{"id":62092,"date":"2019-09-01T16:16:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T13:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62092"},"modified":"2023-03-26T16:32:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T13:32:29","slug":"the-stuff-of-which-legends-are-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-stuff-of-which-legends-are-made\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stuff Of Which Legends Are Made"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[921,908],"acf":{"old_id":"62092","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"297","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Just who was the Queen of Sheba?","content":"

Who was the Queen of Sheba? We do have some biblical clues, but the rest is pure speculation\u2014perhaps, even fantasy.<\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, let us examine the biblical evidence. Sheba appears to have been\u2014in really ancient times\u2014a reasonably popular name, occurring no fewer than three times in Genesis: first, as a son of Kush (son of Ham, son of Noah; Gen. 10:7); second, as a son of Joktan (son of Eber, son of Shem, son of Noah; Gen. 10:28); and, finally, as a son of Jokshan (son of Abraham via Keturah; Gen. 25:3). (NOTE: Apart from the striking similarity between the names Joktan and Jokshan, the first and third Shebas each had a brother named Dedan. Go figure!) There are also three references to Sheba in Ezekiel\u2014where Dedan is also mentioned\u2014and the raiders who slew Job\u2019s children and looted his home are also identified with Sheba (1:15). However, since Utz, Job\u2019s homeland (and likely the source of L. Frank Baum\u2019s Oz), is otherwise unidentified, that\u2019s not much help.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is the commentary on verse 1 of Ralbag\/Gersonides, who lived in Provence in the 14<\/span>th<\/span> century. See if you can tell where the biblical allusions end and the speculation begins:<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Book of Ben Sirah it is written that she was the mother of Nebuchadnezzar. She was born to one of the sons of the concubines whom Abraham banished from the presence of his son Isaac [Gen. 25:5], advising them to distance themselves lest they subjugate Isaac\u2019s descendants, because anyone subjugating Isaac\u2019s descendants will never ever recover. Now, when they heard that Solomon was a world ruler, they thought that he was the Messiah whom Abraham had told them to anticipate. That is why the Queen of Sheba came when \u201cshe heard of Solomon\u2019s fame through the name of the Lord,\u201d hearing that Solomon ruled the world, even over the shades and the birds.<\/span><\/p>\n

NB: The Book of Ben Sirah to which Ralbag referred is not the apocryphal book of that name, but a work of lesser repute known as the Alphabet of Ben Sirah. Also, the legend of the Queen of Sheba features in Islam as well, which identifies her with the South Arabian kingdom of Saba\u2019 and dates the arrival there of the first Yemenite Jews to the time of Solomon. The Ethiopic Church adopted it, too, claiming that the kings of Ethiopia were descended from the union of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Hence, the renowned King Haile Selassie referred to himself as The Lion of Judah.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: <\/span>Betty Blythe as the queen in The Queen of Sheba (1921) \/ wiki commons<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":62093,"id":62093,"title":"1kings10-Betty_Blythe_Queen_of_Sheba","filename":"1kings10-Betty_Blythe_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings10-Betty_Blythe_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-stuff-of-which-legends-are-made\/1kings10-betty_blythe_queen_of_sheba\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings10-betty_blythe_queen_of_sheba","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":62092,"date":"2019-09-01 13:16:13","modified":"2019-09-01 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