Matthew 12:42 KJV
The queen of the south shall rise up
in the judgment with this generation,
and shall condemn it:
for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
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Other translations
New International Version
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.
New Living Translation
The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here — but you refuse to listen.
English Standard Version
The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Berean Study Bible
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.
Berean Literal Bible
The queen of [the] south will rise up in the judgment with this the generation and will condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
New King James Version
The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
New American Standard Bible
The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, [something] greater than Solomon is here.
NASB 1995
“The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
NASB 1977
[The] Queen of [the] South shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Amplified Bible
The Queen of the South (Sheba) will stand up [as a witness] at the judgment against this generation, and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and now, something greater than Solomon is here.
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The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, etc.
The queen of Sheba ( Maybe a tract in Arabia, near the shores of the Red Sea) came from a remote country, “south” of Judea, to hear the wisdom of a mere man, though a gifted one, and was transported with wonder at what she saw and heard (1 Kings 10:1-9). They, when a Greater than Solomon had come to them, despised and rejected, slighted and slandered Him.
We have the history to which this relates in 1 Kings 10:1, etc.
She is here called the queen of the south; in the Book of Kings, and in 2 Chronicles 9:1, the queen of Sheba.
Whether this Sheba, or Saba, was in Arabia or Ethiopia, is not much material available; certain is, that it was southward of Judea, and a place at a great distance.
Yet, saith our Savior,
▪︎ though she was a great queen, though she lived at so great a distance from Jerusalem,
▪︎ though she had only heard of the fame and wisdom of Solomon;
▪︎ yet she came in person to hear his wise discourses, either about things natural or supernatural.
These wretched Jews are not put to it to take a journey, I am come amongst them, I who am greater than Solomon, who am the Eternal Wisdom, and come to discourse of heavenly wisdom to them;
I am come to their doors, theirs to whom the notion of a Messiah is no new thing, they have heard of me; they are no heathens, but bred up to the knowledge of God.
I have done many miracles before them, yet they will not hear nor believe me.
The queen of Sheba in the day of judgment shall rise up as a witness against them, when God shall condemn them for their unbelief. The more light, and means, and obligations men have upon them to faith and holiness, the greater will their judgment and condemnation be.
The queen of the south
It literally reads: “a queen of the south”, like before with, “men of Nineveh”, the Greek has no article. Rhetorically, the absence of the article is in this case more emphatic than its presence.
The queen of the south, that, is, the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1)
Sheba
Sheba may have been a city of Arabia, or in Ethiopia, situated to the south of Judea.
Sheba was one of the sons of Joktan, a grandchild of Arphaxad, who settled in the southern parts of Arabia: hence this queen is called the queen of the south.
Sheba is by the Targumist called Zemargad: and this queen the queen of Zemargad.
She goes by different names.
According to some, her name was Maqueda, and, as others say, Balkis: a Jewish chronologer tells us, that the queen of Sheba, who is called Nicolaa, of the kingdom of Jaman, or the south, came to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, and gave him much riches: and Josephus calls her Nicaulis, queen of Egypt and Ethiopia.
Shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it
This queen of Sheba shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: the meaning is, as before; that she shall rise from the dead, and stand as a witness against that generation at the day of judgment, and, by her example and practices, which will then be produced, condemn them, or aggravate their condemnation.
She came from the uttermost parts of the earth
That part of Arabia from which she came was the uttermost part of the earth that way, being bounded by the sea.
She came from the uttermost parts of the earth; an hyperbolical expression, meaning a great way off from a far country, a very distant part of the world from Jerusalem.
From the uttermost parts of the earth, means simply from the most distant parts of the habitable world “then known.” See a similar expression in Deuteronomy 28:49.
As the knowledge of geography was limited, the place was, “in fact,” by no means in the extreme parts of the earth. It means that she came from a remote country; and she would condemn that generation, for she came “a great distance” to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but the Jews of that age would not listen to the wisdom of one “much greater” than Solomon, though present with them.
A greater than Solomon is here
Our Lord speaks of himself in this sublime language with the utmost reason, and with perfect modesty and decorum.
The humble form of his appearance, and his necessary reserve in declaring himself the Messiah in so many words, made it yet more expedient, that by such phrases as these he should sometimes intimate it: and indeed his saying he was greater than Solomon, that most illustrious of all the descendants of David, was as plain an intimation as could well be given.
And behold, a greater than Solomon is here; one that was infinitely greater than Solomon was, in everything; so particularly in that, in which he excelled others, and on the account of which the queen of the south came unto him, namely, wisdom: for he is the wisdom of God, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The Jews themselves own, that the king, meaning the Messiah, that shall be raised up of the seed of David, , “shall be a greater master of wisdom”, or “wiser than Solomon”.
