Bible Question:
I recently saw a secular program which was an archeological search for the Ark. King Solomon was discussed and a visit to him by the Queen of Sheba. The host claimed that King Solomon fathered a child with the Queen of Sheba. I could not find this in the scripture and I wanted to know if there is any truth in this. Please advise. Thank you. |
Bible Answer: The Queen of Sheba is mentioned in 1 Kings 10:1 and 2 Chronicles 9:1, which repeats the same account. It begins the account of her visit to see for herself if Solomon was as great and wise as she had heard. The scripture tells us that she was quite impressed and that Solomon answered all her questions and gave her whatever she asked; that she also bestowed many precious gifts on him. We are not told that they produced a child. We are not told that they did not produce a child either...The Ethiopians have the tradition that they did have a child, and that his name was Menelek. They also have a tradition and claim that they have the Ark of the Covenant. This they have "hidden" and will not produce so we have nothing tangible. The Queen DID, however, apparently bring the Jewish faith back to her land because so very many hundreds of years later, the servant of the Queen who ruled Ethiopia in the time of the Apostles [beginning in Acts 8:26], Philip meets this man who is leaving Jerusalem after celebrating a Jewish feast and having been to the Temple...who is reading the Book of Isaiah and had questions. Philip answers him and the man is baptized and now brings Christianity to his country. This is what the Scripture tells us on the subject. The rest is tradition which may or may not be true. Such strong traditions that last for so long, usually have some validity to them but we can only count on God's Word to be without error. |