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Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom; and all the kings sought to see his face and to hear his voice, and they came, each one bringing his gifts year by year, golden vessels and clothing and spices and horses and mules. And he had one thousand four hundred chariots, and forty thousand brood mares, and twelve thousand horses for chariots. And he was the ruler of all the kings from the river Euphrates to the land of the foreigners and to the borders of Egypt. And the queen of Sheba, who was called Sibyl by the Greeks, having heard his name, came to Jerusalem to test him with a riddle, and camels carrying many and excellent 1.167 spices and much gold and precious stones, and with a very heavy force. And having come in to him, and having spoken to him all that was in her heart, he solved everything for her with an arrangement of words and a most subtle interpretation. And she proceeded to test him in this also. For having adorned good-looking male and female children with similar dress and the same haircut, she presented them to him, seeking to make a distinction of each gender; for this Sibyl was herself very famous for her shrewdness and wisdom and great experience. And when the king ordered them to wash their faces, he discerned the nature of each, the males cooling their faces vigorously and manfully, but the females gently and timidly. So that the queen, being very astonished both by him and by those around him and having come to her senses, said: "The report which I heard in my land is true, and it is not even half of what was reported to me; for I have seen more than I heard. Blessed therefore are your wives and your servants, these who stand before you and hear the words of your wisdom." And having given him one hundred and twenty talents of gold and many spices and precious stones, and indeed also the root of the balsam, from which Palestine has had this cultivation, as Josephus says, she returned to her own land, being exceedingly amazed. Concerning whom the Lord also said, "The queen of the south came from the ends of the earth to see the wisdom of Solomon." And yet, concerning 1.168 him the most wise Sirach said, "Solomon, you were wise in your youth, and you were filled like a river with understanding. Your wisdom covered the earth, and you filled it with enigmatic parables. Your renown reached to faraway islands and distant lands, and you were loved in your peace, which God established on all sides. And you were marveled at for your songs and proverbs and parables. And you gathered gold like tin, and you multiplied silver like lead. But you inclined your loins to women, and were brought under their power in your body, and you gave a blemish to your glory, and you defiled your seed, to bring wrath upon your children." But indeed, he himself also speaks most clearly concerning his own wisdom and wealth: "But may God grant me to speak according to my mind and to conceive thoughts worthy of what is said, for he himself is the guide of wisdom and the corrector of the wise. For in his hand are both we and our words. For he himself has given me true knowledge of the things that are, to know the constitution of the world and the activity of the elements, the beginning and end and middle of times, the cycles of years and the positions of stars, the natures of living creatures and the tempers of wild beasts, the violence of winds and the reasonings of men, the varieties of plants and the powers of roots, and I have known whatever is secret and manifest. For wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me. And I, the Preacher, was king of Israel in Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and to 1.169 search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. And behold, I have become great, and have added wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much, wisdom and knowledge, and I have known parables and sciences,

