2 Chronicles 1-9
Christian Standard Bible
Solomon’s Request for Wisdom
1 Solomon son of David strengthened his hold on his kingdom.(A) The Lord his God was with him and highly exalted him.(B) 2 Then Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every leader in all Israel—the family heads.(C) 3 Solomon and the whole assembly with him went to the high place that was in Gibeon(D) because God’s tent of meeting, which the Lord’s servant Moses had made(E) in the wilderness, was there. 4 Now David had brought the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place[a] he had set up for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem,(F) 5 but he put[b] the bronze altar, which Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, had made,(G) in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. Solomon and the assembly inquired of him[c] there. 6 Solomon offered sacrifices there in the Lord’s presence on the bronze altar at the tent of meeting; he offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.(H)
7 That night(I) God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask. What should I give you?”
8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and faithful love to my father David, and you have made me king in his place.(J) 9 Lord God, let your promise to my father David now come true.(K) For you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.(L) 10 Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people,(M) for who can judge this great people of yours?”
11 God said to Solomon, “Since this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are given to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and glory, unlike what was given to the kings who were before you, or will be given to those after you.”(N) 13 So Solomon went to Jerusalem from[d] the high place that was in Gibeon in front of the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.
Solomon’s Horses and Wealth
14 Solomon(O) accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen,(P) which he stationed in the chariot cities(Q) and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills. 16 Solomon’s horses came from Egypt and Kue.[e] The king’s traders would get them from Kue at the going price. 17 A chariot could be imported from Egypt for fifteen pounds[f] of silver and a horse for nearly four pounds.[g] In the same way, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agents.
Solomon’s Letter to Hiram
2 Solomon decided to build a temple for the name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself,(R) 2 so he assigned 70,000 men as porters, 80,000 men as stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 as supervisors over them.(S)
3 Then Solomon sent word to King Hiram[h](T) of Tyre:(U)
Do for me what you did for my father David. You sent him cedars to build him a house to live in.(V) 4 Now I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God in order to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him,(W) for displaying the rows of the Bread of the Presence continuously,(X) and for sacrificing burnt offerings for the morning and the evening,(Y) the Sabbaths(Z) and the New Moons, and the appointed festivals of the Lord our God. This is ordained for Israel permanently. 5 The temple that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than any of the gods.(AA) 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain him?(AB) Who am I then that I should build a temple for him except as a place to burn incense before him? 7 Therefore, send me an artisan who is skilled in engraving to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with the artisans who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem,(AC) appointed by my father David.(AD) 8 Also, send me cedar, cypress, and algum[i](AE) logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut the trees of Lebanon. Note that my servants will be with your servants(AF) 9 to prepare logs for me in abundance because the temple I am building will be great and wondrous. 10 I will give your servants, the woodcutters who cut the trees, one hundred twenty thousand bushels[j] of wheat flour, one hundred twenty thousand bushels of barley, one hundred twenty thousand gallons[k] of wine, and one hundred twenty thousand gallons of oil.
Hiram’s Reply
11 Then King Hiram of Tyre wrote a letter[l] and sent it to Solomon:
Because the Lord loves his people, he set you over them as king.(AG)
12 Hiram also said:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth!(AH) He gave King David a wise son with insight and understanding,(AI) who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal palace for himself.(AJ) 13 I have now sent Huram-abi,[m] a skillful man who has understanding.(AK) 14 He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan. His father is a man of Tyre. He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, with purple, blue, crimson yarn, and fine linen. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and to execute any design that may be given him. I have sent him to be with your artisans and the artisans of my lord, your father David. 15 Now, let my lord send the wheat, barley, oil, and wine to his servants as promised.(AL) 16 We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and bring them to you as rafts by sea to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.(AM)
Solomon’s Workforce
17 Solomon took a census of all the resident alien men in the land of Israel, after the census that his father David had conducted,(AN) and the total was 153,600. 18 Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors to make the people work.(AO)
Building the Temple
3 Then Solomon began(AP) to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah(AQ) where the Lord[n] had appeared to his father David, at the site David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan[o] the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. 3 These are Solomon’s foundations[p] for building God’s temple: the length[q] was ninety feet,[r] and the width thirty feet.[s] 4 The portico, which was across the front extending across the width of the temple, was thirty feet wide; its height was thirty feet;[t] he overlaid its inner surface with pure gold. 5 The larger room[u] he paneled with cypress wood, overlaid with fine gold, and decorated with palm trees and chains. 6 He adorned the temple with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid the temple—the beams, the thresholds, its walls and doors—with gold,(AR) and he carved cherubim on the walls.(AS)
The Most Holy Place
8 Then he made the most holy place; its length corresponded to the width of the temple, 30 feet, and its width was 30 feet.(AT) He overlaid it with forty-five thousand pounds[v] of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was twenty ounces[w] of gold, and he overlaid the ceiling with gold.
