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The Queen of Sheba in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Queen Saba or The Queen of Sheba, a figure shimmering between history and legend, occupies a unique and resonant space within the sacred narratives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Thursday May 1, 2025 11:56 PM, V A Mohamad Ashrof

[Ruins of the ancient Barran Temple, also called Throne of Bilqis, dedicated to the Sabaean god Almaqah (or Ilmuqah), Maʾrib, Yemen.]

Queen Saba or The Queen of Sheba, a figure shimmering between history and legend, occupies a unique and resonant space within the sacred narratives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Her encounter with King Solomon, recounted in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 10, 2 Chronicles 9) and elaborated upon with distinct theological depth in Quran (27:20-44), presents one of the most compelling portrayals of female sovereignty, intellectual prowess, and spiritual autonomy in canonical scripture.

While interpretations have varied dramatically across centuries and cultures, often coloured by patriarchal assumptions or embellished with fanciful folklore, a critical hermeneutical engagement reveals a figure profoundly embodying principles of justice and agency.

This essay undertakes such an engagement, operating within the stream of interreligious scriptures in dialogue. It argues that when approached through interpretive lenses prioritizing justice, reason, and inherent human dignity, the Queen of Sheba emerges not as a historical footnote or a mere foil for Solomon’s glory, but as a powerful archetype of leadership, rational inquiry, and ethical integrity across the Abrahamic traditions.

The challenge lies in navigating the layers of reception history that have frequently obscured the inherent strength within her scriptural portrayals. In Islamic tradition, while Quran presents a remarkably empowered figure, subsequent traditional exegesis (tafsir), often influenced by patriarchal socio-cultural milieu and extra-Quranic Isra’iliyyat (Judeo-Christian lore), tended to subordinate her significance, framing her primarily as a testament to Solomon’s prophetic stature or reducing her to legendary tales that diminished her independent agency.

Similarly, while the Hebrew Bible offers a concise yet potent image of her wisdom and sovereignty, later Midrashic and folkloric traditions sometimes sexualized or eroticized her, diverting attention from the core narrative’s emphasis on intellectual exchange and diplomatic parity.

To counter these limiting readings, this essay employs a hermeneutical framework grounded in the pursuit of justice and the affirmation of human agency, drawing methodologies from Progressive Islamic exegesis and feminist biblical hermeneutics.

The Progressive Islamic approach, emphasizing the foundational principle of Tawhid (God’s absolute oneness, implying human equality), Adl (justice), contextual understanding, reason (‘aql), and the ethical objectives (maqasid) of scripture, provides robust tools for critiquing interpretations that perpetuate hierarchy and for uncovering Quran’s inherent affirmation of female capacity.

Complementarily, feminist biblical hermeneutics, with its commitment to recovering marginalized voices, challenging patriarchal textual interpretations, and highlighting female agency and leadership, offers invaluable perspectives for analysing the narrative in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

By bringing these interpretive streams into dialogue, focusing on the scriptural texts themselves while critically engaging with their reception histories, we can consolidate the key arguments and evidence for the Queen of Sheba as an embodiment of justice and agency.

This essay will first elaborate the hermeneutical framework, then delve into the Quranic narrative, followed by the Biblical account, highlighting the convergences and divergences in their portrayals while consistently focusing on reclaiming her image as a paradigm of empowered, rational, and just leadership relevant to contemporary ethical and interreligious discourse.

Hermeneutical Framework: Justice, Reason, and Agency in Interreligious Dialogue

Before embarking on the textual analysis, establishing a clear and coherent interpretive framework is crucial. This essay utilizes a hermeneutic deliberately focused on excavating themes of justice, reason, and agency within the Abrahamic portrayals of the Queen of Sheba.

This approach operates within the broader context of interreligious dialogue, seeking common ground and comparative insights while respecting the distinct integrity of each tradition’s scripture. It draws significantly from Progressive Islamic exegesis and feminist biblical hermeneutics, finding synergistic principles that enable a richer, more ethically attuned reading.

