2 Tawarikh 2:1--7:22
Konteks2:1 (1:18) 1 Solomon ordered a temple to be built to honor the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself. 2 2:2 (2:1) Solomon had 3 70,000 common laborers 4 and 80,000 stonecutters 5 in the hills, in addition to 3,600 supervisors. 6
2:3 Solomon sent a message to King Huram 7 of Tyre: 8 “Help me 9 as you did my father David, when you sent him cedar logs 10 for the construction of his palace. 11 2:4 Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor 12 the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed, 13 and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the Lord our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis. 14 2:5 I will build a great temple, for our God is greater than all gods. 2:6 Of course, who can really build a temple for him, since the sky 15 and the highest heavens cannot contain him? Who am I that I should build him a temple! It will really be only a place to offer sacrifices before him. 16
2:7 “Now send me a man who is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as purple, crimson, and violet colored fabrics, and who knows how to engrave. He will work with my skilled craftsmen here in Jerusalem 17 and Judah, whom my father David provided. 2:8 Send me cedars, evergreens, and algum 18 trees from Lebanon, for I know your servants are adept 19 at cutting down trees in Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants 2:9 to supply me with large quantities of timber, for I am building a great, magnificent temple. 2:10 Look, I will pay your servants who cut the timber 20,000 kors 20 of ground wheat, 20,000 kors of barley, 120,000 gallons 21 of wine, and 120,000 gallons of olive oil.”
2:11 King Huram 22 of Tyre sent this letter to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.” 2:12 Huram also said, “Worthy of praise is the Lord God of Israel, who made the sky and the earth! He has given David a wise son who has discernment and insight and will build a temple for the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself. 23 2:13 Now I am sending you Huram Abi, 24 a skilled and capable man, 2:14 whose mother is a Danite and whose father is a Tyrian. 25 He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stones, and wood, as well as purple, violet, white, and crimson fabrics. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and understands any design given to him. He will work with your skilled craftsmen and the skilled craftsmen of my lord David your father. 2:15 Now let my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he has promised; 2:16 we will get all the timber you need from Lebanon 26 and bring it 27 in raft-like bundles 28 by sea to Joppa. You can then haul it on up to Jerusalem.”
2:17 Solomon took a census 29 of all the male resident foreigners in the land of Israel, after the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 in all. 2:18 He designated 30 70,000 as common laborers, 31 80,000 as stonecutters 32 in the hills, and 3,600 as supervisors to make sure the people completed the work. 33
3:1 Solomon began building the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem 34 on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan 35 the Jebusite. 3:2 He began building on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign. 36
3:3 Solomon laid the foundation for God’s temple; 37 its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width 30 feet. 38 3:4 The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple, 39 and its height was 30 feet. 40 He plated the inside with pure gold. 3:5 He paneled 41 the main hall 42 with boards made from evergreen trees 43 and plated it with fine gold, decorated with palm trees and chains. 44 3:6 He decorated the temple with precious stones; the gold he used came from Parvaim. 45 3:7 He overlaid the temple’s rafters, thresholds, walls and doors with gold; he carved decorative cherubim on the walls.
3:8 He made the most holy place; 46 its length was 30 feet, 47 corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet. 48 He plated it with 600 talents 49 of fine gold. 3:9 The gold nails weighed 50 shekels; he also plated the upper areas with gold. 3:10 In the most holy place he made two images of cherubim and plated them with gold. 3:11 The combined wing span of the cherubs was 30 feet. 50 One of the first cherub’s wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched one wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the second cherub’s wings. 51 3:12 Likewise one of the second cherub’s wings was seven and one-half feet long and touched the other wall of the temple; its other wing was also seven and one-half feet long and touched one of the first cherub’s wings. 52 3:13 The combined wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. 53 They stood upright, facing inward. 54 3:14 He made the curtain out of violet, purple, crimson, and white fabrics, and embroidered on it decorative cherubim.
