). The Chronicler heightens the same line into kingship under God: "to set you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore he made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness" (2 Chr 9:8).

The exchange of gifts is itemized. From Sheba: "she gave the king a 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" (1 Kgs 10:10). Chronicles records the same gift and ranks it: "neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon" (2 Chr 9:9). And from Solomon: "And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her slaves" (1 Kgs 10:13). Chronicles parallels the closing in nearly identical language (2 Chr 9:12).

Sheba in the Prophets and Psalms

After the queen's visit Sheba enters the prophetic and poetic vocabulary as the standing image of opulent caravan trade out of southern Arabia. Job knows the routes: "The caravans of Tema looked, The companies of Sheba waited for them" (Job 6:19). The royal psalm casts the future king as receiving tribute from the same quarter: "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will render tribute: The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts" (Ps 72:10), and again: "And he will live; And he will give to him of the gold of Sheba" (Ps 72:15).

Isaiah's vision of Zion's restoration draws Sheba's caravans toward the city: "The multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will proclaim the good news of the praises of Yahweh" (Isa 60:6). Jeremiah, by contrast, scorns the imported incense when its bearers' lives are unfit: "To what purpose does frankincense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your⁺ burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your⁺ sacrifices pleasing to me" (Jer 6:20).

Ezekiel inventories Sheba twice in his oracles. In the dirge over Tyre: "The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were your traffickers; they traded for your wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold" (Ezek 27:22), and immediately after: "Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur [and] Chilmad, were your traffickers" (Ezek 27:23). In the Gog oracle, Sheba and Dedan stand together once more, this time as merchant onlookers to the threatened plunder: "Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its young lions, will say to you, Have you come to take the spoil? Have you assembled your company to take the prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?" (Ezek 38:13).