A. Foundational Principles: Justice, Reason, Agency

At the heart of this framework lie three interconnected concepts deeply embedded within the Abrahamic ethical landscape:

1. Justice: In Islam, Adl is a paramount divine attribute and human mandate, encompassing fairness, equity, impartiality, and setting things right (Quran 4:135, 5:8, 16:90). It demands upholding rights and opposing oppression in all forms, including those based on gender. In Judaism, Tzedek (righteousness/justice) and Mishpat (judgment/justice) are foundational covenantal obligations, requiring ethical conduct, social responsibility, and the protection of the vulnerable (Deuteronomy 16:20, Amos 5:24). A justice-oriented hermeneutic insists that interpretations of scripture must align with, rather than subvert, these core ethical imperatives. Readings perpetuating hierarchy or discrimination are thus subjected to critical scrutiny.
2. Reason: Islamic tradition values ‘Aql (intellect, reason) as a divine gift enabling humans to understand revelation, discern truth, and make ethical choices. Progressive thought, in particular, champions the compatibility of faith and reason. Judaism similarly esteems Chokhmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding) as crucial for interpreting Torah and navigating life ethically. A reason-focused hermeneutic prioritizes interpretations that are logically coherent, ethically sound, and intellectually honest, challenging those based on blind imitation, superstition, or irrational biases.
3. Agency: Both traditions affirm human beings as responsible moral agents accountable for their choices. In Islam, humans are God’s khulafa’ (vicegerents) on Earth (Quran 2:30), endowed with the capacity for independent thought and action. While acknowledging divine sovereignty, the emphasis is on individual responsibility. Biblical anthropology likewise portrays humans as created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), possessing free will and moral accountability. A hermeneutic of agency seeks to highlight instances where scripture portrays individuals, particularly those often marginalized like women, exercising autonomy, making independent choices, and taking responsibility for their spiritual and temporal lives.

Progressive Islamic Hermeneutics: Tools for Reclaiming Agency

The interpretive approach outlined in the prompt, rooted in Progressive Islamic thought, provides specific methodologies highly relevant to reading the Queen of Sheba narrative justly:

• Tawhidic Paradigm: The absolute oneness of God fundamentally negates any inherent ontological hierarchy among humans. Gender, lineage, or status cannot confer intrinsic superiority. This principle directly challenges interpretations that assume female subordination or limited capacity.
• Justice (Adl) as Universal Principle: Applying Adl universally means interpretations supporting gender injustice are deemed incompatible with the Quran’s ethical core.
• Contextual Reading: Understanding the 7th-century Arabian context of the Quran’s revelation helps distinguish timeless principles from culturally specific descriptions or practices, preventing the unwarranted universalization of potentially limiting historical norms.
• Holistic and Intra-textual Reading: Interpreting verses in light of the entire Quran (“reading the Quran by the Quran”) prevents isolating passages to support biased views. The Queen’s story must be read alongside other Quranic narratives about leadership, wisdom, and faith.
• Critique of Biased Exegesis (Tafsir): Acknowledging that classical commentators were products of their time allows for a critical assessment of interpretations potentially reflecting patriarchal biases rather than the inherent meaning of the text. This includes scrutinizing the uncritical acceptance of Isra’iliyyat that often diminishes female figures.

Furthermore, the orientations of Progressive exegesis bolster this approach:

• Primacy of Reason (‘Aql): Encourages interpretations that are rationally sound and ethically coherent, rejecting purely traditional or literalist readings that defy logic or justice.
• Emphasis on Ethical Objectives (Maqasid al-Shari’ah): Focusing on the higher goals of Islamic guidance—justice, mercy, dignity, public welfare (maslaha)—ensures that interpretations serve the spirit, not just the letter, of the text.
• Historical Consciousness: Distinguishing the eternal divine message from its historical applications allows for re-evaluation of past interpretations in light of core principles and contemporary understanding.
• Rejection of Taqlid (Blind Imitation): Encourages direct, critical engagement with the Quran, utilizing reason and contemporary knowledge, guided by foundational ethical principles.

This constellation of principles facilitates a reading of the Quranic Queen of Sheba that foregrounds her inherent dignity, rational capacity, and autonomous spiritual journey, liberated from accumulated patriarchal overlays.

Feminist Biblical Hermeneutics: Recovering Women’s Voices

Complementing the Progressive Islamic approach, feminist biblical hermeneutics offers critical tools for analysing the Queen of Sheba in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles:

• Hermeneutics of Suspicion: Approaching texts and traditional interpretations with an awareness of their potential patriarchal biases, questioning assumptions that marginalize or silence women.
• Hermeneutics of Retrieval/Recovery: Actively seeking out and highlighting narratives, like Sheba’s, that portray women exercising agency, leadership, wisdom, and theological insight, challenging dominant narratives of female passivity or subordination.
• Focus on Justice Themes: Reading biblical texts through the lens of social justice, critiquing interpretations that uphold oppressive structures and celebrating narratives that model equality and liberation.
• Challenging Androcentric Language and Interpretation: Identifying how male-centered language and perspectives have shaped the understanding of texts and seeking alternative readings that affirm female experience and authority.
• Valuing Women’s Experience: Recognizing that women’s lived experiences can provide unique insights into interpreting scripture, leading to readings that resonate with contemporary struggles for equality.