3:15 In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length 55 of 52½ feet, 56 with each having a plated capital seven and one-half feet high. 57 3:16 He made ornamental chains 58 and put them on top of the pillars. He also made one hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments and arranged them within the chains. 3:17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right side and the other on the left. 59 He named the one on the right Jachin, 60 and the one on the left Boaz. 61
4:1 He made a bronze altar, 30 feet 62 long, 30 feet 63 wide, and 15 feet 64 high. 4:2 He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.” 65 It measured 15 feet 66 from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet 67 high. Its circumference was 45 feet. 68 4:3 Images of bulls were under it all the way around, ten every eighteen inches 69 all the way around. The bulls were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” 4:4 “The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward. 70 4:5 It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons. 71 4:6 He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in “The Sea.”
4:7 He made ten gold lampstands according to specifications and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. 4:8 He made ten tables and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He also made one hundred gold bowls. 4:9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the large enclosure and its doors; 72 he plated their doors with bronze. 4:10 He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.
4:11 Huram Abi 73 made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. 74 4:12 He made 75 the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 4:13 the four hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments for the latticework of the two pillars (each latticework had two rows of these ornaments at the bowl-shaped top of the pillar), 4:14 the ten 76 movable stands with their ten 77 basins, 4:15 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, 4:16 and the pots, shovels, and meat forks. 78 All the items King Solomon assigned Huram Abi to make for the Lord’s temple 79 were made from polished bronze. 4:17 The king had them cast in earthen foundries 80 in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 4:18 Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze. 81
4:19 Solomon also made these items for God’s temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence 82 was kept, 4:20 the pure gold lampstands and their lamps which burned as specified at the entrance to the inner sanctuary, 4:21 the pure gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 4:22 the pure gold trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the most holy place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. 5:1 When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God’s temple.
5:2 Then Solomon convened Israel’s elders – all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families – in Jerusalem, 83 so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David 84 (that is, Zion). 85 5:3 All the men of Israel assembled before the king during the festival 86 in the seventh month. 87 5:4 When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the Levites lifted the ark. 5:5 The priests and Levites carried the ark, the tent where God appeared to his people, 88 and all the holy items in the tent. 89 5:6 Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered. 90
5:7 The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its assigned 91 place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place under the wings of the cherubs. 5:8 The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. 92 5:9 The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. 93 They have remained there to this very day. 5:10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. 94 (It was there that 95 the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)
5:11 The priests left the holy place. 96 All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented. 97 5:12 All the Levites who were musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, wore linen. They played cymbals and stringed instruments as they stood east of the altar. They were accompanied by 120 priests who blew trumpets. 5:13 The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing: 98 “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!” Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 99 5:14 The priests could not carry out their duties 100 because of the cloud; the Lord’s splendor filled God’s temple.
6:1 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. 6:2 O Lord, 101 I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” 6:3 Then the king turned around 102 and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. 103 6:4 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled 104 what he promised 105 my father David. 6:5 He told David, 106 ‘Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. 107 Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel. 6:6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live, 108 and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ 6:7 Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel. 109 6:8 The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. 110 6:9 But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’ 111 6:10 The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel 6:11 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites.”
6:12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 6:13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet 112 long, seven and one-half feet 113 wide, and four and one-half feet 114 high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, 6:14 and prayed: 115 “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty 116 to your servants who obey you with sincerity. 117 6:15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; 118 this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. 119 6:16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel, 120 provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’ 121 6:17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized. 122
6:18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth! 123 Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 6:19 But respond favorably to 124 your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer 125 the desperate prayer 126 your servant is presenting to you. 127 6:20 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. 128 May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. 129 6:21 Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place. 130 Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive. 131
6:22 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple, 132 6:23 listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve. 133
6:24 “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy 134 because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, 135 and pray for your help 136 before you in this temple, 6:25 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors. 137
6:26 “The time will come when 138 the skies 139 are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people 140 sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, 141 and turn away from their sin because you punish 142 them, 6:27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly 143 you will then teach them the right way to live 144 and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. 145
6:28 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust 146 invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, 147 or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 6:29 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, 148 as they acknowledge their intense pain 149 and spread out their hands toward this temple, 6:30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, 150 and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives. 151 (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) 152 6:31 Then they will honor 153 you by obeying you 154 throughout their lifetimes as 155 they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.
