but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.
The queen of Sheba travelled a long way on the strength of a rumour, and here she admits that the reality was far greater than the report. Her words raise two questions: why does a glory always outrun the account of it, and what does this visit say about a King greater than Solomon?
An Honest Confession
Her statement begins with an admission of unbelief and ends in praise. One writer calls that turn a confession of faith, and applies it to us:
Leslie M. GrantHer lips were opened in a lovely confession of faith: "the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard" (vv. 6-7). If we have had any real contact with the Lord Jesus, surely we shall be affected in the same way and respond to Him in adoring appreciation.
From Report to Sight
One writer traces her steps — hearing, coming, seeing — as the path every soul takes to Christ:
H. L. RossierShe has passed from his person to the words of his mouth. From these she has passed to all that his hands have made, to everything around him. And she has found nothing but perfections. This is how every soul comes to know Christ. One hears of Him, and this stirs the interest of a heart in need. One goes to find Him, for He is easy to approach. One enters into relationship with Him, and He answers the needs of the heart. One admires Him and adores Him in hymns of praise. One says with the queen: "My eyes have seen. You surpass all I had heard about You."
Believing Without Seeing
The queen's order was sight first, belief after. The Christian's experience runs the opposite way, and the gap she noticed never closes:
W. W. FeredayHere we must note some points of contrast between the queen of Sheba and the believer in Jesus. She said: "I heard… but I did not believe… until my own eyes had seen it." We believe while our eyes still do not see. "Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory" (1 Peter 1:8). She said further: "The half was not told me." God revealed in human flesh is the most divine of all subjects. About Him we read: "the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25). No finite mind could take in even "the half" of what the Holy Spirit could tell about the Christ of God.
Knowing in Part
One writer notes who repeats her words soonest: not the beginners, but those who know Christ best:
Samuel RidoutMay not these half cubits remind us that the knowledge of Christ given to us now is only partial; "we know in part" (1 Cor. 13:9). No one but the Father can fully know the Son (Matt. 11:27). Those who know Him best are the first to say, in the words of the queen of Sheba: "The report was true that I heard… and behold, the half was not told me" (1 Kings 10:6-7). So it is with our all-glorious Lord. The scale is reduced — may we say it? — so that our finite minds may grasp something of the wonderful fullness that surpasses knowledge.
A Coming Day
One writer borrows her phrase to answer those who say prophecy overstates its case:
William KellyAny other interpretation leaves you thinking that the word of prophecy is the grossest exaggeration. Take it instead as the Lord reigning over Israel, gathered back in divine mercy and power. Then one feels that the words cannot rise beyond the reality. When that day comes, "the half was not told" will be the genuine feeling of those who see His glory even on the earth. And what will it be on high!
What Wonder Produces
Her exclamation was not the end of the visit. Wonder shaped what she asked for, and what she planned to tell at home:
J. T. MawsonShe was entranced with his greatness and had to exclaim, "the half was not told me." She made her requests while still under the influence of his splendour. We may be sure the weight of her requests was this: that she might show her people how great he was in whose presence she had been.
Summary
- Report. Hearing of Solomon started her journey. A report is what first stirs the interest of a heart in need, even when belief lags behind.
- Sight. She would not believe until she came and saw. The Christian's path runs the other way: we love and trust One we have not seen.
- Shortfall. "The half was not told me" is not a complaint about poor reporting. It is a confession that the glory outruns every account of it, and even now we know only in part.
- Overflow. Entranced by his greatness, she made her requests; wonder turns into asking.
- Testimony. She went home to show her people his greatness; the same words will be on the lips of those who one day see a greater King in His glory.