Applying these principles to the Queen of Sheba narrative in the Hebrew Bible allows for a reading that emphasizes her sovereignty, intellectual parity with Solomon, diplomatic skill, and theological discernment, resisting interpretations that reduce her to a mere admirer or exotic curiosity.

Synergy in Interreligious Dialogue

Bringing these Progressive Islamic and feminist biblical hermeneutical frameworks into dialogue reveals significant synergy. Both share a fundamental commitment to justice as a core interpretive principle. Both value reason and critical inquiry in engaging with sacred texts. Both strive to recover and affirm the agency and dignity of figures often marginalized by dominant interpretive traditions, particularly women. Both necessitate a critical engagement with tradition, distinguishing foundational ethical principles from culturally conditioned interpretations.

In the context of analysing the Queen of Sheba, this combined approach allows for a robust, multi-perspectival reading that honours the integrity of each scripture while highlighting the powerful, cross-traditional resonance of her figure as an archetype of just and agentic leadership.

This framework provides the necessary tools to move beyond simplistic or biased readings and uncover the profound ethical and theological significance of her story for contemporary interreligious understanding.

The Queen of Sheba in Quran (27:20-44): An Embodiment of Justice and Agency

The Quranic narrative concerning the Queen of Sheba (often identified in tradition as Bilqis, though unnamed in the text) presents one of the most detailed and affirmative portrayals of a female leader in the scripture. Situated within Quran 27:20-44 depicts her encounter with Prophet Solomon not merely as a historical anecdote, but as a profound discourse on sovereignty, wisdom, diplomacy, faith, and the nature of true submission.

Applying the hermeneutical framework outlined above—prioritizing justice, reason, agency, and textual integrity while critiquing traditional patriarchal overlays—reveals a figure of exceptional capacity and autonomy.

Deconstructing Traditional Overlays: Clearing the Interpretive Ground

Before analysing the Quranic text directly, it is essential to address and critique the prevalent interpretations within traditional tafsir and popular lore that have often obscured the Queen’s inherent strength. These limiting tropes, frequently influenced by Isra’iliyyat or reflecting the patriarchal assumptions of their time, tend to diminish her independent stature:

1. Conflation of Submission: A primary distortion involves misinterpreting the nature of her eventual “submission” (islam). While the Quran explicitly states her submission is to God (27:44), many traditional readings frame it implicitly or explicitly as submission to Solomon. Her entire journey is thus reduced to acknowledging Solomon’s superiority, making her principally an instrument for validating his prophetic authority and divinely granted power. Her own intellectual process, rational conviction, and autonomous spiritual decision are side-lined. A Tawhid-centric reading vigorously resists this, emphasizing that ultimate submission is due to God alone. The wording “to God, Lord of the Worlds” is unequivocal.
2. Influence of Extraneous Folklore (Isra’iliyyat): Tales absent from the Quranic account frequently embellish her story, often detrimentally. Legends about Solomon seeking to marry her (sometimes to neutralize her power, investigate rumoured non-human ancestry, or scrutinize alleged physical oddities like hairy legs or donkey hooves) serve to domesticate her powerful image, reducing her political significance to marital dynamics and reinforcing patriarchal control over female autonomy. These stories often portray her using feminine wiles or being easily overawed, perpetuating limiting stereotypes. An approach grounded in textual fidelity and reason insists on interpreting the narrative solely based on the Quranic verses, rejecting these extra-Quranic additions which often contradict the Quran’s dignified portrayal and focus on faith and governance.
3. Diminutive Interpretation of Actions: Even her intelligent actions are sometimes misconstrued. Her strategic decision to send a gift (27:35) can be misinterpreted as mere bribery, feminine trickery, or weakness, rather than recognized as a calculated diplomatic manoeuvre by a prudent ruler seeking information and avoiding conflict. Her cautious and precise response upon recognizing her altered throne (27:42) or her initial misperception of the glass floor (27:44) might be unfairly cast as gullibility or being easily overwhelmed, instead of rational responses to extraordinary, divinely orchestrated events designed to test perception and convey deeper spiritual truths.

By critically identifying and dismantling these overlays—the conflation of submission, the reliance on diminishing folklore, and the biased interpretation of her actions—a hermeneutic committed to justice and reason clears the path for appreciating the Queen as the Quran itself presents her.

