12:42 The queen of the {g} south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the {h} uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon [is] here.
(g) He means the Queen of Sheba: whose country is south in respect to the land of Israel; 1Ki 10:1-13.
(h) For Sheba is situated in the farthest coast of Arabia at the mouth of the Arabian Sea.
12:42 The queen of the south. Of Sheba (1Ki 10:1), supposed to be Sabaea in Southern Arabia.
From the uttermost parts of the earth. A great distance. On the extreme southern shores of Asia.
A greater than Solomon [is] here. A calm assertion of superhuman majesty and wisdom.
12:42 She came from the uttermost parts of the earth - That part of Arabia from which she came was the uttermost part of the earth that way, being bounded by the sea. 1Kings 10:1.
12:38-45 Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ's being the Messiah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, and then came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave, and then rise again. The Ninevites would shame the Jews for not repenting; the queen of Sheba, for not believing in Christ. And we have no such cares to hinder us, we come not to Christ upon such uncertainties. This parable represents the case of the Jewish church and nation. It is also applicable to all those who hear the word of God, and are in part reformed, but not truly converted. The unclean spirit leaves for a time, but when he returns, he finds Christ is not there to shut him out; the heart is swept by outward reformation, but garnished by preparation to comply with evil suggestions, and the man becomes a more decided enemy of the truth. Every heart is the residence of unclean spirits, except those which are temples of the Holy Ghost, by faith in Christ.