Now what an aggravation of the condemnation of the Jews will this be another day, that a Gentile woman, living in a foreign and distant land, should, upon the fame of the wisdom of Solomon, leave her own kingdom and country, and come to Jerusalem, to hear his wise discourses about things natural, civil, and moral; and yet the Jews, who had a greater than Solomon in the midst of them, and had no need to take much pains to come to the sight and hearing of him, yet rejected him as the Messiah, blasphemed his miracles, and despised his ministry; though it was concerned about things of a spiritual and evangelic nature, and the eternal welfare of immortal souls.
Greek
The queen ☆ βασίλισσα (basilissa) ☆ Noun – Nominative Feminine Singular ☆ A queen. Feminine from basileuo; a queen.
Of [the] south ☆ νότου (notou) ☆ Noun – Genitive Masculine Singular ☆ The south wind, the South. Of uncertain affinity; the south(-west) wind; by extension, the southern quarter itself.
Will rise ☆ ἐγερθήσεται (egerthēsetai) ☆ Verb – Future Indicative Passive – 3rd Person Singular ☆ (a) I wake, arouse, (b) I raise up. Probably akin to the base of agora; to waken, i.e. Rouse.
At ☆ ἐν (en) ☆ Preposition ☆ In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; ‘in, ‘ at, on, by, etc.
The ☆ τῇ (tē) ☆ Article – Dative Feminine Singular ☆ The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
Judgment ☆ κρίσει (krisei) ☆ Noun – Dative Feminine Singular ☆ Decision; by extension, a tribunal; by implication, justice.
With ☆ μετὰ (meta) ☆ Preposition ☆ (a) gen: with, in company with, (b) acc: (1) behind, beyond, after, of place, (2) after, of time, with nouns, neut. of adjectives.
This ☆ ταύτης (tautēs) ☆ Demonstrative Pronoun – Genitive Feminine Singular ☆ This; he, she, it.
Generation ☆ γενεᾶς (geneas) ☆ Noun – Genitive Feminine Singular ☆ From genos; a generation; by implication, an age.
And ☆ καὶ (kai) ☆ Conjunction ☆ And, even, also, namely.
Condemn ☆ κατακρινεῖ (katakrinei) ☆ Verb – Future Indicative Active – 3rd Person Singular ☆ To condemn, judge worthy of punishment. From kata and krino; to judge against, i.e. Sentence.
It ☆ αὐτήν (autēn) ☆ Personal / Possessive Pronoun – Accusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular ☆ He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.
For ☆ ὅτι (hoti) ☆ Conjunction ☆ Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.
She came ☆ ἦλθεν (ēlthen) ☆ Verb – Aorist Indicative Active – 3rd Person Singular ☆ To come, go.
From ☆ ἐκ (ek) ☆ Preposition ☆ From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.
The ☆ τῶν (tōn) ☆ Article – Genitive Neuter Plural ☆ The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
Ends ☆ περάτων (peratōn) ☆ Noun – Genitive Neuter Plural ☆ (a) a boundary, limit, extremity, (b) an end, conclusion. From the same as peran; an extremity.
Of the ☆ τῆς (tēs) ☆ Article – Genitive Feminine Singular ☆ The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
Earth ☆ γῆς (gēs) ☆ Noun – Genitive Feminine Singular ☆ Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.
To hear ☆ ἀκοῦσαι (akousai) ☆ Verb – Aorist Infinitive Active ☆ To hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported. A primary verb; to hear.
The ☆ τὴν (tēn) ☆ Article – Accusative Feminine Singular ☆ The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.
Wisdom ☆ σοφίαν (sophian) ☆ Noun – Accusative Feminine Singular ☆ Wisdom, insight, skill (human or divine), intelligence. From sophos; wisdom.
Of Solomon ☆ Σολομῶνος (Solomōnos) ☆ Noun – Genitive Masculine Singular ☆ Solomon, son of David King of Israel, and Bathsheba. Of Hebrew origin; Solomon, the son of David.
And ☆ καὶ (kai) ☆ Conjunction ☆ And, even, also, namely.
Now ☆ ἰδοὺ (idou) ☆ Verb – Aorist Imperative Active – 2nd Person Singular ☆ See! Lo! Behold! Look! Second person singular imperative middle voice of eido; used as imperative lo!
[One] greater than ☆ πλεῖον (pleion) ☆ Adjective – Nominative Neuter Singular – Comparative ☆ Or neuter pleion, or pleon comparative of polus; more in quantity, number, or quality; also the major portion.
Solomon ☆ Σολομῶνος (Solomōnos) ☆ Noun – Genitive Masculine Singular ☆ Solomon, son of David King of Israel, and Bathsheba. Of Hebrew origin; Solomon, the son of David.
Is here ☆ ὧδε (hōde) ☆ Adverb ☆ From an adverb form of hode; in this same spot, i.e. Here or hither.
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For more information on Sheba see: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl/2017/10/12/sheba/
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