1 Raja-raja 2:12--10:29
Konteks2:12 Solomon sat on his father David’s throne, and his royal authority 1 was firmly solidified.
2:13 Haggith’s son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come in peace?” He answered, “Yes.” 2 2:14 He added, 3 “I have something to say to you.” She replied, “Speak.” 2:15 He said, “You know that the kingdom 4 was mine and all Israel considered me king. 5 But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his. 6 2:16 Now I’d like to ask you for just one thing. Please don’t refuse me.” 7 She said, “Go ahead and ask.” 8 2:17 He said, “Please ask King Solomon if he would give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife, for he won’t refuse you.” 9 2:18 Bathsheba replied, “That’s fine, 10 I’ll speak to the king on your behalf.”
2:19 So Bathsheba visited King Solomon to speak to him on Adonijah’s behalf. The king got up to greet 11 her, bowed to her, and then sat on his throne. He ordered a throne to be brought for the king’s mother, 12 and she sat at his right hand. 2:20 She said, “I would like to ask you for just one small favor. 13 Please don’t refuse me.” 14 He said, 15 “Go ahead and ask, my mother, for I would not refuse you.” 2:21 She said, “Allow Abishag the Shunammite to be given to your brother Adonijah as a wife.” 2:22 King Solomon answered his mother, “Why just request Abishag the Shunammite for him? 16 Since he is my older brother, you should also request the kingdom for him, for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”
2:23 King Solomon then swore an oath by the Lord, “May God judge me severely, 17 if Adonijah does not pay for this request with his life! 18 2:24 Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty 19 for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!” 2:25 King Solomon then sent 20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he killed Adonijah. 21
2:26 The king then told Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your property 22 in Anathoth. You deserve to die, 23 but today I will not kill you because you did carry the ark of the sovereign Lord before my father David and you suffered with my father through all his difficult times.” 24 2:27 Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his position as priest of the Lord, 25 fulfilling the decree of judgment the Lord made in Shiloh against the family of Eli. 26
2:28 When the news reached Joab (for Joab had supported 27 Adonijah, although he had not supported Absalom), he 28 ran to the tent of the Lord and grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. 29 2:29 When King Solomon heard 30 that Joab had run to the tent of the Lord and was right there beside the altar, he ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, 31 “Go, strike him down.” 2:30 When Benaiah arrived at the tent of the Lord, he said to him, “The king says, ‘Come out!’” But he replied, “No, I will die here!” So Benaiah sent word to the king and reported Joab’s reply. 32 2:31 The king told him, “Do as he said! Strike him down and bury him. Take away from me and from my father’s family 33 the guilt of Joab’s murderous, bloody deeds. 34 2:32 May the Lord punish him for the blood he shed; 35 behind my father David’s back he struck down and murdered with the sword two men who were more innocent and morally upright than he 36 – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. 2:33 May Joab and his descendants be perpetually guilty of their shed blood, but may the Lord give perpetual peace to David, his descendants, his family, 37 and his dynasty.” 38 2:34 So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and executed Joab; 39 he was buried at his home in the wilderness. 2:35 The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada to take his place at the head of 40 the army, and the king appointed Zadok the priest to take Abiathar’s place. 41
2:36 Next the king summoned 42 Shimei and told him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem 43 and live there – but you may not leave there to go anywhere! 44 2:37 If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.” 45 2:38 Shimei said to the king, “My master the king’s proposal is acceptable. 46 Your servant will do as you say.” 47 So Shimei lived in Jerusalem for a long time. 48
2:39 Three years later two of Shimei’s servants ran away to King Achish son of Maacah of Gath. Shimei was told, “Look, your servants are in Gath.” 2:40 So Shimei got up, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to find his servants; Shimei went and brought back his servants from Gath. 2:41 When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had then returned, 2:42 the king summoned 49 Shimei and said to him, “You will recall 50 that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere, 51 know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’ 52 2:43 Why then have you broken the oath you made before the Lord and disobeyed the order I gave you?” 53 2:44 Then the king said to Shimei, “You are well aware of the way you mistreated my father David. 54 The Lord will punish you for what you did. 55 2:45 But King Solomon will be empowered 56 and David’s dynasty 57 will endure permanently before the Lord.” 2:46 The king then gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada who went and executed Shimei. 58
So Solomon took firm control of the kingdom. 59
3:1 Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her to the City of David 60 until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. 61 3:2 Now the people were offering sacrifices at the high places, 62 because in those days a temple had not yet been built to honor the Lord. 63 3:3 Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following 64 the practices 65 of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
3:4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. 66 Solomon would offer up 67 a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there. 3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared 68 to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell 69 me what I should give you.” 3:6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated 70 great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served 71 you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. 72 You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. 73 3:7 Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David’s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced. 74 3:8 Your servant stands 75 among your chosen people; 76 they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. 3:9 So give your servant a discerning mind 77 so he can make judicial decisions for 78 your people and distinguish right from wrong. 79 Otherwise 80 no one is able 81 to make judicial decisions for 82 this great nation of yours.” 83 3:10 The Lord 84 was pleased that Solomon made this request. 85 3:11 God said to him, “Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, 86 3:12 I 87 grant your request, 88 and give 89 you a wise and discerning mind 90 superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. 91 3:13 Furthermore, I am giving 92 you what you did not request – riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation. 93 3:14 If you follow my instructions 94 by obeying 95 my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, 96 then I will grant you long life.” 97 3:15 Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream. 98 He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings, 99 and held a feast for all his servants.
3:16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 3:17 One of the women said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house. 3:18 Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us. 100 3:19 This woman’s child suffocated 101 during the night when she rolled 102 on top of him. 3:20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms. 3:21 I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, 103 dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.” 104 3:22 The other woman said, “No! My son is alive; your son is dead!” But the first woman replied, “No, your son is dead; my son is alive.” Each presented her case before the king. 105
3:23 The king said, “One says, ‘My son is alive; your son is dead,’ while the other says, ‘No, your son is dead; my son is alive.’” 3:24 The king ordered, “Get me a sword!” So they placed a sword before the king. 3:25 The king then said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!” 3:26 The real mother 106 spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. 107 She said, “My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!” 108 But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!” 3:27 The king responded, “Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.” 3:28 When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected 109 the king, for they realized 110 that he possessed supernatural wisdom 111 to make judicial decisions.
4:1 King Solomon ruled over all Israel. 4:2 These were his officials:
Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.
4:3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, wrote down what happened. 112
Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records.
4:4 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was commander of 113 the army.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
4:5 Azariah son of Nathan was supervisor of 114 the district governors.
Zabud son of Nathan was a priest and adviser to 115 the king.
4:6 Ahishar was supervisor of the palace. 116
Adoniram son of Abda was supervisor of 117 the work crews. 118
4:7 Solomon had twelve district governors appointed throughout Israel who acquired supplies for the king and his palace. Each was responsible for one month in the year. 4:8 These were their names:
Ben-Hur was in charge of the hill country of Ephraim.
4:9 Ben-Deker was in charge of Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan.
4:10 Ben-Hesed was in charge of Arubboth; he controlled Socoh and all the territory of Hepher.
4:11 Ben-Abinadab was in charge of Naphath Dor. (He was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath.)
4:12 Baana son of Ahilud was in charge of Taanach and Megiddo, 119 as well as all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah and on past Jokmeam.
4:13 Ben-Geber was in charge of Ramoth Gilead; he controlled the tent villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead, as well as the region of Argob in Bashan, including sixty large walled cities with bronze bars locking their gates.
4:14 Ahinadab son of Iddo was in charge of Mahanaim.
4:15 Ahimaaz was in charge of Naphtali. (He married Solomon’s daughter Basemath.)
4:16 Baana son of Hushai was in charge of Asher and Aloth.
4:17 Jehoshaphat son of Paruah was in charge of Issachar.
4:18 Shimei son of Ela was in charge of Benjamin.
4:19 Geber son of Uri was in charge of the land of Gilead (the territory which had once belonged to King Sihon of the Amorites and to King Og of Bashan). He was sole governor of the area.
