Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
Parallel translations
- WEB Happy are your men, happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, who hear your wisdom.
- BSB How blessed are your men! How blessed are these servants of yours who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!
- NKJV Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!
- NASB Blessed are your men, and blessed are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!
- NLT How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The queen pronounced Solomon's servants happy for the privilege of hearing his wisdom daily. It highlights the blessing of constant nearness to true wisdom.
Overview
She counted blessed those who stood continually before the king and drank in his wise words. Proximity to such wisdom was itself a gift. This points beyond Solomon to the deeper blessedness of those who abide near Christ and continually hear His words, for to dwell in the presence of perfect wisdom is the highest privilege of all.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 8:34Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
- Prov 10:21The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
- Luke 11:31The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
- Prov 3:13–14Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
- Prov 13:20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
- 2 Chr 9:7–8Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
- Luke 10:39–42And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
- Luke 11:28But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 10:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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