Progressive Re-Reading Focused on Justice and Agency: Analysing the Quranic Verses

A close reading of Quran 27:20-44 through the lens of justice, reason, and agency reveals a multi-faceted portrayal of empowered leadership and autonomous faith:

1. Legitimate Sovereignty and Political Authority (27:23)

The narrative begins with the Hudhud (hoopoe bird) reporting to Solomon about the kingdom of Saba: “I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given of everything, and she possesses a mighty throne.”

• Analysis: The Quran presents her rule as a statement of fact, reported neutrally by the Hudhud. There is no hint of condemnation, surprise, or questioning based solely on her gender. The description highlights the prosperity (“given of everything”) and established authority (“mighty throne”) of her realm.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: This verse is pivotal. It provides unambiguous Quranic acknowledgement of a woman holding supreme political power. The text itself normalizes female sovereignty, framing it without prejudice. This directly counters later interpretations within some Islamic legal traditions that sought to prohibit female headship of state, often based on selective readings of Hadith rather than explicit Quranic injunctions. The Quranic description implies her competence and the legitimacy of her rule, judged by its apparent success, not by the ruler’s gender. It establishes her from the outset as a figure of significant political stature and legitimate authority.

2. Rationality, Consultation (Shura), and Deliberation (27:29-34)

Upon receiving Solomon’s commanding letter calling her and her people to submit to God (27:29-31), the Queen’s response is methodical and consultative: “She said, ‘O chieftains, advise me in my affair; I would not decide a matter until you witness [and advise] me'” (27:32).

Her advisors pledge loyalty and military strength but defer the final decision to her: “They said, ‘We are possessors of strength and possessors of mighty valour, but the command belongs to you; so see what you will command ‘” (27:33).

She then displays sharp political insight: “She said, ‘Indeed kings, when they enter a city, ruin it and make the honoured of its people humbled. And thus do they behave'” (27:34).

• Analysis: The Queen immediately initiates shura (consultation), a principle highly valued in Islamic governance (cf. 3:159, 42:38). Her advisors explicitly acknowledge her sovereign authority. Her subsequent analysis reveals a pragmatic understanding of power politics and a clear desire to avoid the devastation of war.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: These verses powerfully showcase the Queen’s rationality, competence, and adherence to just governance principles. Her use of shura demonstrates mature, accountable leadership and directly refutes stereotypes of female impulsivity or incapacity for complex decision-making. The difference of her male advisors affirms her established and respected authority, challenging patriarchal assumptions about leadership. Her astute political analysis (27:34) highlights her intelligence, strategic thinking, and prioritization of her people’s welfare (maslaha), positioning her as a responsible and capable stateswoman embodying reason and deliberation.

3. Astute Diplomacy and Strategic Assessment (27:35)

Choosing diplomacy over immediate confrontation or capitulation, the Queen decides: “But indeed, I will send to them a gift and see with what [reply] the messengers return” (27:35).

• Analysis: This is a calculated diplomatic probe, not a sign of weakness or simple bribery. It serves to test Solomon’s character (is he motivated by wealth or higher principles?), buy time for assessment, and keep communication channels open, potentially averting the conflict she wisely foresaw.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: This initiative underscores the Queen’s proactive agency and independent decision-making in foreign policy. She actively shapes the encounter based on her judgment, demonstrating a preference for peaceful resolution and intelligent statecraft. This act retains her control over the situation while gathering crucial intelligence. Solomon’s rejection of the gift (27:36-37), emphasizing God’s superior bounty, gives her exactly the information needed about the nature of his power and motivations, validating her strategic approach.

4. Intellectual Curiosity and the Pursuit of Truth (27:41-42)

Solomon tests her perception by having her throne miraculously transported and disguised: “He said [to his attendants], ‘Disguise for her throne; we will see whether she will be guided [to recognize it] or be of those who are not guided'” (27:41). When shown it, she is asked, “Is your throne like this? “ Her response is precise and intellectually honest: “She said, ‘[It is] as though it is it'” (27:42).

• Analysis: The Queen avoids hasty conclusions. She perceptively notes the uncanny resemblance while implicitly acknowledging something extraordinary has occurred, indicating it’s not exactly her throne in its original context or state.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: Her measured response showcases remarkable discernment, analytical thinking, and intellectual integrity, directly countering stereotypes about female gullibility or lack of reason. She engages rationally with perplexing evidence. Her entire journey can be seen as motivated by an earnest intellectual curiosity to investigate the source of Solomon’s power and wisdom. She is portrayed not just as a ruler, but as an active seeker of truth, whose path to faith is paved with critical observation and rational assessment.