6:32 “Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your great reputation 156 and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds; 157 they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 6:33 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. 158 Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, 159 obey 160 you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. 161
6:34 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, 162 and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, 163 6:35 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help 164 and vindicate them. 165
6:36 “The time will come when your people 166 will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. 6:37 When your people 167 come to their senses 168 in the land where they are held prisoner, they will repent and beg for your mercy in the land of their imprisonment, admitting, ‘We have sinned and gone astray 169 , we have done evil!’ 6:38 When they return to you with all their heart and being 170 in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, 171 6:39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help, 172 vindicate them, 173 and forgive your sinful people.
6:40 “Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place. 174 6:41 Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance! 175 May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give! 176 6:42 O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones! 177 Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!”
7:1 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven 178 and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord’s splendor filled the temple. 7:2 The priests were unable to enter the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s splendor filled the Lord’s temple. 7:3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, 179 “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”
7:4 The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. 7:5 King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple. 7:6 The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord. 180 (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, “Certainly his loyal love endures.”) 181 Opposite the Levites, 182 the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there. 7:7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, 183 and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings. 184 7:8 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt in the south. 185 7:9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days. 7:10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon 186 sent the people home. They left 187 happy and contented 188 because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.
7:11 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, 189 7:12 the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered 190 your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made. 191 7:13 When 192 I close up the sky 193 so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation, 194 or send a plague among my people, 7:14 if my people, who belong to me, 195 humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, 196 and repudiate their sinful practices, 197 then I will respond 198 from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 199 7:15 Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place. 200 7:16 Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home; 201 I will be constantly present there. 202 7:17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. 203 7:18 Then I will establish your dynasty, 204 just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’ 205
7:19 “But if you people 206 ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, 207 and decide to serve and worship other gods, 208 7:20 then I will remove you 209 from my land I have given you, 210 I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, 211 and I will make you 212 an object of mockery and ridicule 213 among all the nations. 7:21 As for this temple, which was once majestic, 214 everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 7:22 Others will then answer, 215 ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors, 216 who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. 217 That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”
[2:1] 1 sn Beginning with 2:1, the verse numbers through 2:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 2:1 ET = 1:18 HT, 2:2 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:3 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:18 ET = 2:17 HT. Beginning with 3:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
[2:1] 2 tn Heb “and Solomon said to build a house for the name of the
[2:2] 3 tn Heb “counted,” perhaps “conscripted” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[2:2] 4 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
[2:2] 5 tn Or “quarry workers”; Heb “cutters” (probably referring to stonecutters).
[2:2] 6 tc The parallel text of MT in 1 Kgs 5:16 has “thirty-six hundred,” but some Greek
[2:2] tn Heb “and 3,600 supervisors over them.”
[2:3] 7 tn Heb “Huram.” Some medieval Hebrew
[2:3] 8 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[2:3] 9 tn The words “help me” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
[2:3] 10 tn Heb “cedars.” The word “logs” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[2:3] 11 tn Heb “to build for him a house to live in it.”
[2:4] 12 tn Heb “for the name of.”
[2:4] 13 tn Heb “and the regular display.”
[2:4] 14 tn Heb “permanently [is] this upon Israel.”
[2:6] 15 tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[2:6] 16 tn Heb “Who retains strength to build for him a house, for the heavens and the heavens of heavens do not contain him? And who am I that I should build for him a house, except to sacrifice before him?”
[2:7] 17 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[2:8] 18 tn This is probably a variant name for almug trees; see 9:10-11 and the parallel passage in 1 Kgs 10:11-12; cf. NLT. One or the other probably arose through metathesis of letters.
[2:10] 20 sn As a unit of dry measure a kor was roughly equivalent to six bushels (about 220 liters).
[2:10] 21 tn Heb “20,000 baths” (also a second time later in this verse). A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so this was a quantity of about 120,000 gallons (440,000 liters).
