1 Kings 10:1

1. Sheba Not the Cushite kingdom of this name in Ethiopia, as Josephus and others hold, but the region in Southern Arabia originally settled by Sheba the son of Joktan, (Genesis 10:28,) and comprising what is now known as Yemen, or Arabia-Felix. Hence our Lord called the queen of this region “the queen of the south,” and spoke of her as coming from the ends ( των περατων ) of the earth, that is, the uttermost part of the land to the south. The Arabs call the name of this queen Balkis.

Concerning the name of the Lord לשׁם יהוה , to the name, that is, in relation to the name of Jehovah. Solomon’s fame was great because of its most intimate relation to, and association with, the name of Jehovah. From him had he received the gift of superior wisdom; and the distant lands that brought their sons from far, and their silver and gold to Solomon, brought them at the same time to the name of the Lord his God, because he had thus signally glorified him. Compare Isaiah 60:9.

To prove him with hard questions Such as riddles. A common custom among the Arabs of ancient and modern times, to test the sagacity and wisdom of distinguished persons. Josephus relates that Hiram, king of Tyre, and Solomon also, tried to puzzle each other with riddles and enigmatical sayings. “The spirit of this asking of questions and solving of dark riddles is of the very nature of the Socratic wisdom itself. ‘To ask questions rightly,’ says Lord Bacon, ‘is the half of knowledge.’ ‘Life without cross-examination is no life at all,’ said Socrates. And of this stimulating process, of this eager inquiry, of this cross-examining of our thoughts, bringing new meanings out of old words, Solomon is the first example. When we inquire, when we question, when we are restless in our search after truth, when we seek it from unexpected quarters, we are but following in the steps of the wise king of Judah and the wise queen of Sheba.” Stanley.