10 He made(AU) two cherubim of sculptured work, for the most holy place, and he overlaid them with gold. 11 The overall length of the wings of the cherubim was 30 feet: the wing of one was 7½ feet,[x] touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, touching the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other[y] cherub was 7½ feet, touching the wall of the room; its other wing was 7½ feet, reaching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet. They stood on their feet and faced the larger room.[z]
14 He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen, and he wove cherubim into it.(AV)
The Bronze Pillars
15 In front of the temple(AW) he made two pillars, each 27 feet[aa] high. The capital on top of each was 7½ feet high. 16 He had made chainwork in the inner sanctuary and also put it on top of the pillars.(AX) He made a hundred pomegranates and fastened them into the chainwork. 17 Then he set up the pillars in front of the sanctuary, one on the right and one on the left. He named the one on the right Jachin[ab] and the one on the left Boaz.[ac]
The Altar and Basins
4 He made a bronze altar(AY) 30 feet[ad] long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet[ae] high.
2 Then he made the cast metal basin,[af](AZ) 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet[ag] high and 45 feet[ah] in circumference. 3 The likeness of oxen[ai] was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard,[aj] completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. 4 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 The basin was three inches[ak] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.[al]
6 He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left.(BA) The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them,(BB) but the basin was used by the priests for washing.
The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts
7 He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(BC) 8 He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.(BD) He also made a hundred gold bowls.
9 He made the courtyard(BE) of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.(BF) 11 Then Huram[am](BG) made(BH) the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.
Completion of the Bronze Furnishings
So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple: 12 two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; 13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars(BI)). 14 He also made the water carts[an](BJ) and the basins on the water carts. 15 The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it, 16 the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi[ao](BK) made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
Completion of the Gold Furnishings
19 Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence;(BL) 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;(BM) 21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold; 22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[ap] and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.
5 So all the work Solomon did for the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and all the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of God’s temple.
Preparations for the Temple Dedication
2 At that time(BN) Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel—all the tribal heads, the ancestral chiefs of the Israelites—in order to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David,(BO) that is, Zion. 3 So all the men of Israel were assembled in the king’s presence at the festival; this was in the seventh month.[aq]
4 All the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. 5 They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel who had gathered around him were in front of the ark sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered because there were so many. 7 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place, beneath the wings of the cherubim.(BP) 8 And the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim formed a cover above the ark and its poles. 9 The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place[ar](BQ) in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside; they are still there today. 10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had put in it at Horeb,[as](BR) where the Lord had made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.
11 Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions.(BS) When the priests came out of the holy place, 12 the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres(BT) were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets.(BU) The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons(BV) and relatives. 13 The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments,(BW) in praise to the Lord:
For he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.(BX)
The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud.(BY) 14 And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.(BZ)
Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple
6 Then Solomon said:(CA)
The Lord said he would dwell in total darkness,(CB)
2 but I have built an exalted temple for you,
a place for your dwelling forever.
3 Then the king turned and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. 4 He said:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!
He spoke directly to my father David,
and he has fulfilled the promise
by his power.