4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy. 4:21 (5:1) 120 Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River 121 to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms paid tribute as Solomon’s subjects throughout his lifetime. 122 4:22 Each day Solomon’s royal court consumed 123 thirty cors 124 of finely milled flour, sixty cors of cereal, 4:23 ten calves fattened in the stall, 125 twenty calves from the pasture, and a hundred sheep, not to mention rams, gazelles, deer, and well-fed birds. 4:24 His royal court was so large because 126 he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah 127 to Gaza; he was at peace with all his neighbors. 128 4:25 All the people of Judah and Israel had security; everyone from Dan to Beer Sheba enjoyed the produce of their vines and fig trees throughout Solomon’s lifetime. 129 4:26 Solomon had 4,000 130 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses. 4:27 The district governors acquired supplies for King Solomon and all who ate in his royal palace. 131 Each was responsible for one month in the year; they made sure nothing was lacking. 4:28 Each one also brought to the assigned location his quota of barley and straw for the various horses. 132
4:29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding 133 was as infinite as the sand on the seashore. 4:30 Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt. 134 4:31 He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. 135 4:32 He composed 136 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 4:33 He produced manuals on botany, describing every kind of plant, 137 from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on walls. He also produced manuals on biology, describing 138 animals, birds, insects, and fish. 4:34 People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; 139 they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom.
5:1 (5:15) 140 King Hiram of Tyre 141 sent messengers 142 to Solomon when he heard that he had been anointed king in his father’s place. (Hiram had always been an ally of David.) 5:2 Solomon then sent this message to Hiram: 5:3 “You know that my father David was unable to build a temple to honor the Lord 143 his God, for he was busy fighting battles on all fronts while the Lord subdued his enemies. 144 5:4 But now the Lord my God has made me secure on all fronts; there is no adversary or dangerous threat. 5:5 So I have decided 145 to build a temple to honor the Lord 146 my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’ 147 5:6 So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians.”
5:7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was very happy. He said, “The Lord is worthy of praise today because he 148 has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.” 5:8 Hiram then sent this message to Solomon: “I received 149 the message you sent to me. I will give you all the cedars and evergreens you need. 150 5:9 My servants will bring the timber down from Lebanon to the sea. I will send it by sea in raft-like bundles to the place you designate. 151 There I will separate the logs 152 and you can carry them away. In exchange you will supply the food I need for my royal court.” 153
5:10 So Hiram supplied the cedars and evergreens Solomon needed, 154 5:11 and Solomon supplied Hiram annually with 20,000 cors 155 of wheat as provision for his royal court, 156 as well as 20,000 baths 157 of pure 158 olive oil. 159 5:12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he had promised him. And Hiram and Solomon were at peace and made a treaty. 160
5:13 King Solomon conscripted 161 work crews 162 from throughout Israel, 30,000 men in all. 5:14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000 men per month. They worked in Lebanon for one month, and then spent two months at home. Adoniram was supervisor of 163 the work crews. 5:15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers 164 and 80,000 stonecutters 165 in the hills, 5:16 besides 3,300 166 officials who supervised the workers. 167 5:17 By royal order 168 they supplied large valuable stones in order to build the temple’s foundation with chiseled stone. 5:18 Solomon’s and Hiram’s construction workers, 169 along with men from Byblos, 170 did the chiseling and prepared the wood and stones for the building of the temple. 171
6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, during the month Ziv 172 (the second month), he began building the Lord’s temple. 6:2 The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet 173 long, 30 feet 174 wide, and 45 feet 175 high. 6:3 The porch in front of the main hall of the temple was 30 feet 176 long, corresponding to the width of the temple. It was 15 feet 177 wide, extending out from the front of the temple. 6:4 He made framed windows for the temple. 6:5 He built an extension all around the walls of the temple’s main hall and holy place and constructed side rooms in it. 178 6:6 The bottom floor of the extension was seven and a half feet 179 wide, the middle floor nine feet 180 wide, and the third floor ten and a half 181 feet wide. He made ledges 182 on the temple’s outer walls so the beams would not have to be inserted into the walls. 183 6:7 As the temple was being built, only stones shaped at the quarry 184 were used; the sound of hammers, pickaxes, or any other iron tool was not heard at the temple while it was being built. 6:8 The entrance to the bottom 185 level of side rooms was on the south side of the temple; stairs went up 186 to the middle floor and then on up to the third 187 floor. 6:9 He finished building the temple 188 and covered it 189 with rafters 190 and boards made of cedar. 191 6:10 He built an extension all around the temple; it was seven and a half feet high 192 and it was attached to the temple by cedar beams.
6:11 193 The Lord said 194 to Solomon: 6:12 “As for this temple you are building, if you follow 195 my rules, observe 196 my regulations, and obey all my commandments, 197 I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father David. 198 6:13 I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”
6:14 So Solomon finished building the temple. 199 6:15 He constructed the walls inside the temple with cedar planks; he paneled the inside with wood from the floor of the temple to the rafters 200 of the ceiling. He covered the temple floor with boards made from the wood of evergreens. 6:16 He built a wall 30 feet in from the rear of the temple as a partition for an inner sanctuary that would be the most holy place. 201 He paneled the wall with cedar planks from the floor to the rafters. 202 6:17 The main hall in front of the inner sanctuary was 60 feet long. 203 6:18 The inside of the temple was all cedar and was adorned with carvings of round ornaments and of flowers in bloom. Everything was cedar; no stones were visible. 204
6:19 He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord could be placed there. 6:20 The inner sanctuary was 30 feet 205 long, 30 feet wide, and 30 feet high. He plated it with gold, 206 as well as the cedar altar. 207 6:21 Solomon plated the inside of the temple with gold. 208 He hung golden chains in front of the inner sanctuary and plated the inner sanctuary 209 with gold. 6:22 He plated the entire inside of the temple with gold, as well as the altar inside the inner sanctuary. 210
6:23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubs of olive wood; each stood 15 feet 211 high. 6:24 Each of the first cherub’s wings was seven and a half feet long; its entire wingspan was 15 feet. 212 6:25 The second cherub also had a wingspan of 15 feet; it was identical to the first in measurements and shape. 213 6:26 Each cherub stood 15 feet high. 214 6:27 He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple. 215 Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub’s wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub’s wings touched the opposite wall. The first cherub’s other wing touched the second cherub’s other wing in the middle of the room. 216 6:28 He plated the cherubs with gold.
6:29 On all the walls around the temple, inside and out, 217 he carved 218 cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom. 6:30 He plated the floor of the temple with gold, inside and out. 219 6:31 He made doors of olive wood at the entrance to the inner sanctuary; the pillar on each doorpost was five-sided. 220 6:32 On the two doors made of olive wood he carved 221 cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom, and he plated them with gold. 222 He plated the cherubs and the palm trees with hammered gold. 223 6:33 In the same way he made doorposts of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall, only with four-sided pillars. 224 6:34 He also made 225 two doors out of wood from evergreens; each door had two folding leaves. 226 6:35 He carved cherubs, palm trees, and flowers in bloom and plated them with gold, leveled out over the carvings. 6:36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of chiseled stones and a row of cedar beams.
6:37 In the month Ziv 227 of the fourth year of Solomon’s reign 228 the foundation was laid for the Lord’s temple. 6:38 In the eleventh year, in the month Bul 229 (the eighth month) the temple was completed in accordance with all its specifications and blueprints. It took seven years to build. 230
7:1 Solomon took thirteen years to build his palace. 231 7:2 He named 232 it “The Palace of the Lebanon Forest”; 233 it was 150 feet 234 long, 75 feet 235 wide, and 45 feet 236 high. It had four rows of cedar pillars and cedar beams above the pillars. 7:3 The roof above the beams supported by the pillars was also made of cedar; there were forty-five beams, fifteen per row. 7:4 There were three rows of windows arranged in sets of three. 237 7:5 All of the entrances 238 were rectangular in shape 239 and they were arranged in sets of three. 240 7:6 He made a colonnade 241 75 feet 242 long and 45 feet 243 wide. There was a porch in front of this and pillars and a roof in front of the porch. 244 7:7 He also made a throne room, called “The Hall of Judgment,” where he made judicial decisions. 245 It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters. 246 7:8 The palace where he lived was constructed in a similar way. 247 He also constructed a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married. 248 7:9 All of these were built with the best 249 stones, chiseled to the right size 250 and cut with a saw on all sides, 251 from the foundation to the edge of the roof 252 and from the outside to the great courtyard. 7:10 The foundation was made of large valuable stones, measuring either 15 feet or 12 feet. 253 7:11 Above the foundation 254 the best 255 stones, chiseled to the right size, 256 were used along with cedar. 7:12 Around the great courtyard were three rows of chiseled stones and one row of cedar beams, like the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and the hall of the palace. 257
7:13 King Solomon sent for Hiram 258 of Tyre. 259 7:14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, 260 and his father was a craftsman in bronze from Tyre. He had the skill and knowledge 261 to make all kinds of works of bronze. He reported to King Solomon and did all the work he was assigned.