5. Autonomous Spiritual Transformation and Submission to God (27:44)

The climax occurs when the Queen enters Solomon’s palace, mistaking its glass floor for water: “It was said to her, ‘Enter the palace.’ But when she saw it, she thought it was a body of water and uncovered her shins [thinking she would wade through]. He said, ‘Indeed, it is a palace [whose floor is] made smooth with glass.'” This moment of corrected perception triggers her declaration of faith: “She said, ‘My Lord, indeed I have wronged myself, and I submit with Solomon to God, Lord of the worlds'” (27:44).

• Analysis: The glass floor serves as a potent metaphor for illusion versus reality, catalysing her insight. Mistaking the glass for water parallels her people’s previous error of mistaking the created sun for the Creator (27:24). Recognizing the illusion prompts her recognition of the ultimate reality—the One God.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: This verse is crucial for understanding her autonomous agency in faith. Her submission (islam) is explicitly directed li-llāhi (to God), the ultimate sovereign. The phrase maʿa sulayman (with/alongside Solomon) signifies joining him in a shared state of submission to the same Divine Lord. It denotes partnership in faith and spiritual equality before God, decisively not subordination to the male prophet. Her declaration includes personal repentance (“I have wronged myself”), indicating a conscious moral and spiritual awakening. Her conversion is portrayed as the culmination of her own journey of observation, reasoning, and experience—an independent act of conscience directly engaging with the Divine. She provides a powerful Quranic model of individual spiritual agency.

Read through the lens of justice and agency, the Quranic Queen of Sheba is transformed from a historical curiosity or anomaly requiring explanation into a compelling archetype of human excellence. Quran itself showcases her as:

• A legitimate Head of State whose rule is acknowledged factually and respectfully.
• A rational leader committed to consultation (shura) and pragmatic deliberation.
• An astute diplomat prioritizing peace and strategic assessment.
• An intellectually curious seeker of truth, engaging evidence with discernment.
• An autonomous spiritual individual whose journey culminates in conscious submission to God, placing her alongside, not under, God’s prophet in faith.

This interpretation, grounded firmly in the Quranic text and aligned with the rational-ethical spirit of Progressive exegesis, offers a powerful, scripturally rooted counter-narrative to enduring patriarchal assumptions. She stands as a Quranic paradigm affirming that leadership, wisdom, political acumen, and profound faith are human capacities bestowed by God, irrespective of gender, offering enduring inspiration for justice and equality.

The Queen of Sheba in the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1-12): Reason, Agency, and Diplomatic Acumen

The Hebrew Bible’s account of the Queen of Sheba, though considerably more concise than the Quranic narrative, offers a similarly potent portrayal of female agency, reason, and sovereignty.

Appearing within the narrative arc celebrating King Solomon’s wisdom, wealth, and international renown, the Queen’s visit serves as a high point, confirming his stature while simultaneously showcasing her own remarkable qualities.

Analysing this encounter through a hermeneutical lens prioritizing justice, reason, and agency, particularly informed by feminist biblical scholarship, reveals a figure who challenges patriarchal norms and embodies intellectual and political leadership.

A. Introduction to the Biblical Narrative: Context and Framing

The story is situated within the Deuteronomist History (primarily 1 Kings) and the Chronicler’s History (2 Chronicles), both of which frame Solomon’s reign as a golden age characterized by divine blessing, wisdom, peace, and prosperity. The Queen of Sheba’s visit functions within this context to underscore the global reach of Solomon’s fame, particularly his wisdom linked to God. However, the narrative structure grants the Queen significant initiative and focus, preventing her from being merely a passive admirer.

B. The Queen’s Initiative and Rational Agency

The narrative explicitly states the Queen’s motivation and action: “Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions” (1 Kings 10:1; cf. 2 Chron 9:1).

• Analysis: The journey originates from her initiative, sparked by reports of Solomon’s wisdom, specifically linked to his relationship with YHWH. Her purpose is explicitly intellectual and evaluative: “to test him” with “hard questions,” riddles, perplexing sayings. She undertakes a long and arduous journey from a distant land (likely Southern Arabia), demonstrating determination and autonomy.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: This framing immediately establishes the Queen as an agentic subject, a seeker driven by intellectual curiosity and a desire for verification. She is not summoned, nor is her visit primarily about tribute (though gifts are exchanged later). Her agency lies in her decision to travel, her formulation of challenging inquiries, and her role as the active interrogator. Feminist hermeneutics highlights this initiative as profoundly counter-cultural in ancient patriarchal societies, where women’s movements and intellectual pursuits were often restricted. She embodies rational agency, embarking on a quest for knowledge based on her own volition.