He said,
5 “Since the day I brought my people Israel
out of the land of Egypt,(CC)
I have not chosen a city to build a temple in
among any of the tribes of Israel,
so that my name would be there,
and I have not chosen a man
to be ruler over my people Israel.
6 But I have chosen Jerusalem
so that my name will be there,(CD)
and I have chosen David
to be over my people Israel.”(CE)
7 My father David had his heart set
on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.(CF)
8 However, the Lord said to my father David,
“Since it was your desire to build a temple for my name,
you have done well to have this desire.
9 Yet, you are not the one to build the temple,
but your son, your own offspring,
will build the temple for my name.”
10 So the Lord has fulfilled what he promised.
I have taken the place of my father David
and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised.
I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
11 I have put the ark there,
where the Lord’s covenant is
that he made with the Israelites.(CG)
Solomon’s Prayer
12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7½ feet[at] long, 7½ feet wide, and 4½ feet[au] high and put it in the court. He stood on it,(CH) knelt down in front of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.(CI) 14 He said:
Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like you
in heaven or on earth,(CJ)
who keeps his gracious covenant
with your servants who walk before you
with all their heart.(CK)
15 You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him,
and you fulfilled your promise by your power,
as it is today.(CL)
16 Therefore, Lord God of Israel,
keep what you promised
to your servant, my father David:
“You will never fail to have a man
to sit before me on the throne of Israel,(CM)
if only your sons take care to walk in my Law
as you have walked before me.”
17 Now, Lord God of Israel, please confirm
what you promised to your servant David.
18 But will God indeed live on earth with humans?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you,(CN)
much less this temple I have built.
19 Listen[av] to your servant’s prayer and his petition,
Lord my God,
so that you may hear the cry and the prayer
that your servant prays before you,
20 so that your eyes watch over this temple
day and night,
toward the place where you said
you would put your name;(CO)
and so that you may hear the prayer
your servant prays toward this place.
21 Hear the petitions of your servant
and your people Israel,
which they pray toward this place.
May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven.
May you hear and forgive.
22 If a man sins against his neighbor
and is forced to take an oath[aw]
and he comes to take an oath
before your altar in this temple,
23 may you hear in heaven and act.
May you judge your servants,
condemning the wicked man by bringing
what he has done on his own head
and providing justice for the righteous
by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
24 If your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,
because they have sinned against you,
and they return to you and praise your name,
and they pray and plead for mercy
before you in this temple,
25 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your people Israel.
May you restore them to the land
you gave them and their ancestors.
26 When the skies are shut and there is no rain
because they have sinned against you,
and they pray toward this place
and praise your name,
and they turn from their sins
because you are afflicting[ax](CP) them,
27 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your servants
and your people Israel,
so that you may teach them the good way
they should walk in.
May you send rain on your land
that you gave your people for an inheritance.
28 When there is famine in the land,
when there is pestilence,
when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper,
when their enemies besiege them
in the land and its cities,[ay][az](CQ)
when there is any plague or illness,
29 every prayer or petition
that any person or that all your people Israel may have—
they each know their own affliction[ba] and suffering—
as they spread out their hands toward this temple,
30 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and may you forgive and give to everyone[bb]
according to all their ways, since you know each heart,
for you alone know the human heart,(CR)
31 so that they may fear you
and walk in your ways
all the days they live on the land
you gave our ancestors.
32 Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel
but has come from a distant land
because of your great name
and your strong hand and outstretched arm:(CS)
when he comes and prays toward this temple,
33 may you hear in heaven in your dwelling place,
and do all the foreigner asks you.
Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name,
to fear you as your people Israel do
and know that this temple I have built
bears your name.(CT)
34 When your people go out to fight against their enemies,
wherever you send them,
and they pray to you
in the direction of this city you have chosen(CU)
and the temple that I have built for your name,
35 may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven
and uphold their cause.