[2:11] 22 tn Heb “Huram” (also in v. 12). Some medieval Hebrew
[2:12] 23 tn Heb “who has given to David a wise son [who] knows discernment and insight, who will build a house for the
[2:13] 24 sn The name Huram Abi means “Huram [is] my father.”
[2:14] 25 tn Heb “a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre.”
[2:16] 26 tn Heb “and we will cut down trees from Lebanon according to all your need.”
[2:16] 27 tn Heb “to you,” but this phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons – it is somewhat redundant.
[2:16] 28 tn Or “on rafts.” See the note at 1 Kgs 5:9.
[2:18] 31 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
[2:18] 32 tn Or “quarry workers”; Heb “cutters” (probably referring to stonecutters).
[2:18] 33 tn Heb “and thirty-six hundred [as] supervisors to compel the people to work.”
[3:1] 34 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[3:1] 35 tn In 2 Sam 24:16 this individual is called אֲרַוְנָא (“Aravna”; traditionally “Araunah”). The form of the name found here also occurs in 1 Chr 21:15; 18-28.
[3:2] 36 sn This would be April-May, 966
[3:3] 37 tn Heb “and these are the founding of Solomon to build the house of God.”
[3:3] 38 tn Heb “the length [in] cubits by the former measure was sixty cubits, and a width of twenty cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches (45 cm) for the standard cubit, the length of the foundation would be 90 feet (27 m) and its width 30 feet (9 m).
[3:4] 39 tc Heb “and the porch which was in front of the length corresponding to the width of the house, twenty cubits.” The phrase הֵיכַל הַבַּיִת (heykhal habbayit, “the main hall of the temple,” which appears in the parallel account in 1 Kgs 6:3) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton after עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿney, “in front of”). Note that the following form, הָאֹרֶךְ (ha’orekh, “the length”), also begins with the Hebrew letter he (ה). A scribe’s eye probably jumped from the initial he on הֵיכַל to the initial he on הָאֹרֶךְ, leaving out the intervening letters in the process.
[3:4] 40 tc The Hebrew text has “one hundred and twenty cubits,” i.e. (assuming a cubit of 18 inches) 180 feet (54 m). An ancient Greek witness and the Syriac version read “twenty cubits,” i.e., 30 feet (9 m). It is likely that מֵאָה (me’ah, “a hundred”), is a corruption of an original אַמּוֹת (’ammot, “cubits”).
[3:5] 42 tn Heb “the large house.”
[3:5] 43 tn Heb “wood of evergreens.”
[3:5] 44 tn Heb “and he put up on it palm trees and chains.”
[3:6] 45 tn Heb “and he plated the house [with] precious stone for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim.”
[3:6] sn The location of Parvaim, the source of the gold for Solomon’s temple, is uncertain. Some have identified it with modern Farwa in Yemen; others relate it to the Sanskrit parvam and understand it to be a general term for the regions east of Palestine.
[3:8] 46 tn Heb “the house of the holy place of holy places.”
[3:8] 47 tn Heb “twenty cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), this would give a length of 30 feet (9 m).
[3:8] 48 tc Heb “twenty cubits.” Some suggest adding, “and its height twenty cubits” (see 1 Kgs 6:20). The phrase could have been omitted by homoioteleuton.
[3:8] 49 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold plating was 40,380 lbs. (18,360 kg).
[3:11] 50 tn Heb “and the wings of the cherubs, their length was twenty cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the wingspan of the cherubs would have been 30 feet (9 m).
[3:11] 51 tn Heb “the wing of the one was five cubits from the touching of the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits from the touching of the wing of the other cherub.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), each wing would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m) long.
[3:12] 52 tn Heb “and the wing of the one (הָאֶחָד, ha’ekhad, “the one”; this should probably be emended to הָאַחֵר, ha’akher, “the other”) cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing was five cubits, clinging to the wing of the other cherub.”
[3:13] 53 tn Heb “the wings of these cherubs were spreading twenty cubits.”
[3:13] 54 tn Heb “and they were standing on their feet, with their faces to the house.” An alternative translation of the last clause would be, “with their faces to the main hall.”