7:15 He fashioned two bronze pillars; each pillar was 27 feet 262 high and 18 feet 263 in circumference. 7:16 He made two bronze tops for the pillars; each was seven-and-a-half feet high. 264 7:17 The latticework on the tops of the pillars was adorned with ornamental wreaths and chains; the top of each pillar had seven groupings of ornaments. 265 7:18 When he made the pillars, there were two rows of pomegranate-shaped ornaments around the latticework covering the top of each pillar. 266 7:19 The tops of the two pillars in the porch were shaped like lilies and were six feet high. 267 7:20 On the top of each pillar, right above the bulge beside the latticework, there were two hundred pomegranate-shaped ornaments arranged in rows all the way around. 268 7:21 He set up the pillars on the porch in front of the main hall. He erected one pillar on the right 269 side and called it Jakin; 270 he erected the other pillar on the left 271 side and called it Boaz. 272 7:22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. So the construction of the pillars was completed.
7:23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” 273 It measured 15 feet 274 from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet 275 high. Its circumference was 45 feet. 276 7:24 Under the rim all the way around it 277 were round ornaments 278 arranged in settings 15 feet long. 279 The ornaments were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.” 280 7:25 “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. 281 7:26 It was four fingers thick and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold about 12,000 gallons. 282
7:27 He also made ten bronze movable stands. Each stand was six feet 283 long, six feet 284 wide, and four-and-a-half feet 285 high. 7:28 The stands were constructed with frames between the joints. 7:29 On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubs. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths. 286 7:30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles and four supports. Under the basin the supports were fashioned on each side with wreaths. 287 7:31 Inside the stand was a round opening that was a foot-and-a-half deep; it had a support that was two and one-quarter feet long. 288 On the edge of the opening were carvings in square frames. 289 7:32 The four wheels were under the frames and the crossbars of the axles were connected to the stand. Each wheel was two and one-quarter feet 290 high. 7:33 The wheels were constructed like chariot wheels; their crossbars, rims, spokes, and hubs were made of cast metal. 7:34 Each stand had four supports, one per side projecting out from the stand. 291 7:35 On top of each stand was a round opening three-quarters of a foot deep; 292 there were also supports and frames on top of the stands. 7:36 He engraved ornamental cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of the supports and frames wherever there was room, 293 with wreaths 294 all around. 7:37 He made the ten stands in this way. All of them were cast in one mold and were identical in measurements and shape.
7:38 He also made ten bronze basins, each of which could hold about 240 gallons. 295 Each basin was six feet in diameter; 296 there was one basin for each stand. 7:39 He put five basins on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.
7:40 Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He 297 finished all the work on the Lord’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. 298 7:41 He made 299 the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 7:42 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), 7:43 the ten movable stands with their ten basins, 7:44 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, 300 7:45 and the pots, shovels, and bowls. All these items King Solomon assigned Hiram to make for the Lord’s temple 301 were made from polished bronze. 7:46 The king had them cast in earth foundries 302 in the region of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. 7:47 Solomon left all these items unweighed; there were so many of them they did not weigh the bronze. 303
7:48 Solomon also made all these items for the Lord’s temple: the gold altar, the gold table on which was kept the Bread of the Presence, 304 7:49 the pure gold lampstands at the entrance to the inner sanctuary (five on the right and five on the left), the gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 7:50 the pure gold bowls, 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. 7:51 When King Solomon finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he 305 put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and other articles) in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.
8:1 306 Then Solomon convened in Jerusalem 307 Israel’s elders, all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David (that is, Zion). 308 8:2 All the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon during the festival 309 in the month Ethanim 310 (the seventh month). 8:3 When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. 8:4 The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, 311 and all the holy items in the tent. 312 8:5 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. 313
8:6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned 314 place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. 8:7 The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. 315 8:8 The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. 316 They have remained there to this very day. 8:9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. 317 It was there that 318 the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 8:10 Once the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 8:11 The priests could not carry out their duties 319 because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple. 320
8:12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. 8:13 O Lord, 321 truly I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” 8:14 Then the king turned around 322 and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there. 323 8:15 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled 324 what he promised 325 my father David. 8:16 He told David, 326 ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live. 327 But I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ 8:17 Now my father David had a strong desire 328 to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel. 329 8:18 The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me. 330 8:19 But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’ 331 8:20 The Lord has kept the promise he made. 332 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 333 of the Lord God of Israel 8:21 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with our ancestors 334 when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
8:22 Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward the sky. 335 8:23 He prayed: 336 “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below! You maintain covenantal loyalty 337 to your servants who obey you with sincerity. 338 8:24 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David; 339 this very day you have fulfilled what you promised. 340 8:25 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, 341 provided that your descendants watch their step and serve me as you have done.’ 342 8:26 Now, O God of Israel, may the promise you made 343 to your servant, my father David, be realized. 344
8:27 “God does not really live on the earth! 345 Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 8:28 But respond favorably to 346 your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer 347 the desperate prayer 348 your servant is presenting to you 349 today. 8:29 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. 350 May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. 351 8:30 Respond to the request of your servant and your people Israel for this place. 352 Hear from inside your heavenly dwelling place 353 and respond favorably. 354
8:31 “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, be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. 355 8:32 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. 356
8:33 “The time will come when 357 your people Israel are defeated by an enemy 358 because they sinned against you. If they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you, 359 and pray for your help 360 in this temple, 8:34 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.
8:35 “The time will come when 361 the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people 362 sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, 363 and turn away from their sin because you punish 364 them, 8:36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly 365 you will then teach them the right way to live 366 and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. 367
8:37 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust 368 invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, 369 or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 8:38 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help, 370 as they acknowledge their pain 371 and spread out their hands toward this temple, 8:39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin, 372 and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of his motives. 373 (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.) 374 8:40 Then they will obey 375 you throughout their lifetimes as 376 they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.
8:41 “Foreigners, who do not belong to your people Israel, will come from a distant land because of your reputation. 377 8:42 When they hear about your great reputation 378 and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds, 379 they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 8:43 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners. 380 Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation, 381 obey 382 you like your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you. 383
8:44 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies, 384 and they direct their prayers to the Lord 385 toward his chosen city and this temple I built for your honor, 386 8:45 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help 387 and vindicate them. 388
8:46 “The time will come when your people 389 will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry with them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their own land, 390 whether far away or close by. 8:47 When your people 391 come to their senses 392 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; 393 we have done evil.’ 8:48 When they return to you with all their heart and being 394 in the land where they are held prisoner, 395 and direct their prayers to you toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor, 396 8:49 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help 397 and vindicate them. 398 8:50 Forgive all the rebellious acts of your sinful people and cause their captors to have mercy on them. 399 8:51 After all, 400 they are your people and your special possession 401 whom you brought out of Egypt, from the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. 402
8:52 “May you be attentive 403 to your servant’s and your people Israel’s requests for help and may you respond to all their prayers to you. 404 8:53 After all, 405 you picked them out of all the nations of the earth to be your special possession, 406 just as you, O sovereign Lord, announced through your servant Moses when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”
8:54 When Solomon finished presenting all these prayers and requests to the Lord, he got up from before the altar of the Lord where he had kneeled and spread out his hands toward the sky. 407 8:55 When he stood up, he pronounced a blessing over the entire assembly of Israel, saying in a loud voice: 8:56 “The Lord is worthy of praise because he has made Israel his people secure 408 just as he promised! Not one of all the faithful promises he made through his servant Moses is left unfulfilled! 409 8:57 May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us. 8:58 May he make us submissive, 410 so we can follow all his instructions 411 and obey 412 the commandments, rules, and regulations he commanded our ancestors. 8:59 May the Lord our God be constantly aware of these requests of mine I have presented to him, 413 so that he might vindicate 414 his servant and his people Israel as the need arises. 8:60 Then 415 all the nations of the earth will recognize that the Lord is the only genuine God. 416 8:61 May you demonstrate wholehearted devotion to the Lord our God 417 by following 418 his rules and obeying 419 his commandments, as you are presently doing.” 420
8:62 The king and all Israel with him were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. 8:63 Solomon offered as peace offerings 421 to the Lord 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple. 8:64 That day the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered there burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat from the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the Lord was too small to hold all these offerings. 422 8:65 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival before the Lord our God for two entire weeks. This great assembly included people from all over the land, from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Brook of Egypt 423 in the south. 424 8:66 On the fifteenth day after the festival started, 425 he dismissed the people. They asked God to empower the king 426 and then went to their homes, happy and content 427 because of all the good the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.
