21.3
The Kebra Nagast 21.3 · Beautiful, and wise📜 Bezold's printed edition
The book describes the queen before her journey north.
· · ·
ወይእቲሰ፡1
wa-yǝʾǝtisa
And she,and as for her
, ንግሥተ፡2
nǝgǝśta
the queen of
አዜብ፡3
ʾAzeb
the South,the south wind
, ጥቀ፡4
ṭǝqqa
was very
ሠናይት፡5
śannāyt
beautifulgood
በራእያኒ፡6
ba-rāʾǝyā-ni
in her looksin her appearance too
በላሕያኒ፡7
ba-lāḥǝyā-ni
and in her radiance,in her beauty too
, ወበአእምሮ፡8
wa-ba-ʾaʾǝmro
and in knowledgeand in knowing
ወልቡና፡9
wa-lǝbbunā
and understandingand good sense
እግዚኣብሔር፡10
ʾƎgziʾabǝḥer
that Godthe Lord
ዘወሀባ፡11
za-wahabā
gave her,which he gave her
, ከመ፡12
kama
so that
ትሖር፡13
tǝḥor
she would goshe should go
ኢየሩሳሌም፡14
ʾIyarusālem
to Jerusalem
ከመ፡15
kama
toso that
ትስማዕ፡16
tǝsmāʿ
hearshe might hear
ጥበቢሁ፡17
ṭǝbabihu
the wisdomhis wisdom
ለሰሎሞን፤18
la-Salomon
of Solomon.
. And she, the queen of the South, was very beautiful in her looks and in her radiance, and in knowledge and understanding that God gave her, so that she would go to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
And she, the queen of the South, was very beautiful in her looks and in her radiance, and in knowledge and understanding that God gave her, so that she would go to Jerusalem to hear the wisdom of Solomon.
21.4
The Kebra Nagast 21.4 · Gold, camels and merchants📜 Bezold's printed edition
The book turns from her beauty to her wealth.
· · ·
And she was very rich in what God gave her: glory and riches, gold and silver, and precious garments, and camels, and servants, and merchants; and they traded for her by sea and by land, and to India and to Aswan.
The book praises her body and her mind in one sentence: lovely in looks and radiance, rich in “knowledge and understanding”. Lǝbbunā, understanding, is built on lǝbb, the heart; in Ge’ez the heart is where one thinks. Her gifts come from God and have a purpose: to bring her to Jerusalem.
Two words here, śannāy and lāḥǝy, beauty and radiance, are the same pair the Book of Enoch uses for the daughters of men in 6:1, read in the same Ge’ez. The next lines tell how rich she was, with merchants trading for her by sea and land as far as India and Aswan.