[3:15] 55 sn The figure given here appears to refer to the combined length of both pillars (perhaps when laid end-to-end on the ground prior to being set up; cf. v. 17); the figure given for the height of the pillars in 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21 is half this (i.e., eighteen cubits).
[3:15] 56 tc The Syriac reads “eighteen cubits” (twenty-seven feet). This apparently reflects an attempt at harmonization with 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21.
[3:15] 57 tn Heb “and he made before the house two pillars, thirty-five cubits [in] length, and the plated capital which was on its top [was] five cubits.” The significance of the measure “thirty-five cubits” (52.5 feet or 15.75 m, assuming a cubit of 18 inches) for the “length” of the pillars is uncertain. According to 1 Kgs 7:15, each pillar was eighteen cubits (27 feet or 8.1 m) high. Perhaps the measurement given here was taken with the pillars lying end-to-end on the ground before they were set up.
[3:16] 58 tn The Hebrew text adds here, “in the inner sanctuary,” but the description at this point is of the pillars, not the inner sanctuary.
[3:17] 59 tn Or “one on the south and the other on the north.”
[3:17] 60 tn The name “Jachin” appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”
[3:17] 61 tn The meaning of the name “Boaz” is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בֹּעַז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name asבְּעֹז (bÿ’oz, “in strength”) and to understand it as completing the verbal form on the first pillar. Taking the words together and reading from right to left, one can translate the sentence, “he establishes [it] in strength.”
[4:1] 62 tn Heb “twenty cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 30 feet (9 m).
[4:1] 63 tn Heb “twenty cubits.”
[4:1] 64 tn Heb “ten cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).
[4:2] 65 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”
[4:2] sn The large bronze basin known as “The Sea” was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (see v. 6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
[4:2] 66 tn Heb “ten cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the diameter would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).
[4:2] 67 tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
[4:2] 68 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”
[4:3] 69 tn Heb “ten every cubit.”
[4:4] 70 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
[4:5] 71 tn Heb “3,000 baths” (note that the capacity is given in 1 Kings 7:26 as “2,000 baths”). A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so 3,000 baths was a quantity of about 18,000 gallons (66,000 liters).
[4:9] 72 tn Heb “and the doors for the enclosure.”
[4:11] 73 tn Heb “Huram,” but here this refers to Huram Abi (2 Chr 2:13). The complete name has been used in the translation to avoid possible confusion with King Huram of Tyre.
[4:11] 74 tn Heb “Huram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of God.”
[4:12] 75 tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.
[4:14] 76 tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (’asah, “he made”), which is probably a corruption of עֶשֶׂר (’eser, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).
[4:14] 77 tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (’asah, “he made”), which is probably a corruption of עֲשָׂרָה (’asarah, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).
[4:16] 78 tc Some prefer to read here “bowls,” see v. 11 and 1 Kgs 7:45.
[4:16] 79 tn Heb “Huram Abi made for King Solomon [for] the house of the
[4:17] 80 tn Or perhaps, “molds.”
[4:18] 81 tn Heb “Solomon made all these items in great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”
[4:19] 82 tn Heb “the bread of the face/presence.”
[4:19] sn This bread offered to God was viewed as a perpetual offering to God. See Lev 24:5-9.
[5:2] 83 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[5:2] 84 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
[5:2] 85 tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the
[5:3] 86 sn This festival in the seventh month was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.
[5:3] 87 sn The seventh month would be September-October in modern reckoning.
[5:5] 88 tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”
[5:5] sn See Exod 33:7-11.
[5:5] 89 tn Heb “and they carried the ark of the
[5:6] 90 tn Heb “And King Solomon and all the assembly of Israel, those who had been gathered to him, [were] before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle which could not be counted or numbered because of the abundance.”
[5:7] 91 tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:8] 92 sn These poles were used to carry the ark. The Levites were to carry it with the poles on their shoulders. See Exod 25:13-15; 1 Chr 15:15.
[5:9] 93 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
[5:10] 94 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).
[5:10] 95 tn Heb “in Horeb where.”
[5:11] 96 tn Heb “and when the priests went from the holy place.” The syntactical relationship of this temporal clause to the following context is unclear. Perhaps the thought is completed in v. 14 after a lengthy digression.