9:1 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all the other construction projects he had planned, 428 9:2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, in the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 429 9:3 The Lord said to him, “I have answered 430 your prayer and your request for help that you made to me. I have consecrated this temple you built by making it my permanent home; 431 I will be constantly present there. 432 9:4 You must serve me with integrity and sincerity, just as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. 433 9:5 Then I will allow your dynasty to rule over Israel permanently, 434 just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ 435
9:6 “But if you or your sons ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, 436 and decide to serve and worship other gods, 437 9:7 then I will remove Israel from the land 438 I have given them, I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence, 439 and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed 440 among all the nations. 9:8 This temple will become a heap of ruins; 441 everyone who passes by it will be shocked and will hiss out their scorn, 442 saying, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 9:9 Others will then answer, 443 ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who led their ancestors 444 out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served. 445 That is why the Lord has brought all this disaster down on them.’”
9:10 After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and the royal palace, 446 9:11 King Solomon gave King Hiram of Tyre 447 twenty cities in the region of Galilee, because Hiram had supplied Solomon with cedars, evergreens, and all the gold he wanted. 9:12 When Hiram went out from Tyre to inspect the cities Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. 448 9:13 Hiram asked, 449 “Why did you give me these cities, my friend 450 ?” He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day. 451 9:14 Hiram had sent to the king one hundred twenty talents 452 of gold.
9:15 Here are the details concerning the work crews 453 King Solomon conscripted 454 to build the Lord’s temple, his palace, the terrace, the wall of Jerusalem, 455 and the cities of 456 Hazor, 457 Megiddo, 458 and Gezer. 9:16 (Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had attacked and captured Gezer. He burned it and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city. He gave it as a wedding present to his daughter, who had married Solomon.) 9:17 Solomon built up Gezer, lower Beth Horon, 9:18 Baalath, Tadmor in the wilderness, 459 9:19 all the storage cities that belonged to him, 460 and the cities where chariots and horses were kept. 461 He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom. 462 9:20 Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 463 9:21 Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out completely). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day. 464 9:22 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews; 465 the Israelites served as his soldiers, attendants, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces. 466 9:23 These men were also in charge of Solomon’s work projects; there were a total of 550 men who supervised the workers. 467 9:24 Solomon built the terrace as soon as Pharaoh’s daughter moved up from the city of David 468 to the palace Solomon built for her. 469
9:25 Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings 470 on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense along with them before the Lord. He made the temple his official worship place. 471
9:26 King Solomon also built ships 472 in Ezion Geber, which is located near Elat in the land of Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. 9:27 Hiram sent his fleet and some of his sailors, who were well acquainted with the sea, to serve with Solomon’s men. 473 9:28 They sailed 474 to Ophir, took from there four hundred twenty talents 475 of gold, and then brought them to King Solomon.
10:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, 476 she came to challenge 477 him with difficult questions. 478 10:2 She arrived in Jerusalem 479 with a great display of pomp, 480 bringing with her camels carrying spices, 481 a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 10:3 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king. 482 10:4 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, 483 the palace 484 he had built, 10:5 the food in his banquet hall, 485 his servants and attendants, 486 their robes, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he presented in the Lord’s temple, she was amazed. 487 10:6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight 488 was true! 10:7 I did not believe these things until I came and saw them with my own eyes. Indeed, I didn’t hear even half the story! 489 Your wisdom and wealth 490 surpass what was reported to me. 10:8 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy! 491 10:9 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored 492 you by placing you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he made you king so you could make just and right decisions.” 493 10:10 She gave the king 120 talents 494 of gold, a very large quantity of spices, and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. 495 10:11 (Hiram’s fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, also brought from Ophir a very large quantity of fine timber and precious gems. 10:12 With the timber the king made supports 496 for the Lord’s temple and for the royal palace and stringed instruments 497 for the musicians. No one has seen so much of this fine timber to this very day. 498 ) 10:13 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, besides what he had freely offered her. 499 Then she left and returned 500 to her homeland with her attendants.
10:14 Solomon received 666 talents 501 of gold per year, 502 10:15 besides what he collected from the merchants, 503 traders, Arabian kings, and governors of the land. 10:16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures 504 of gold were used for each shield. 10:17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas 505 of gold were used for each of these shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. 506
10:18 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 10:19 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and the back of it was rounded on top. The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. 507 10:20 There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom. 508
10:21 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time. 509 10:22 Along with Hiram’s fleet, the king had a fleet of large merchant ships 510 that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet 511 came into port with cargoes of 512 gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. 513
10:23 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. 514 10:24 Everyone 515 in the world wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom. 516 10:25 Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules. 517
10:26 Solomon accumulated 518 chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. 519 10:27 The king made silver as plentiful 520 in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was 521 as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands. 522 10:28 Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt 523 and from Que; the king’s traders purchased them from Que. 10:29 They paid 600 silver pieces for each chariot from Egypt and 150 silver pieces for each horse. They also sold chariots and horses to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Syria. 524
[2:14] 3 tn Heb “and he said.”
[2:15] 5 tn Heb “set their face to me to be king.”
[2:15] 6 tn Heb “and the kingdom turned about and became my brother’s, for from the
[2:16] 7 tn Heb “Do not turn back my face.”
[2:16] 8 tn Heb “She said, ‘Speak!’”
[2:17] 9 tn Heb “Say to Solomon the king, for he will not turn back your face, that he might give to me Abishag the Shunammite for a wife.”
[2:18] 10 tn Heb “[It is] good!”
[2:19] 12 tn Heb “he set up a throne for the mother of the king.”
[2:20] 13 tn Or “I’d like to make just one request of you.”
[2:20] 14 tn Heb “Do not turn back my face.”
[2:20] 15 tn Heb “and the king said to her.”
[2:22] 16 tn Heb “for Adonijah.”
[2:23] 17 tn Heb “So may God do to me, and so may he add.”
[2:23] 18 tn Heb “if with his life Adonijah has not spoken this word.”
[2:25] 20 tn The Hebrew text adds, “by the hand of.”
[2:25] 21 tn Heb “and he struck him and he died.”
[2:26] 23 tn Heb “you are a man of death.”
[2:26] 24 tn Heb “and because you suffered through all which my father suffered.”
[2:27] 25 tn Heb “Solomon drove out Abiathar from being a priest to the
[2:27] 26 tn Heb “fulfilling the word of the
[2:28] 27 tn Heb “turned after” (also later in this verse).
[2:28] 28 tn Heb “Joab.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[2:28] 29 sn Grabbed hold of the horns of the altar. The “horns” of the altar were the horn-shaped projections on the four corners of the altar (see Exod 27:2). By going to the holy place and grabbing hold of the horns of the altar, Joab was seeking asylum from Solomon.
[2:29] 30 tn Heb “and it was related to King Solomon.”
[2:29] 31 tn Heb “so Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying.”
[2:30] 32 tn Heb “saying, “In this way Joab spoke and in this way he answered me.”
[2:31] 34 tn Heb “take away the undeserved bloodshed which Joab spilled from upon me and from upon the house of my father.”
[2:32] 35 tn Heb “The
[2:32] 36 tn Heb “because he struck down two men more innocent and better than he and he killed them with the sword, and my father David did not know.”
[2:33] 38 tn Heb “his throne.”
[2:34] 39 tn Heb “struck him and killed him.” The referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:35] 41 tc The Old Greek translation includes after v. 35 some fourteen verses that are absent from the MT.
[2:36] 42 tn Heb “sent and summoned.”
[2:36] 43 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[2:36] 44 tn Heb “and you may not go out from there here or there.”
[2:37] 45 tn Heb “your blood will be upon your head.”
[2:38] 46 tn Heb “Good is the word, as my master the king has spoken.”
[2:38] 47 tn Heb “so your servant will do.”
[2:42] 49 tn Heb “sent and summoned.”
[2:42] 50 tn Heb “Is it not [true]…?” In the Hebrew text the statement is interrogative; the rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course it is.”
[2:42] 51 tn Heb “here or there.”
[2:42] 52 tn Heb “good is the word; I have heard.”
[2:43] 53 tn Heb “Why have you not kept the oath [to] the
[2:44] 54 tn Heb “You know all the evil, for your heart knows, which you did to David my father.”
[2:44] 55 tn Heb “The
[2:46] 58 tn “The king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada and he went out and struck him down and he died.”
[2:46] 59 tn “And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”
[3:1] 60 sn The phrase City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
[3:1] 61 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[3:2] 62 sn Offering sacrifices at the high places. The “high places” were places of worship that were naturally or artificially elevated.
[3:2] 63 tn Heb “for the name of the
[3:3] 64 tn Heb “Solomon loved the
[3:3] 65 tn Or “policies, rules.”