C. Embodiment of Sovereignty and Political Authority

The text describes her arrival with significant pomp and wealth: “She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold and precious stones” (1 Kings 10:2a; cf. 2 Chron 9:1b). The subsequent exchange involves lavish gifts from both sides (1 Kings 10:10, 13; 2 Chron 9:9, 12).

• Analysis: The description emphasizes her status as a powerful monarch. She commands substantial resources and travels with a large delegation befitting her rank. The mutual exchange of valuable gifts signifies a diplomatic encounter between peers, typical of interactions between independent sovereigns in the Ancient Near East, rather than the offering of tribute by a vassal.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: The narrative presents her political authority factually, without any gender-based critique or questioning of her legitimacy. Unlike other foreign female figures in the Hebrew Bible who sometimes wield power problematically (e.g., Jezebel), the Queen of Sheba’s rule is implicitly accepted and respected within the narrative framework. Her interaction with Solomon is portrayed as one between equals on the world stage. This normalizes female sovereignty and leadership, providing a biblical counter-narrative to assumptions that political power is exclusively a male domain. Her ability to command wealth and engage in high-level diplomacy underscores her effective reign and independent authority.

D. Intellectual Engagement and Discernment

The core of the encounter is the intellectual exchange: “And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her” (1 Kings 10:2b-3; cf. 2 Chron 9:1c-2).

Her reaction is one of profound, reasoned assessment: “And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her” (1 Kings 10:4-5; cf. 2 Chron 9:3-4).

She then articulates her verified conclusion: “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 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” (1 Kings 10:6-7; cf. 2 Chron 9:5-6).

• Analysis: The Queen engages Solomon directly, posing challenging questions that cover “all that was on her mind.” Solomon’s ability to answer demonstrates his exceptional wisdom, but the framing emphasizes the Queen’s role as the examiner. Her subsequent astonishment is not depicted as irrational awe but as a reasoned conclusion based on empirical observation (“my own eyes had seen it”) of multiple facets of Solomon’s rule: his wisdom in discourse, his architectural achievements, the organization and prosperity of his court, and his piety in worship. Her final statement explicitly confirms the veracity of the reports through personal investigation.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: This sequence highlights the Queen’s intellectual agency and rational discernment. She is not passively impressed but actively evaluates evidence. Her “testing” is successful in verifying Solomon’s reputation. Her careful observation and articulated judgment showcase her critical thinking skills. Feminist hermeneutics contrasts this portrayal with figures like Eve, sometimes depicted as easily deceived; the Queen of Sheba embodies epistemic virtue—seeking truth, testing claims, and forming conclusions based on reason and evidence. She represents a powerful model of female rationality and intellectual authority within the biblical text.

E. Theological Insight and Moral Vision

Following her assessment, the Queen offers a theological interpretation of Solomon’s success: “Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness” (1 Kings 10:9; cf. 2 Chron 9:8).

• Analysis: This is a remarkable statement. A foreign monarch not only acknowledges YHWH but articulates a sophisticated theological understanding of Solomon’s kingship. She attributes his position to God’s delight and eternal love for Israel, and crucially, identifies the purpose of his rule as the execution of justice and righteousness—core tenets of covenantal ethics.
• Justice/Agency Perspective: The Queen demonstrates profound theological insight and moral vision. She recognizes the divine source of true wisdom and links legitimate rule to the pursuit of justice. Her ability, as an outsider and a woman, to articulate this central biblical ethic is highly significant. It positions her not just as intellectually astute but as spiritually perceptive, capable of discerning God’s purpose in the world. This transcends ethnic and gender boundaries, affirming her capacity for theological reasoning and moral judgment. Jesus later leverages her example in Matthew 12:42 and Luke 11:31, contrasting her earnest seeking of wisdom with the rejection he faced, thereby cementing her status as a paradigm of receptive faith and intellectual humility.

Feminist Hermeneutical Implications: A Text of Triumph

The Queen of Sheba’s narrative serves as what feminist biblical scholar Phyllis Trible might call a “text of triumph” amid texts that often depict violence against or marginalization of women.

