The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
By New Christian Bible Study Staff
The Queen of Sheba visited Solomon in Jerusalem. She brought gifts - precious stones, gold, and spices - and also brought hard questions.
Historically, it's an interesting story. Sheba was probably located in what is now Yemen and/or Ethiopia. The story has been romanticized, and even made into a Hollywood movie.
Like all the stories in the Word, though, it has an internal meaning, preserved within the literal story.
The precious stones, gold, and spices that the queen brought as gifts stand for true ideas, and good loves, and the pleasing things that are produced when good and truth are joined together.
The hard questions that she brought signify our deep thinking about faith.
The descriptions in Arcana Coelestia 117, and other references in Swedenborg's works, for a more in-depth description of the significance of this story.