[3:4] 66 tn Heb “for it was the great high place.”
[3:4] 67 tn The verb form is an imperfect, which is probably used here in a customary sense to indicate continued or repeated action in past time. See GKC 314 §107.b.
[3:5] 68 tn Or “revealed himself.”
[3:6] 71 tn Heb “walked before.”
[3:6] 72 tn Heb “in faithfulness and in innocence and in uprightness of heart with you.”
[3:6] 73 tn Heb “and you have kept to him this great loyalty and you gave to him a son [who] sits on his throne as this day.”
[3:7] 74 tn Heb “and I do not know going out or coming in.”
[3:8] 75 tn There is no verb expressed in the Hebrew text; “stands” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[3:8] 76 tn Heb “your people whom you have chosen.”
[3:9] 77 tn Heb “a hearing heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)
[3:9] 79 tn Heb “to understand between good and evil.”
[3:9] 80 tn Heb “for”; the word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.
[3:9] 81 tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”
[3:9] 83 tn Heb “your numerous people.”
[3:10] 84 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in v.15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[3:10] 85 tn Heb “And the thing was good in the eyes of the Lord, for Solomon asked for this thing.”
[3:11] 86 tn Heb “because you asked for this thing, and did not ask for yourself many days and did not ask for yourself riches and did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you asked for yourself understanding to hear judgment.”
[3:12] 87 tn This statement is introduced in the Hebrew text by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to and emphasizes what follows.
[3:12] 88 tn Heb “I am doing according to your words.” The perfect tense is sometimes used of actions occurring at the same time a statement is made.
[3:12] 89 tn This statement is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to and emphasizes what follows. The translation assumes that the perfect tense here indicates that the action occurs as the statement is made (i.e., “right now I give you”).
[3:12] 90 tn Heb “heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)
[3:12] 91 tn Heb “so that there has not been one like you prior to you, and after you one will not arise like you.”
[3:13] 92 tn The translation assumes that the perfect tense here indicates that the action occurs as the statement is made.
[3:13] 93 tn Heb “so that there is not one among the kings like you all your days.” The LXX lacks the words “all your days.”
[3:14] 94 tn Heb “walk in my ways.”
[3:14] 97 tn Heb “I will lengthen your days.”
[3:15] 98 tn Heb “and look, a dream.”
[3:15] 99 tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”
[3:18] 100 sn There was no one else in the house except the two of us. In other words, there were no other witnesses to the births who could identify which child belonged to which mother.
[3:19] 102 tn Heb “lay, slept.”
[3:21] 104 tn Heb “look, it was not my son to whom I had given birth.”
[3:22] 105 tn Heb “they spoke before the king.” Another option is to translate, “they argued before the king.”
[3:26] 106 tn Heb “the woman whose son was alive.”
[3:26] 107 tn Heb “for her compassions grew warm for her son.”
[3:26] 108 tn The infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the main verb.
[3:28] 109 tn Heb “feared,” perhaps in the sense, “stood in awe of.”
[3:28] 111 tn Heb “the wisdom of God within him.”
[4:3] 112 tn Heb “were scribes”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “secretaries”; TEV, NLT “court secretaries.”
[4:5] 115 tn Heb “close associate of”; KJV, ASV, NASB “the king’s friend” (a title for an adviser, not just an acquaintance).
[4:6] 116 tn Heb “over the house.”
[4:6] 118 sn The work crews. This Hebrew word (מַס, mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
[4:12] 119 map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.
[4:21] 120 sn Beginning with 4:21, the verse numbers through 5:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:21 ET = 5:1 HT, 4:22 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:18 ET = 5:32 HT. Beginning with 6:1 the numbering of verses in the English Bible and the Hebrew text is again the same.
[4:21] 121 tn Heb “the River” (also in v. 24). This is the standard designation for the Euphrates River in biblical Hebrew.
[4:21] 122 tn Heb “[They] were bringing tribute and were serving Solomon all the days of his life.”
[4:22] 123 tn Heb “the food of Solomon for each day was.”
[4:22] 124 tn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.
[4:23] 125 tn The words “in the stall” are added for clarification; note the immediately following reference to cattle from the pasture.
[4:24] 126 tn Heb “because.” The words “his royal court was so large” are added to facilitate the logical connection with the preceding verse.
[4:24] 127 sn Tiphsah. This was located on the Euphrates River.
[4:24] 128 tn Heb “for he was ruling over all [the region] beyond the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kingdoms beyond the River, and he had peace on every side all around.”
[4:25] 129 tn Heb “Judah and Israel lived securely, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beer Sheba, all the days of Solomon.”
[4:26] 130 tn The Hebrew text has “40,000,” but this is probably an inflated number (nevertheless it is followed by KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, CEV). Some Greek
[4:27] 131 tn Heb “everyone who drew near to the table of King Solomon.”
[4:28] 132 tn Heb “barley and straw for the horses and the steeds they brought to the place which was there, each according to his measure.”
[4:29] 133 tn Heb “heart,” i.e., mind. (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)
[4:30] 134 tn Heb “the wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.”
[4:31] 135 tn Heb “his name was in all the surrounding nations.”
[4:33] 137 tn Heb “he spoke about plants.”
[4:33] 138 tn Heb “he spoke about.”
[4:34] 139 tn Heb “the wisdom of Solomon.”
[5:1] 140 sn The verse numbers in the English Bible differ from those in the Hebrew text (BHS) here; 5:1-18 in the English Bible corresponds to 5:15-32 in the Hebrew text. See the note at 4:21.
[5:1] 141 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[5:1] 142 tn Heb “his servants.”
[5:3] 143 tn Heb “a house for the name of the
[5:3] 144 tn Heb “because of the battles which surrounded him until the
[5:5] 145 tn Heb “Look, I am saying.”
[5:5] 146 tn Heb “a house for the name of the
[5:5] 147 tn Heb “a house for my name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the
[5:7] 148 tn Or “Blessed be the
[5:8] 150 tn Heb “I will satisfy all your desire with respect to cedar wood and with respect to the wood of evergreens.”
[5:9] 151 tn Heb “I will place them [on? as?] rafts in the sea to the place where you designate to me.” This may mean he would send them by raft, or that he would tie them in raft-like bundles, and have ships tow them down to an Israelite port.
[5:9] 152 tn Heb “smash them,” i.e., untie the bundles.
[5:9] 153 tn Heb “as for you, you will satisfy my desire by giving food for my house.”
[5:10] 154 tn Heb “and Hiram gave to Solomon cedar wood and the wood of evergreens, all his desire.”
[5:11] 155 sn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.
[5:11] 156 tn Heb “his house.”
[5:11] 157 tc The Hebrew text has “twenty cors,” but the ancient Greek version and the parallel text in 2 Chr 2:10 read “twenty thousand baths.”
[5:11] sn A bath was a liquid measure equivalent to almost six gallons.
[5:11] 159 tn Heb “and Solomon supplied Hiram with twenty thousand cors of wheat…pure olive oil. So Solomon would give to Hiram year by year.”
[5:12] 160 tn Heb “a covenant,” referring to a formal peace treaty or alliance.
[5:13] 161 tn Heb “raised up.”
[5:13] 162 sn Work crews. This Hebrew word (מַס, mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
[5:15] 164 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
[5:15] 165 tn Heb “cutters” (probably of stones).
[5:16] 166 tc Some Greek
[5:16] 167 tn Heb “besides thirty-three hundred from the officials of Solomon’s governors who were over the work, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”
[5:17] 168 tn Heb “and the king commanded.”
[5:18] 170 tn Heb “the Gebalites.” The reading is problematic and some emend to a verb form meaning, “set the borders.”
[5:18] 171 tc The LXX includes the words “for three years.”
[6:1] 172 sn During the month Ziv. This would be April-May, 966
[6:2] 173 tn Heb “sixty cubits.” A cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm. Measurements in vv. 2-10 have been converted to feet in the translation for clarity.
[6:2] 174 tn Heb “twenty cubits.”
[6:2] 175 tn Heb “thirty cubits.”
[6:3] 176 tn Heb “twenty cubits.”
[6:3] 177 tn Heb “ten cubits.”
[6:5] 178 tn Heb “and he built on the wall of the temple an extension all around, the walls of the temple all around, for the main hall and for the holy place, and he made side rooms all around.”
[6:6] 179 tn Heb “five cubits.”
[6:6] 180 tn Heb “six cubits.”
[6:6] 181 tn Heb “seven cubits.”
[6:6] 182 tn Or “offsets” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “offset ledges.”
[6:6] 183 tn Heb “so that [the beams] would not have a hold in the walls of the temple.”