• Challenging Patriarchy: Her story directly challenges patriarchal assumptions about female capacity for leadership, reason, and theological insight. She operates autonomously and authoritatively on the international stage, engaging the wisest king as an intellectual peer.
• Reclaiming Female Authority: Feminist readings reclaim her as a positive model of female power, wisdom, and agency, resisting interpretations that might seek to diminish her significance or sexualize her encounter with Solomon. Her narrative provides scriptural grounding for arguments supporting women’s leadership in religious and secular spheres.
• Dialogue and Mutual Respect: The interaction between the Queen and Solomon is characterized by mutual respect and dialogue, not hierarchy or domination. This offers a model for gender relations starkly different from more patriarchal narratives.
• Countering Restrictive Interpretations: Her powerful portrayal provides a biblical counter-argument to later texts or interpretations (like some readings of 1 Timothy 2:12) used to restrict women’s roles. The Hebrew Bible itself presents a compelling example of a woman excelling in domains often claimed as exclusively male.

Contesting Later Interpretations

While the biblical text presents a dignified and empowered Queen, it is important to acknowledge that later traditions (Jewish Midrash, Islamic lore) expanded her story, sometimes adding elements of romance, magic, or demonic associations. While these later traditions attest to her enduring fascination, a hermeneutic focused on the biblical text itself must prioritize the portrait offered in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles: a sovereign, rational, and discerning woman engaging in a high-stakes encounter centered on wisdom, diplomacy, and the recognition of divine justice.

In sum, the Hebrew Bible’s Queen of Sheba, when read through a lens attentive to agency, reason, and justice, emerges as a formidable figure. She embodies autonomous leadership, intellectual rigor, diplomatic skill, and theological perceptiveness, offering a timeless biblical paradigm of empowered womanhood that challenges patriarchal constraints and affirms the universal human capacity for wisdom and righteous engagement with the world.

Interreligious Dialogue: Convergences, Divergences, and Enduring Significance

Bringing the Quranic and Biblical narratives of the Queen of Sheba into dialogue reveals both striking convergences in her portrayal as a figure of agency and justice, and significant divergences reflecting the distinct theological emphases of each scripture. This comparative perspective underscores her unique status as a powerful female archetype resonating across Abrahamic traditions.

Convergences:

• Legitimate Sovereignty: Both traditions unequivocally present her as a reigning monarch of a prosperous kingdom, exercising legitimate political authority. Neither text questions her right to rule based on her gender.
• Rationality and Wisdom: Both scriptures highlight her intelligence and reliance on reason. Quran details her consultative process and strategic thinking; the Bible emphasizes her testing of Solomon with hard questions and her discerning assessment of his wisdom and kingdom.
• Agency and Initiative: In both accounts, she is the primary actor initiating key decisions: The Quranic Queen consults, sends envoys, and undertakes the journey; the Biblical Queen initiates the journey specifically to test Solomon. She is not a passive figure but an autonomous agent shaping events.
• Diplomatic Engagement: Both narratives depict a high-level diplomatic encounter characterized initially by testing and assessment, followed by mutual respect (evidenced by gift exchanges in the Bible, and the overall tone of the interaction in Quran).
• Recognition of Higher Truth/Divine Source: Both accounts culminate in the Queen acknowledging a truth beyond her previous understanding, linked to the Divine. In Quran, this is an explicit conversion to monotheism and submission to God. In the Bible, it is a profound recognition of YHWH as the source of Solomon’s wisdom and the mandate for just rule.
• Potential for Anti-Patriarchal Readings: Both narratives, when interpreted through hermeneutics of justice and agency (Progressive Islamic or feminist biblical), provide powerful scriptural resources to challenge patriarchal norms and advocate for gender equality in leadership and intellectual/spiritual capacity.

Divergences:

• Narrative Detail and Focus: The Quranic account is significantly more detailed, providing insights into her internal deliberations, her interactions with advisors, and a more elaborate sequence of events (letter, gift, throne test, glass palace). The Biblical account is more concise, focusing primarily on the wisdom contest and the mutual recognition between the two sovereigns.
• Nature of the Climax: The Quranic narrative climaxes with the Queen’s explicit declaration of islam (submission) to God, marking a clear spiritual conversion and joining the community of monotheists alongside Solomon. The Biblical narrative climaxes with her acknowledgment of Solomon’s unparalleled wisdom and prosperity, and her blessing of YHWH for establishing his just reign, without explicitly stating her own conversion or change in religious practice. Her recognition is more focused on God’s action through Solomon for Israel.
• Solomon’s Role: While both narratives feature Solomon prominently, Quran places slightly more emphasis on the divine signs manifested through him (Hudhud, throne transport, glass palace) as catalysts for the Queen’s realization. The Bible focuses more directly on Solomon’s personal wisdom and the observable effects of his righteous rule.
• Explicit Theological Goal: The Quranic narrative clearly frames the encounter within the context of calling polytheists to Tawhid (absolute monotheism). The Biblical narrative frames it more as a testament to the universal recognition of the wisdom bestowed by YHWH upon Israel’s king and the importance of just governance.

