The Targum Sheni ("Second Targum") is an Aramaic translation (targum) and elaboration of the Book of Esther, that embellishes the Biblical account with considerable new apocryphal material, not on the face of it directly germane to the Esther story. Notable among these additions is an account of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon, which sees the King commanding a daunting army of animals, birds and demonic spirits as subjects; and the Queen demanding from him the answer to three riddles, before she will pay homage. The Jewish Encyclopedia characterises the story as a "genuine and exuberant midrash", i.e. a free elaboration, of a kind not unusual in Rabbinic literature.
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