[6:7] 184 tn Heb “finished stone of the quarry,” i.e., stones chiseled and shaped at the time they were taken out of the quarry.
[6:8] 185 tc The Hebrew text has “middle,” but the remainder of the verse suggests this is an error.
[6:8] 186 tn Heb “by stairs they went up.” The word translated “stairs” occurs only here. Other options are “trapdoors” or “ladders.”
[6:8] 187 tc The translation reads with a few medieval Hebrew
[6:9] 188 tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”
[6:9] 190 tn The word occurs only here; the precise meaning is uncertain.
[6:9] 191 tn Heb “and rows with cedar wood.”
[6:10] 192 tn Heb “five cubits.” This must refer to the height of each floor or room.
[6:11] 193 tc The LXX lacks vv. 11-14.
[6:11] 194 tn Heb “the word of the
[6:12] 197 tn Heb “and keep all my commandments by walking in them.”
[6:12] 198 tn Heb “I will establish my word with you which I spoke to David your father.”
[6:14] 199 tn Heb “ built the house and completed it.”
[6:15] 200 tc The MT reads קִירוֹת (qirot, “walls”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.
[6:16] 201 tn Heb “He built twenty cubits from the rear areas of the temple with cedar planks from the floor to the walls, and he built it on the inside for an inner sanctuary, for a holy place of holy places.”
[6:16] 202 tc The MT has קְלָעִים (qÿla’im, “curtains”), but this should be emended to קוֹרוֹת (qorot, “rafters”). See BDB 900 s.v. קוֹרָה.
[6:17] 203 tn Heb “and the house was forty cubits, that is, the main hall before it.”
[6:18] 204 tn Heb “Cedar was inside the temple, carvings of gourds (i.e., gourd-shaped ornaments) and opened flowers; the whole was cedar, no stone was seen.”
[6:20] 205 tn Heb “twenty cubits” (this measurement occurs three times in this verse).
[6:20] 206 tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).
[6:20] 207 tn Heb “he plated [the] altar of cedar.”
[6:21] 208 tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).
[6:22] 210 tn Heb “all the temple he plated with gold until all the temple was finished; and the whole altar which was in the inner sanctuary he plated with gold.”
[6:23] 211 tn Heb “ten cubits” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).
[6:24] 212 tn Heb “The first wing of the [one] cherub was five cubits, and the second wing of the cherub was five cubits, ten cubits from the tips of his wings to the tips of his wings.”
[6:25] 213 tn Heb “and the second cherub was ten cubits, the two cherubs had one measurement and one shape.”
[6:26] 214 tn Heb “the height of the first cherub was ten cubits; and so was the second cherub.”
[6:27] 215 tn Heb “in the midst of the inner house,” i.e., in the inner sanctuary.
[6:27] 216 tn Heb “and their wings were in the middle of the room, touching wing to wing.”
[6:29] 217 sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.
[6:29] 218 tn Heb “carved engravings of carvings.”
[6:30] 219 sn Inside and out probably refers to the inner and outer rooms within the building.
[6:31] 220 tn Heb “the pillar, doorposts, a fifth part” (the precise meaning of this description is uncertain).
[6:32] 221 tn Heb “carved carvings of.”
[6:32] 222 tn Heb “he plated [with] gold” (the precise object is not stated).
[6:32] 223 tn Heb “and he hammered out the gold on the cherubs and the palm trees.”
[6:33] 224 tn Heb “and so he did at the entrance of the main hall, doorposts of olive wood, from a fourth.”
[6:34] 225 tn The words “he also made” are added for stylistic reasons.
[6:34] 226 tc Heb “two of the leaves of the first door were folding, and two of the leaves of the second door were folding.” In the second half of the description, the MT has קְלָעִים (qÿla’im, “curtains”), but this is surely a corruption of צְלָעִים (tsÿla’im, “leaves”) which appears in the first half of the statement.
[6:37] 227 sn In the month Ziv. This would be April-May, 966
[6:37] 228 tn The words “of Solomon’s reign” are added for clarification. See v. 1.
[6:38] 229 sn In the month Bul. This would be October-November 959
[6:38] 230 tn Heb “he built it in seven years.”
[7:1] 231 tn Heb “His house Solomon built in thirteen years and he completed all his house.”
[7:2] 233 sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.
[7:2] 234 tn Heb “one hundred cubits.”
[7:2] 235 tn Heb “fifty cubits.”
[7:2] 236 tn Heb “thirty cubits.”
[7:4] 237 tn Heb “and framed [windows in] three rows, and opening to opening three times.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain. Another option might be, “overhung [in] three rows.” This might mean they were positioned high on the walls.
[7:5] 238 tn Heb “all of the doors and doorposts.”
[7:5] 239 sn Rectangular in shape. That is, rather than arched.
[7:5] 240 tn Heb “and all the entrances and the doorposts [had] four frames, and in front of opening to opening three times” (the precise meaning of the description is uncertain).
[7:6] 241 tn Heb “a porch of pillars.”
[7:6] 242 tn Heb “fifty cubits.”
[7:6] 243 tn Heb “thirty cubits.”
[7:6] 244 tn Heb “and a porch was in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars) and pillars and a roof in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars and porch).” The precise meaning of the term translated “roof” is uncertain; it occurs only here and in Ezek 41:25-26.
[7:7] 245 tn Heb “and a porch for the throne, where he was making judicial decisions, the Porch of Judgment, he made.”
[7:7] 246 tc The Hebrew text reads, “from the floor to the floor.” The second occurrence of the term הַקַּרְקָע (haqqarqa’, “the floor”) is probably an error; one should emend to הַקּוֹרוֹת (haqqorot, “the rafters”). See 6:16.
[7:8] 247 tn Heb “and his house where he lived, the other court [i.e., as opposed to the great court], separated from the house belonging to the hall, was like this work [i.e., this style of architecture].”
[7:8] 248 tn Heb “and a house he was making for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this porch.”
[7:9] 249 tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).
[7:9] 250 tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”
[7:9] 251 tn Heb “inside and out.”
[7:9] 252 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word טְפָחוֹת (tÿfakhot) is uncertain, but it is clear that the referent stands in opposition to the foundation.
[7:10] 253 tn Heb “stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits” (it is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured). If both numbers refer to the length of the stones (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT), then perhaps stones of two different sizes were used in some alternating pattern.
[7:11] 254 tn Heb “on top,” or “above.”
[7:11] 255 tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).
[7:11] 256 tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”
[7:12] 257 tn Or “the porch of the temple.”
[7:13] 258 tn Heb “King Solomon sent and took Hiram from Tyre.” In 2 Chr 2:13 (MT v. 12) and 4:11, 16 his name is spelled “Huram.”
[7:13] 259 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[7:14] 260 tn 2 Chr 2:14 (13 HT) says “from the daughters of Dan.”
[7:14] 261 tn Heb “he was filled with the skill, understanding, and knowledge.”
[7:15] 262 tn Heb “eighteen cubits.”
[7:15] 263 tn Heb “twelve cubits.”
[7:16] 264 tn Heb “two capitals he made to place on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; five cubits was the height of the first capital, and five cubits was the height of the second capital.”
[7:17] 265 tn Heb “there were seven for the first capital, and seven for the second capital.”
[7:18] 266 tn Heb “he made the pillars, and two rows surrounding one latticework to cover the capitals which were on top of the pomegranates, and so he did for the second latticework.” The translation supplies “pomegranates” after “two rows,” and understands “pillars,” rather than “pomegranates,” to be the correct reading after “on top of.” The latter change finds support from many Hebrew
[7:19] 267 tn Heb “the capitals which were on the top of the pillars were the work of lilies, in the porch, four cubits.” It is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured.
[7:20] 268 tn Heb “and the capitals on the two pillars, also above, close beside the bulge which was beside the latticework, two hundred pomegranates in rows around, on the second capital.” The precise meaning of the word translated “bulge” is uncertain.
[7:21] 270 sn The name Jakin appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”
[7:21] 272 sn The meaning of the name Boaz is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בעז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name as בְּעֹז (be’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.”
[7:23] 273 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”
[7:23] sn This large basin that was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
[7:23] 274 tn Heb “ten cubits.”
[7:23] 275 tn Heb “five cubits.”
[7:23] 276 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”
[7:24] 277 tn Heb “The Sea.” The proper noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:24] 278 tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”
[7:24] 279 tn Heb “ten cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
[7:24] 280 tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”
[7:25] 281 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
[7:26] 282 tn Heb “two thousand baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
[7:27] 283 tn Heb “four cubits.”
