2 Tawarikh 9:9

9:9 She gave the king 120 talents ¹  of gold and a very large quantity of spices and precious gems. The quantity of spices the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon has never been matched. ² 

2 Tawarikh 9:11

9:11 With the timber the king made steps ³  for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments ⁴  for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that. ⁵ )

[9:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold was 8,076 lbs. (3,672 kg).

[9:9]  ² tn Heb “there has not been like those spices which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

[9:11]  ³ tn Heb “tracks.” The parallel text in 1 Kgs 10:12 has a different term whose meaning is uncertain: “supports,” perhaps “banisters” or “parapets.”

[9:11]  ⁴ tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[9:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “there was not seen like these formerly in the land of Judah.”