1 Kings 10:1 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And when the queen of Sheba heard, &c.— The queen of Sheba having heard the fame of Solomon, and the name of the Lord, came, &c. Houbigant. Concerning the custom of putting forth enigmas and dark questions, see the note on Judges 14:12. Who this queen of Sheba was, or whence she came, is not agreed by interpreters. The most probable opinion seems to be, that she came from Arabia; as for many other reasons, so particularly because she is called in the Gospel, the queen of the south, and is said to have come from the uttermost parts of the earth: Matthew 12:42 which answers exactly to Arabia Felix, for it lies south of Judea, and is limited by the ocean. Add to this, that it abounded in gold, precious stones, and fine perfumes, more than any country thereabouts. If she came from Arabia, there is reason to believe that she originally descended from Abraham by his wife Keturah, one of whose sons begat Sheba, (Genesis 1:3.) who was the first planter of this country; and consequently that she might have some knowledge of revealed religion, by tradition at least from her pious ancestors. And, indeed, this verse seems more than to intimate, that the design of her visit to Solomon was not so much to gratify her curiosity, as to inform her understanding in matters relating to piety and divine worship, concerning the name of the Lord. And what our Saviour speaks respecting her rising in judgment against the men of that generation, seems plainly to intimate, that the wisdom which she came to hear was of a much more important kind than that of merely enigmatical questions. See Calmet.