[7:27] 284 tn Heb “four cubits.”
[7:27] 285 tn Heb “three cubits.”
[7:29] 286 tn The precise meaning of these final words is uncertain. A possible literal translation would be, “wreaths, the work of descent.”
[7:30] 287 tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.
[7:31] 288 tn Heb “And its opening from the inside to the top and upwards [was] a cubit, and its opening was round, the work of a stand, a cubit-and-a-half.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.
[7:31] 289 tn Heb “also over its opening were carvings and their frames [were] squared, not round.”
[7:32] 290 tn Heb “a cubit-and-a-half” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).
[7:34] 291 tn Heb “four shoulders to the four sides of each stand, from the stand its shoulders.” The precise meaning of the description is uncertain.
[7:35] 292 tn Heb “and on top of the stand, a half cubit [in] height, round all around” (the meaning of this description is uncertain).
[7:36] 293 tn Heb “according to the space of each.”
[7:36] 294 tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.
[7:38] 295 tn Heb “forty baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).
[7:38] 296 tn Heb “four cubits, each basin.” It is unclear which dimension is being measured.
[7:40] 297 tn Heb “Hiram.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:40] 298 tn Heb “Hiram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of the
[7:41] 299 tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.
[7:44] 300 tn Heb “underneath ‘The Sea.’”
[7:45] 301 tn Heb “which Hiram made for King Solomon [for] the house of the
[7:46] 302 tn Or perhaps, “molds.”
[7:47] 303 tn Heb “Solomon left all the items, due to their very great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”
[7:48] 304 tn Heb “the bread of the face [or presence].” Many recent English versions employ “the bread of the Presence,” although this does not convey much to the modern reader.
[7:48] sn This bread was viewed as a perpetual offering to God and was regarded as holy. See Lev 24:5-9.
[7:51] 305 tn Heb “Solomon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[8:1] 306 tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words at the beginning of ch. 8: “It so happened that when Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and his own house, after twenty years.”
[8:1] 307 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:1] 308 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 King Solomon [in] Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the
[8:2] 309 sn The festival. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.
[8:2] 310 sn The month Ethanim. This would be September-October in modern reckoning.
[8:4] 311 tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”
[8:4] sn The tent of meeting. See Exod 33:7-11.
[8:4] 312 tn Heb “and they carried the ark of the
[8:5] 313 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.”
[8:6] 314 tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[8:7] 315 sn And its poles. These poles were used to carry the ark. See Exod 25:13-15.
[8:8] 316 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
[8:9] 317 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai.
[8:9] 318 tn Heb “in Horeb where.”
[8:11] 319 tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”
[8:11] 320 tn Heb “the house of the
[8:13] 321 tn The words “O
[8:14] 322 tn Heb “turned his face.”
[8:14] 323 tn Heb “and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.”
[8:15] 324 tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his hand.”
[8:15] 325 tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his mouth.”
[8:16] 327 tn Heb “to build a house for my name to be there.”
[8:16] sn To build a temple in which to live (Heb “to build a house for my name to be there”). In the OT, the word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the
[8:17] 328 tn Heb “and it was with the heart of David my father.”
[8:17] 329 tn Heb “to build a house for the name of the
[8:18] 330 tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”
[8:19] 331 tn Heb “your son, the one who came out of your body, he will build the temple for my name.”
[8:20] 332 tn Heb “his word that he spoke.”
[8:21] 334 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 34, 40, 48, 53, 57, 58).
[8:23] 337 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.” The expression is a hendiadys.
[8:23] 338 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
[8:24] 339 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
[8:24] 340 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
[8:25] 341 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
[8:25] 342 tn Heb “guard their way by walking before me as you have walked before me.”
[8:26] 343 tn Heb “the words that you spoke.”
[8:26] 344 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
[8:27] 345 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which the translation above seeks to reflect.
[8:28] 347 tn Heb “by listening to.”
[8:28] 348 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
[8:28] 349 tn Heb “praying before you.”
[8:29] 350 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.’”
[8:29] 351 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
[8:30] 352 tn Heb “listen to the request of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
[8:30] 353 tn Heb “and you, hear inside your dwelling place, inside heaven.” The precise nuance of the preposition אֶל (’el), used here with the verb “hear,” is unclear. One expects the preposition “from,” which appears in the parallel text in 2 Chr 6:21. The nuance “inside; among” is attested for אֶל (see Gen 23:19; 1 Sam 10:22; Jer 4:3), but in each case a verb of motion is employed with the preposition, unlike 1 Kgs 8:30. The translation above (“from inside”) is based on the demands of the immediate context rather than attested usage elsewhere.
[8:30] 354 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
[8:31] 355 tn Heb “and forgive 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.” In the Hebrew text the words “and forgive” conclude v. 30, but the accusative sign at the beginning of v. 31 suggests the verb actually goes with what follows in v. 31. The parallel text in 2 Chr 6:22 begins with “and if,” rather than the accusative sign. In this case “forgive” must be taken with what precedes, and v. 31 must be taken as the protasis (“if” clause) of a conditional sentence, with v. 32 being the apodosis (“then” clause) that completes the sentence.
[8:31] sn Be willing to forgive the accused if the accusation is false. At first it appears that Solomon is asking God to forgive the guilty party. But in v. 32 Solomon asks the
[8:32] 356 tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by declaring the guilty to be guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”
[8:33] 357 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 33-34 actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
[8:33] 358 tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”
[8:33] 359 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
[8:33] 360 tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”
[8:35] 361 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 35-36a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
[8:35] 362 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:35] 363 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
[8:35] 364 tn The Hebrew text has “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “to 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 (“to afflict”).
[8:36] 365 tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense.
[8:36] 366 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
[8:36] 367 tn Or “for an inheritance.”
[8:37] 368 tn Actually two Hebrew terms appear here, both of which are usually taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view.
[8:37] 369 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
[8:38] 370 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
[8:38] 371 tn Heb “which they know, each the pain of his heart.”
[8:39] 372 tn The words “their sin” are added for clarification.
[8:39] 373 tn Heb “and act and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 37-39a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
[8:39] 374 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of all the sons of mankind.”
[8:40] 376 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
[8:41] 377 tn Heb “your name.” In the OT the word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the
[8:42] 378 tn Heb “your great name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in the previous verse.
[8:42] 379 tn Heb “and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.”
[8:43] 380 tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”
[8:43] 381 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
[8:43] 383 tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “to call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
[8:44] 384 tn Heb “When your people go out for battle against their enemies in the way which you send them.”
[8:44] 385 tn Or perhaps “to you, O
[8:44] 386 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
[8:45] 387 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
[8:45] 388 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
[8:46] 389 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:46] 390 tn Heb “the land of the enemy.”
[8:47] 391 tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:47] 392 tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”
[8:47] 393 tn Or “done wrong.”
[8:48] 395 tn Heb “in the land of their enemies.”
[8:48] 396 tn Heb “your name.” See the note on the word “reputation” in v. 41.
[8:49] 397 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
[8:49] 398 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
[8:50] 399 tn Heb “and forgive your people who have sinned against you, [forgive] all their rebellious acts by which they rebelled against you, and grant them mercy before their captors so they will show them mercy.”
[8:51] 401 tn Heb “inheritance.”
[8:51] 402 tn The Hebrew term כּוּר (kur, “furnace,” cf. Akkadian ku„ru) is a metaphor for the intense heat of purification. A כּוּר was not a source of heat but a crucible (“iron-smelting furnace”) in which precious metals were melted down and their impurities burned away (see I. Cornelius, NIDOTTE 2:618-19). Thus Egypt served not as a place of punishment for the Israelites, but as a place of refinement to bring Israel to a place of submission to divine sovereignty.
[8:51] sn From the middle of the iron-smelting furnace. The metaphor of a furnace suggests fire and heat and is an apt image to remind the people of the suffering they endured while slaves in Egypt.
[8:52] 403 tn Heb “May your eyes be open.”
[8:52] 404 tn Heb “to listen to them in all their calling out to you.”
[8:53] 406 tn Heb “your inheritance.”
[8:54] 407 tn Or “toward heaven.”
[8:56] 408 tn Heb “he has given a resting place to his people Israel.”
[8:56] 409 tn Heb “not one word from his entire good word he spoke by Moses his servant has fallen.”
[8:58] 410 tn Heb “to bend our hearts toward him.” The infinitive is subordinate to the initial prayer, “may the
[8:58] 411 tn Heb “to walk in all his ways.”
[8:59] 413 tn Heb “May these words of mine, which I have requested before the
[8:59] 414 tn Heb “accomplish the justice of.”
