Hebrew word · H7614

שְׁבָא

sheva'

Sheba

Saba, the kingdom of southwest Arabia (capital Marib, in modern Yemen). In the Bible it is a byword for distant wealth: gold, precious stones, spices and incense.

Appears 23 times in 23 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Sheba = "seven" or "an oath"

a nation in southern Arabia

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 60:6

Range of meaning

Saba, the kingdom of southwest Arabia (capital Marib, in modern Yemen). In the Bible it is a byword for distant wealth: gold, precious stones, spices and incense.

Against the English

Translations agree on 'Sheba'. What a modern reader may miss is that Sheba was the 'ends of the earth' southward and the legendary source of luxury.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Kings 10:1–10, the queen of Sheba brings Solomon gold and spices. Psalm 72:10, 15, 'kings of Sheba and Seba… gold of Sheba'. Ezekiel 27:22, Sheba's merchants trade spices, stones and gold with Tyre. Sabaean inscriptions and Assyrian annals confirm a powerful incense kingdom from at least the 8th century BC.

From the study of 1 Kings 10:10

Range of meaning

A people and land, in genealogies linked to Arabia (Genesis 10:7, 28; 25:3). It is generally identified with Saba, the kingdom centred on Marib in what is now Yemen. Biblical texts also know Sabaeans as caravaneers and raiders (Job 1:15; 6:19).

Against the English

Translations simply transliterate the name, so the associations are lost: to first hearers it was a byword for far-off wealth.

How it drifted

Later legend reshaped the name, including Josephus's 'queen of Egypt and Ethiopia' and the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast, where she is Makeda and mother of Menelik. The Quran and Jewish folklore add their own versions. None of this is in the verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 60:6 ('from Sheba... gold and frankincense'), Jeremiah 6:20 (incense from Sheba), Ezekiel 27:22, and Psalm 72:10, 15 all make the same association. Assyrian records from the 8th century BC mention Sabaean goods, and Sabaean inscriptions in South Arabia are abundant from about that time. An 8th-century text from Suhu on the Euphrates describes a raid on a caravan of Tema and Sheba.

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 10:7 שְׁבָ֥א [were] Sheba

    The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

  2. Genesis 10:28 שְׁבָֽא׃ Sheba

    Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

  3. Genesis 25:3 שְׁבָ֖א Sheba

    Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.

1 Kings · 4

  1. 1 Kings 10:1 שְׁבָ֗א Sheba

    Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.

    Here: Saba', the incense-trading kingdom of southwest Arabia (modern Yemen). To an Israelite ear it meant far away, rich, and the land of spices and gold.

  2. 1 Kings 10:4 שְׁבָ֔א Sheba

    When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built,

  3. 1 Kings 10:10 שְׁבָ֖א Sheba

    Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. Never again were spices in such abundance brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

    Here: The people and land of Saba, at the far southern end of the Arabian incense trade. To an Israelite ear the name itself suggested distance, gold and fragrance.

  4. 1 Kings 10:13 שְׁבָ֗א Sheba

    King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired—whatever she asked—besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned to her own country, along with her servants.

1 Chronicles · 3

  1. 1 Chronicles 1:9 שְׁבָ֥א Sheba

    The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

  2. 1 Chronicles 1:22 שְׁבָֽא׃ Sheba

    Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

  3. 1 Chronicles 1:32 שְׁבָ֥א Sheba

    The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.

2 Chronicles · 4

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:1 שְׁבָ֗א Sheba

    Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon, she came to test him with difficult questions. She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large caravan—with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. And she came to Solomon and spoke with him about all that was on her mind.

    Here: An Arabian people and land tied to the incense trade, most often identified with Saba in what is now Yemen. To Israelite ears the name meant a far-off, fabulously rich place (Ps 72:10, 15; Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20).

  2. 2 Chronicles 9:3 שְׁבָ֔א Sheba

    When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, the palace he had built,

  3. 2 Chronicles 9:9 שְׁבָ֖א Sheba

    Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There had never been such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

  4. 2 Chronicles 9:12 שְׁבָ֗א Sheba

    King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired—whatever she asked—far more than she had brought the king. Then she left and returned to her own country, along with her servants.

Job · 2

  1. Job 1:15 שְׁבָא֙ Sabean[s]

    the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”

  2. Job 6:19 שְׁ֝בָ֗א Sheba

    The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 72:10 שְׁבָ֥א Sheba

    May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

    Here: The Sabaean kingdom of south-west Arabia (modern Yemen), famed for gold, incense and spices, and remembered in Israel through the queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon (1 Kings 10).

  2. Psalm 72:15 שְׁ֫בָ֥א Sheba

    Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him; may they bless him all day long.

    Here: The Sabaean kingdom of south-west Arabia (roughly modern Yemen). It controlled the incense, spice and gold trade, and its queen brought gold to Solomon (1 Kgs 10). The name stands for wealth from the far edge of the known world.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 60:6 מִשְּׁבָ֣א from Sheba

    Caravans of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah, and all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and frankincense and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

    Here: Saba in southwest Arabia (modern Yemen), the far-off, fabulously rich source of incense and gold. Its queen once came to Solomon with gold and spices (1 Kings 10).

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 6:20 מִשְּׁבָ֣א [which] from Sheba

    What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”

    Here: Sheba (Saba) was the South Arabian kingdom in what is now Yemen, which controlled the incense caravans. To an Israelite the name meant faraway wealth: the queen of Sheba, gold, spices.

Ezekiel · 3

  1. Ezekiel 27:22 שְׁבָא֙ Sheba

    The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your wares they exchanged gold, the finest of all spices, and precious stones.

  2. Ezekiel 27:23 שְׁבָ֑א Sheba

    Haran, Canneh, and Eden traded with you, and so did the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad.

  3. Ezekiel 38:13 שְׁבָ֡א Sheba

    Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will ask, ‘Have you come to capture the plunder? Have you assembled your hordes to carry away loot, to make off with silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?’

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.