“Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for him continually!
May blessings be invoked for him all day long!
May there be abundance of grain in the land!
May grain wave on the tops of the mountains!
May its fruit be like Lebanon!
May people blossom in the cities
Like the grass of the field!
May his name endure forever!
May his fame continue as long as the sun!
May all nations be blessed in him!
May they pronounce him happy!”
These are a series of wishes for the king. First, there is the one that he might have a long life. Thus the famous saying, “Long live the King.” Then the wish was for gold from Sheba, where of course, the famous Queen of Sheba had visited King Solomon. Every day in the great Temple prayers should be offered to the king who built the Temple. They also wished for an abundance of grain on the land and in the mountains. They wanted it to be like Lebanon to the north. The cities should also prosper like grass in the field. They wanted his name and his fame to endure as long as there was a sun in the sky. All nations were to be blessed by him in his happiness. Thus the king was like a mini-god in his great power.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 