[5:11] 97 tn Heb “Indeed [or “for”] all the priests who were found consecrated themselves without guarding divisions.”
[5:13] 98 tn Heb “like one were the trumpeters and the musicians, causing one voice to be heard, praising and giving thanks to the
[5:13] 99 tn Heb “and the house was filled with a cloud, the house of the
[5:14] 100 tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”
[6:2] 101 tn The words “O
[6:3] 102 tn Heb “turned his face.”
[6:3] 103 tn Heb “and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.”
[6:4] 104 tn The Hebrew text reads, “fulfilled by his hand,” but the phrase “by his hand” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[6:4] 105 tn The Hebrew text reads, “promised by his mouth,” but the phrase “by his mouth” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[6:5] 107 tn Heb “to build a house for my name to be there.” Here “name” is used by metonymy for the
[6:6] 108 tn Heb for my name to be there.” See also the note on the word “live” in v. 5.
[6:7] 109 tn Heb “and it was with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the
[6:7] sn On the significance of the
[6:8] 110 tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”
[6:9] 111 tn Heb “your son, the one who came out of your body, he will build the temple for my name.”
[6:13] 112 tn Heb “five cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
[6:13] 113 tn Heb “five cubits.”
[6:13] 114 tn Heb “three cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 4.5 feet (1.35 m).
[6:14] 116 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.”
[6:14] 117 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
[6:15] 118 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
[6:15] 119 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
[6:16] 120 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
[6:16] 121 tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”
[6:17] 122 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
[6:18] 123 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live with mankind on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “God does not really live with mankind on the earth.”
[6:19] 125 tn Heb “by listening to.”
[6:19] 126 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
[6:19] 127 tn Heb “praying before you.”
[6:20] 128 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you said, ‘My name will be there.’”
[6:20] 129 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
[6:21] 130 tn Heb “listen to the requests of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
[6:21] 131 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
[6:22] 132 tn Heb “and if the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.”
[6:23] 133 tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by repaying the guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”
[6:24] 134 tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”
[6:24] 135 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
[6:24] 136 tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”
[6:25] 137 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 38).
[6:26] 138 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 26-27a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
[6:26] 139 tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[6:26] 141 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
[6:26] 142 tn The Hebrew text reads “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (tÿ’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“afflict”).
[6:27] 143 tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense (“Certainly”). Other translation have “indeed” (NASB), “when” (NRSV), “so” (NEB), or leave the word untranslated (NIV).
[6:27] 144 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
[6:27] 145 tn Or “for an inheritance.”
[6:28] 146 tn Actually two Hebrew words appear here, both of which are usually (but not always) taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view, but this is uncertain. NEB has “locusts new-sloughed or fully grown”; NASB has “locust or grasshopper”; NIV has “locusts or grasshoppers”; NRSV has “locust, or caterpillar.”
[6:28] 147 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
[6:29] 148 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
[6:29] 149 tn Heb “which they know, each his pain and his affliction.”
[6:30] 150 tn The words “their sin” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification.
[6:30] 151 tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 28-30a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
[6:30] 152 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”
[6:31] 154 tn Heb “by walking in your ways.”
[6:31] 155 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
[6:32] 156 tn Heb “your great name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your great reputation
[6:32] 157 tn Heb “and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.”
[6:33] 158 tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”
[6:33] 159 tn Heb “name.” See the note on “reputation” in v. 32.
[6:33] 161 tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
[6:34] 162 tn Heb “When your people go out for battle against their enemies in the way which you send them.”
[6:34] 163 tn Heb “toward this city which you have chosen and the house which I built for your name.”
[6:35] 164 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
[6:35] 165 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
[6:36] 166 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:37] 167 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[6:37] 168 tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”
[6:37] 169 tn Or “done wrong.”
[6:38] 171 tn Heb “your name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your honor
[6:39] 172 tn Heb “their prayer and their requests for help.”
[6:39] 173 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
[6:40] 174 tn Heb “May your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.”
[6:41] 175 tn Heb “be clothed with deliverance.”