[8:60] 416 tn Heb “the
[8:61] 417 tn Heb “may your hearts be complete with the
[8:61] 418 tn Heb “walking in.”
[8:61] 420 tn Heb “as this day.”
[8:63] 421 tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”
[8:64] 422 tn Heb “to hold the burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.”
[8:65] 423 tn Or “the Wadi of Egypt” (NAB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “the Egyptian Gorge.”
[8:65] 424 tn Heb “Solomon held at that time the festival, and all Israel was with him, a great assembly from Lebo Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the
[8:66] 425 tn Heb “on the eighth day” (that is, the day after the second seven-day sequence).
[8:66] 426 tn Heb “they blessed the king.”
[8:66] 427 tn Heb “good of heart.”
[9:1] 428 tn Heb “and all the desire of Solomon which he wanted to do.”
[9:2] 429 sn In the same way he had appeared to him at Gibeon. See 1 Kgs 3:5.
[9:3] 430 tn Heb “I have heard.”
[9:3] 431 tn Heb “by placing my name there perpetually” (or perhaps, “forever”).
[9:3] 432 tn Heb “and my eyes and my heart will be there all the days.”
[9:4] 433 tn Heb “As for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, by doing all which I commanded you, [and] you keep my rules and my regulations.” Verse 4 is actually a lengthy protasis (“if” section) of a conditional sentence, the apodosis (“then” section) of which appears in v. 5.
[9:5] 434 tn Heb “I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever.”
[9:5] 435 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from upon the throne of Israel.”
[9:6] 436 tn Heb “which I placed before you.”
[9:6] 437 tn Heb “and walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
[9:7] 438 tn Heb “I will cut off Israel from upon the surface of the land.”
[9:7] 439 tn Heb “and the temple which I consecrated for my name I will send away from before my face.”
[9:7] sn Instead of “I will send away,” the parallel text in 2 Chr 7:20 has “I will throw away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.
[9:7] 440 tn Heb “will become a proverb and a taunt,” that is, a proverbial example of destruction and an object of reproach.
[9:8] 441 tn Heb “and this house will be high [or 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.”
[9:8] 442 tn Heb “hiss,” or perhaps “whistle.” This refers to a derisive sound one would make when taunting an object of ridicule.
[9:9] 443 tn Heb “and they will say.”
[9:9] 445 tn Heb “and they took hold of other gods and bowed down to them and served them.”
[9:10] 446 tn Heb “the two houses, the house of the
[9:11] 447 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[9:12] 448 tn Heb “they were not agreeable in his eyes.”
[9:13] 449 tn Heb “and he said.”
[9:13] 450 tn Heb “my brother.” Kings allied through a parity treaty would sometimes address each other as “my brother.” See 1 Kgs 20:32-33.
[9:13] 451 tn Heb “he called them the land of Cabul to this day.” The significance of the name is unclear, though it appears to be disparaging. The name may be derived from a root, attested in Akkadian and Arabic, meaning “bound” or “restricted.” Some propose a wordplay, pointing out that the name “Cabul” sounds like a Hebrew phrase meaning, “like not,” or “as good as nothing.”
[9:14] 452 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “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 to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 9,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “five tons”; TEV “4,000 kilogrammes.”
[9:15] 453 sn The work crews. This Hebrew word מַס (mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.
[9:15] 454 tn Heb “raised up.”
[9:15] 455 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[9:15] 456 tn The words “the cities of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:15] 457 map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 D3; Map3 A2; Map4 C1.
[9:15] 458 map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.
[9:18] 459 tn The Hebrew text has “in the wilderness, in the land.”
[9:19] 460 tn Heb “to Solomon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:19] 461 tn Heb “the cities of the chariots and the cities of the horses.”
[9:19] 462 tn Heb “and the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom.”
[9:20] 463 tn Heb “all the people who were left from the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not from the sons of Israel.”
[9:21] 464 tn Heb “their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were unable to wipe out, and Solomon raised them up for a crew of labor to this day.”
[9:22] 465 sn These work crews. The work crews referred to here must be different than the temporary crews described in 5:13-16.
[9:22] 466 tn Heb “officers of his chariots and his horses.”
[9:23] 467 tn Heb “these [were] the officials of the governors who were over the work belonging to Solomon, five hundred fifty, the ones ruling over the people, the ones doing the work.”
[9:24] 468 sn The phrase city of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
[9:24] 469 tn Heb “As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her house which he built for her, then he built the terrace.”
[9:25] 470 tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”
[9:25] 471 tn Heb “and he made complete the house.”
[9:26] 472 tn Or “a fleet” (in which case “ships” would be implied).
[9:27] 473 tn Heb “and Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, men of ships, [who] know the sea, [to be] with the servants of Solomon.”
[9:28] 475 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “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 to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 31,500 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “sixteen tons”; TEV “more than 14,000 kilogrammes.”
[10:1] 476 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.” The Hebrew text also has, “to the name of the
[10:2] 479 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[10:2] 480 tn Heb “with very great strength.” The Hebrew term חַיִל (khayil, “strength”) may refer here to the size of her retinue (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or to the great wealth she brought with her.
[10:2] 481 tn Or “balsam oil.”
[10:3] 482 tn Heb “Solomon declared to her all her words; there was not a word hidden from the king which he did not declare to her.” If riddles are specifically in view (see v. 1), then one might translate, “Solomon explained to her all her riddles; there was no riddle too complex for the king.”
[10:4] 483 tn Heb “all the wisdom of Solomon.”
[10:5] 485 tn Heb “the food on his table.”
[10:5] 486 tn Heb “the seating of his servants and the standing of his attendants.”
[10:5] 487 tn Heb “there was no breath still in her.”
[10:6] 488 tn Heb “about your words [or perhaps, “deeds”] and your wisdom.”
[10:7] 489 tn Heb “the half was not told to me.”
[10:8] 491 tn Heb “How happy are your men! How happy are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually, who hear your wisdom!”
[10:9] 492 tn Or “delighted in.”
[10:9] 493 tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”
[10:10] 494 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “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 to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 9,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “five tons”; TEV “4,000 kilogrammes.”
[10:10] 495 tn Heb “there has not come like those spices yet for quantity which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”
[10:12] 496 tn This Hebrew architectural term occurs only here. The meaning is uncertain; some have suggested “banisters” or “parapets”; cf. TEV, NLT “railings.” The parallel passage in 2 Chr 9:11 has a different word, meaning “tracks,” or perhaps “steps.”
[10:12] 497 tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither” [?]), and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).
[10:12] 498 tn Heb “there has not come thus, the fine timber, and there has not been seen to this day.”
[10:13] 499 tn Heb “besides what he had given her according to the hand of King Solomon.”
[10:13] 500 tn Heb “turned and went.”
[10:14] 501 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “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 to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 50,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “twenty-five tons”; TEV “almost 23,000 kilogrammes.”
[10:14] 502 tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.”
[10:15] 503 tn Heb “traveling men.”
[10:16] 504 tn The Hebrew text has simply “six hundred,” with no unit of measure given.
[10:17] 505 sn Three minas. The mina was a unit of measure for weight.
[10:17] 506 sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.
[10:19] 507 tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”
[10:20] 508 tn Heb “nothing like it had been made for all the kingdoms.”
[10:21] 509 tn Heb “there was no silver, it was not regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”
[10:22] 510 tn Heb “a fleet of Tarshish [ships].” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.
[10:22] 511 tn Heb “the fleet of Tarshish [ships].”
[10:22] 512 tn Heb “came carrying.”
[10:22] 513 tn The meaning of this word is unclear. Some suggest “baboons.”
[10:23] 514 tn Heb “King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and with respect to wisdom.”
[10:24] 515 tc The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “all the kings of the earth.” See 2 Chr 9:23.
[10:24] 516 tn Heb “and all the earth was seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had placed in his heart.”
[10:25] 517 tn Heb “and they were bringing each one his gift, items of silver…and mules, the matter of a year in a year.”
[10:26] 519 tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”
[10:26] map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[10:27] 520 tn The words “as plentiful” are added for clarification.
[10:27] 522 tn Heb “as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah.”
[10:28] 523 sn From Egypt. Because Que is also mentioned, some prefer to see in vv. 28-29 a reference to Mutsur. Que and Mutsur were located in Cilicia/Cappadocia (in modern southern Turkey). See HALOT 625 s.v. מִצְרַיִם.
[10:29] 524 tn Heb “and a chariot went up and came out of Egypt for six hundred silver [pieces], and a horse for one hundred fifty, and in the same way to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram by their hand they brought out.”
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