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Σολομῶν ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς πλούτῳ καὶ φρονήσει· καὶ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐζήτουν ἰδεῖν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκοῦσαι τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ, καὶ παρεγίνοντο φέροντες ἕκαστος κατ' ἐνιαυτὸν τὰ δῶρα αὐτῶν, σκεύη χρυσᾶ καὶ ἱματισμὸν καὶ ἡδύσματα καὶ ἵππους καὶ ἡμιό νους. καὶ ἦσαν αὐτοῦ χίλια τετρακόσια ἅρματα, καὶ ἵπποι θή λειαι τοκάδες χιλιάδες τεσσαράκοντα, καὶ ἵπποι εἰς ἅρματα χι λιάδες δώδεκα. καὶ ἦν ἡγούμενος τῶν βασιλέων πάντων ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ Εὐφράτου ἕως γῆς ἀλλοφύλων καὶ ἕως τῶν ὁρίων Αἰ γύπτου. Καὶ βασιλίσσα Σαβᾶ, ἥτις ἐλέγετο Σίβυλλα παρ' Ἕλλησιν, ἀκούσασα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἦλθεν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ πειράσαι αὐτὸν ἐν αἰνίγματι, καὶ κάμηλοι αἴρουσαι ἡδύσματα πολλὰ καὶ ἐξαίρετα 1.167 καὶ χρυσὸν πολὺν καὶ λίθους τιμίους, καὶ ἐν δυνάμει βαρείᾳ σφόδρα. καὶ εἰσελθοῦσα πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ λαλήσασα αὐτῷ πάντα ὅσα ἦν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς, καὶ πάντα διέλυσεν αὐτῇ ἐν συντάξει λόγων καὶ ἑρμηνείᾳ λεπτοτάτῃ. ἡ δὲ προσέθετο τοῦ πειράσαι αὐτὸν καὶ ἐν τούτῳ. εὐόπτους γὰρ παῖδας ἄρρενάς τε καὶ θηλείας ὁμοιοτρόπῳ στολῇ καὶ κουρᾷ τῇ αὐτῇ περικαλλωπίσασα παρέστησεν αὐτῷ, ζητοῦσα ἑκατέρου γένους διάκρισιν ποιήσασθαι· ἦν γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ Σίβυλλα πάνυ ἐπ' ἀγχινοίᾳ τε καὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ πολυπειρίᾳ διαβόητος. ὡς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς νίψασθαι τούτοις προσέ ταξε τὸ πρόσωπον, τὴν φύσιν ἑκατέρων διέγνωκε, τῶν μὲν ἀρρέ νων εὐτόνως καὶ ἀνδρικῶς τὰς ὄψεις καταψυχόντων, τῶν δὲ θη λειῶν ἁπαλῶς καὶ ἀπειρημένως. ὡς τὴν βασίλισσαν καταπλα γεῖσαν πάνυ ἔκ τε τῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐξ ἑαυτῆς γενομένων εἰπεῖν "ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος ὃν ἤκουσα ἐν τῇ γῇ μου, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τὸ ἥμισυ καθὼς ἀπηγγέλη μοι· πλείονα γὰρ ἑώρακα ὑπὲρ ἃ ἤκουσα. μακάριαι γοῦν αἱ γυναῖκες καὶ οἱ παῖδές σου, οἱ παρεστηκότες οὗτοι ἐνώπιόν σου καὶ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους τῆς φρονήσεώς σου." καὶ δοῦσα αὐτῷ χρυσίου τάλαντα ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι καὶ ἡδύσματα πολλὰ καὶ λίθους τιμίους καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν τοῦ ὀπο βαλσάμου ῥίζαν, ἀφ' οὗ ἡ Παλαιστίνη τοῦτο γεώργιον ἔσχεν, ὥς φησιν Ἰώσηπος, ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν γῆν αὐτῆς ὑπερεκπλητ τομένη λίαν. περὶ ἧς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἔφη "βασίλισσα νότου ἦλθεν ἐκ τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς ἰδεῖν τὴν σοφίαν Σολομῶντος." πρὸς 1.168 ὃν μέντοι καὶ Σιρὰχ ὁ σοφώτατος ἔλεγε "Σολομῶν, ἐσοφίσθης ἐν νεότητί σου, καὶ ἐνεπλήσθης ὡς ποταμὸς συνέσεως. γῆν ἐπεκά λυψεν ἡ σοφία σου, καὶ ἐνέπλησας ἐν παραβολαῖς αἰνιγμάτων. εἰς νήσους πόρρω καὶ μακρὰς χώρας ἀφίκετό σου τὸ μνημόσυνον, καὶ ἠγαπήθης ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ σου, ἣν κατέπαυσεν ὁ θεὸς κυκλόθεν. καὶ ᾠδαῖς καὶ παροιμίαις καὶ παραβολαῖς ἐθαυμαστώθης. καὶ συνήγαγες ὡς κασσίτερον τὸ χρυσίον, καὶ ὡς μόλιβδον ἐπλήθυ νας ἄργυρον. ἀλλὰ παρέκλινας τὰς λαγόνας σου γυναιξί, καὶ ἐνεξουσιάσθης ἐν τῷ σώματί σου, καὶ ἔδωκας μῶμον ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου, καὶ ἐβεβήλωσας τὸ σπέρμα σου, ἐπαγαγεῖν ὀργὴν ἐπὶ τὰ τέκνα σου." οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς δι' ἑαυτοῦ σαφέστατα περὶ τῆς ἰδίας σοφίας καὶ τοῦ πλούτου φησίν "ἐμοὶ δὲ δῴη ὁ θεὸς κατὰ γνώμην εἰπεῖν καὶ ἐνθυμηθῆναι ἀξίως τῶν λεγομένων, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος καὶ τῆς σοφίας ὁδηγός ἐστι καὶ τῶν σοφῶν διορ θωτής. ἐν γὰρ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡμεῖς καὶ οἱ λόγοι ἡμῶν. αὐτὸς γάρ μοι δέδωκε τῶν ὄντων τὴν γνῶσιν ἀψευδῶς, εἰδέναι σύστα σιν τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ἐνεργείας στοιχείων, ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος καὶ με σότητα χρόνων, ἐνιαυτῶν κύκλους καὶ ἀστέρων θέσεις, φύσεις ζῴων καὶ θυμοὺς θηρίων, πνευμάτων βίας καὶ διαλογισμοὺς ἀνθρώπων, διαφορὰς φυτῶν καὶ δυνάμεις ῥιζῶν, ὅσα τέ ἐστι κρυπτὰ καὶ ἐμφανῆ ἔγνων. ὁ γὰρ πάντων τεχνίτης ἐδίδαξέ με σοφίαν. καὶ ἐγὼ ἐκκλησιαστὴς ἐγενόμην βασιλεὺς Ἰσραὴλ ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ ἔδωκα τὴν καρδίαν μου τοῦ ἐκζητῆσαι καὶ κα 1.169 τασκέψασθαι ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ περὶ τῶν γενομένων πάντων ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν. καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐμεγαλύνθην, καὶ προσέθηκα σοφίαν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἳ ἐγένοντο ἔμπροσθέν μου ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ, καὶ καρδία μου εἶδε πολλά, σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν, καὶ ἔγνων παραβολὰς καὶ ἐπι στήμας,