[6:41] 176 tn Heb “and may your loyal ones rejoice in good.”
[6:42] 177 tc Heb “do not turn away the face of your anointed ones.” Many medieval Hebrew
[7:1] 178 tn Or “the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[7:3] 179 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:6] 180 tn Heb “and the priests were standing at their posts, and the Levites with the instruments of music of the
[7:6] 181 tn Heb “which David the king made to give thanks to the
[7:6] 182 tn Heb “opposite them”; the referent (the Levites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:7] 183 tc The Hebrew text omits reference to the grain offerings at this point, but note that they are included both in the list in the second half of the verse (see note on “offerings” at the end of this verse) and in the parallel account in 1 Kgs 8:64. The construction וְאֶת־הַמִּנְחָה (vÿ’et-hamminkhah; vav [ו] + accusative sign + noun with article; “grain offerings”) was probably omitted accidentally by homoioarcton. Note the וְאֶת (vÿ’et) that immediately follows.
[7:7] 184 tn Heb “to hold the burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.” Because this is redundant, the translation employs a summary phrase: “all these offerings.”
[7:8] 185 tn Heb “Solomon held the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel was with him, a very great assembly from Lebo Hamath to the wadi of Egypt.”
[7:10] 186 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Solomon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:10] 187 tn The words “they left” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:10] 188 tn Heb “good of heart.”
[7:11] 189 tn Heb “and all that entered the heart of Solomon to do in the house of the
[7:12] 190 tn Heb “I have heard.”
[7:12] 191 tn Heb “temple of sacrifice.” This means the
[7:13] 193 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
[7:13] 194 tn Heb “the land,” which stands here by metonymy for the vegetation growing in it.
[7:14] 195 tn Heb “over whom my name is called.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
[7:14] 196 tn Heb “seek my face,” where “my face” is figurative for God’s presence and acceptance.
[7:14] 197 tn Heb “and turn from their sinful ways.”
[7:14] 199 sn Here the phrase heal their land means restore the damage done by the drought, locusts and plague mentioned in v. 13.
[7:15] 200 tn Heb “my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place.” Note Solomon’s request in 6:40.
[7:16] 201 tn Heb “for my name to be there perpetually [or perhaps, “forever”].”
[7:16] 202 tn Heb “and my eyes and my heart will be there all the days.”
[7:17] 203 tn Heb “As for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, by doing all which I commanded you, [and] you keep my rules and my regulations.”
[7:17] sn Verse 17 is actually a lengthy protasis (“if” section) of a conditional sentence, the apodosis (“then” section) of which appears in v. 18.
[7:18] 204 tn Heb “I will establish the throne of your kingdom.”
[7:18] 205 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man ruling over Israel.”
[7:19] 206 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, suggesting that Solomon and all Israel (or perhaps Solomon and his successors) are in view. To convey this to the English reader, the translation “you people” has been employed.
[7:19] 207 tn Heb “which I placed before you.”
[7:19] 208 tn Heb “and walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[7:20] 209 tn Heb “them.” The switch from the second to the third person pronoun is rhetorically effective, for it mirrors God’s rejection of his people – he has stopped addressing them as “you” and begun addressing them as “them.” However, the switch is awkward and confusing in English, so the translation maintains the direct address style.
[7:20] 210 tn Heb “them.” See the note on “you” earlier in this verse.
[7:20] 211 tc Instead of “I will throw away,” the parallel text in 1 Kgs 9:7 has “I will send away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.
[7:20] tn Heb “and this temple which I consecrated for my name I will throw away from before my face.”
[7:20] 212 tn Heb “him,” which appears in context to refer to Israel (i.e., “you” in direct address). Many translations understand the direct object of the verb “make” to be the temple (NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “it”).
[7:20] 213 tn Heb “and I will make him [i.e., Israel] a proverb and a taunt,” that is, a proverbial example of destruction and an object of reproach.
[7:21] 214 tn Heb “and this house which was high/elevated.” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”
[7:22] 215 tn Heb “and they will say.”
[7:22] 217 tn Heb “and they took hold of other gods and bowed down to them and served them.”