Enduring Significance of Queen Sheba

Despite these divergences, the convergences are profound. Across two major Abrahamic scriptures, separated by centuries and distinct theological frameworks, the Queen of Sheba stands out as a remarkably positive and empowered female figure. She is not defined by marriage or maternity, but by her sovereignty, intellect, agency, and engagement with profound questions of wisdom, power, and divinity.

Her enduring significance in interreligious dialogue lies in her capacity to serve as a shared archetype:

• A Model of Leadership: She offers a scripturally grounded model of effective, rational, and (in the Biblical account’s emphasis) just leadership that transcends gender.
• An Affirmation of Reason: Her commitment to inquiry and rational assessment validates the role of intellect in governance and in the pursuit of truth, spiritual or otherwise.
• A Symbol of Agency: Her autonomous actions and independent decision-making provide a powerful affirmation of individual agency, particularly female agency, within religious narratives.
• A Bridge for Dialogue: As a figure respected in both traditions, her story offers common ground for interfaith conversations about gender justice, leadership ethics, the relationship between faith and reason, and the universal human quest for wisdom and understanding.

By engaging with her narratives through hermeneutics focused on justice and agency, contemporary believers across Abrahamic traditions can reclaim the Queen of Sheba from interpretations that have diminished her, restoring her to her scriptural stature as a compelling embodiment of human potential and a testament to the diverse ways individuals encounter and respond to divine truth.

The Long-term Legacy of the Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba, as portrayed in Quran and the Hebrew Bible, emerges from a critical hermeneutical analysis not as a marginal figure defined by folklore or patriarchal constraints, but as a formidable archetype of justice and agency.

By employing interpretive lenses grounded in Progressive Islamic exegesis and feminist biblical hermeneutics—lenses that prioritize textual integrity, reason, context, universal justice, and the recovery of marginalized voices—we can consolidate a powerful, cross-traditional image of female leadership, intellectual depth, and spiritual autonomy.

This essay has argued that both scriptures, despite their distinct narrative details and theological emphases, present the Queen as a legitimate sovereign ruling effectively, a rational agent driven by intellectual curiosity, a skilful diplomat navigating complex international relations, and a discerning individual capable of profound theological or spiritual insight.

The Quranic narrative (Q. 27:20-44) meticulously details her consultative governance, strategic prudence, intellectual honesty, and culminates in her conscious, autonomous submission to God, positioning her as an equal partner in faith alongside Prophet Solomon.

This portrayal serves as a potent Quranic counter-narrative to restrictive interpretations, including the often-cited hadith questioning female leadership, affirming female capacity for the highest levels of political and spiritual attainment.

Similarly, the Hebrew Bible (1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9) depicts her initiating a challenging intellectual encounter with King Solomon, exercising critical discernment based on observation and reason, engaging in diplomacy as a respected peer, and articulating a profound understanding of divine justice as the foundation of righteous rule. This narrative, read through a feminist lens, stands as a “text of triumph,” challenging patriarchal norms by showcasing female sovereignty, rationality, and theological perception without censure.

The convergences in these portrayals are striking, offering valuable resources for contemporary interreligious dialogue. The Queen of Sheba stands as a shared symbol challenging gender-based hierarchies, affirming the compatibility of faith and reason, and modelling leadership rooted in wisdom and justice. Her story compels believers in both traditions to critically re-examine inherited interpretations that may obscure the egalitarian potential within their own sacred texts.

Ultimately, reclaiming the Queen of Sheba through a hermeneutic of justice and agency is not merely an academic exercise; it is an ethical imperative. Her enduring legacy invites contemporary Muslims, Christians, and Jews to embrace interpretations that foster equality, celebrate intellectual engagement, and affirm the full human dignity and potential of all individuals, regardless of gender, to lead, to reason, and to seek profound connection with the Divine. She remains a timeless icon, speaking across centuries and traditions, calling us toward a more just, rational, and liberated understanding of faith and human possibility.

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[The writer, V.A. Mohamad Ashrof, is an independent Indian scholar specializing in Islamic humanism. With a deep commitment to advancing Quranic hermeneutics that prioritize human well-being, peace, and progress, his work aims to foster a just society, encourage critical thinking, and promote inclusive discourse and peaceful coexistence. He is dedicated to creating pathways for meaningful social change and intellectual growth through his scholarship. He can be reached at vamashrof@gmail.com.]

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