36 When they sin against you—
for there is no one who does not sin(CV)—
and you are angry with them
and hand them over to the enemy,
and their captors deport them
to a distant or nearby country,
37 and when they come to their senses
in the land where they were deported
and repent and petition you in their captors’ land,
saying, “We have sinned and done wrong;
we have been wicked,”
38 and when they return to you with all their mind and all their heart
in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive,
and when they pray in the direction of their land
that you gave their ancestors,
and the city you have chosen,
and toward the temple I have built for your name,
39 may you hear their prayer and petitions in heaven,
your dwelling place,
and uphold their cause.[bc]
May you forgive your people
who sinned against you.
40 Now, my God,
please let your eyes be open
and your ears attentive
to the prayer of this place.(CW)
41 Now therefore:(CX)
Arise, Lord God, come to your resting place,
you and your powerful ark.
May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
and may your faithful people rejoice in goodness.
42 Lord God, do not reject your anointed one;[bd]
remember your servant David’s acts of faithful love.(CY)
The Dedication Ceremonies
7 When Solomon finished praying,(CZ) fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices,(DA) and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests were not able to enter the Lord’s temple because the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord. 3 All the Israelites were watching when the fire descended and the glory of the Lord came on the temple. They bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground. They worshiped and praised the Lord:
For he is good,
for his faithful love endures forever.(DB)
4 The king and all the people were offering sacrifices in the Lord’s presence.(DC) 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats. In this manner the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple. 6 The priests and the Levites were standing at their stations. The Levites had the musical instruments of the Lord, which King David had made to give thanks to the Lord—“for his faithful love endures forever”—when he offered praise with them.(DD) Across from the Levites, the priests were blowing trumpets, and all the people were standing. 7 Since the bronze altar that Solomon had made(DE) could not accommodate the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, Solomon first consecrated the middle of the courtyard(DF) that was in front of the Lord’s temple and then offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings there.(DG)
8 So Solomon and all Israel with him—a very great assembly, from the entrance to Hamath[be] to the Brook of Egypt—observed the festival at that time for seven days. 9 On the eighth day[bf] they held a solemn assembly,(DH) for the dedication of the altar lasted seven days and the festival seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people home,[bg] rejoicing and with happy hearts for the goodness the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for his people Israel.
11 So Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. Everything that had entered Solomon’s heart to do for the Lord’s temple and for his own palace succeeded.(DI)
The Lord’s Response
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him:
I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple of sacrifice.(DJ) 13 If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people,(DK) 14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.(DL) 15 My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place.(DM) 16 And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.(DN)
17 As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes and ordinances, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man ruling in Israel.(DO)
19 However, if you turn away and abandon my statutes and my commands that I have set before you and if you go and serve other gods and bow in worship to them,(DP) 20 then I will uproot Israel from the soil that I gave them, and this temple that I have sanctified for my name I will banish from my presence;(DQ) I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.(DR) 21 As for this temple, which was exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled and will say,(DS) “Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?” 22 Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and bowed in worship to them and served them. Because of this, he brought all this ruin on them.”
Solomon’s Later Building Projects
8 At the end of twenty years(DT) during which Solomon had built the Lord’s temple and his own palace— 2 Solomon had rebuilt the cities Hiram[bh] gave him and settled Israelites there— 3 Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and seized it. 4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness along with all the storage cities that he built in Hamath. 5 He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon(DU)—fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars(DV)— 6 Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, all the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.
7 As for all the peoples who remained of the Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not from Israel(DW)— 8 their descendants who remained in the land after them, those the Israelites had not completely destroyed—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is this way today.(DX) 9 But Solomon did not consign the Israelites to be slaves for his work; they were soldiers, commanders of his captains, and commanders of his chariots and his cavalry. 10 These were King Solomon’s deputies: 250 who supervised the people.
11 Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh from the city of David to the house he had built for her,(DY) for he said, “My wife must not live in the house[bi] of King David of Israel because the places the ark of the Lord has come into are holy.”
Public Worship Established at the Temple
12 At that time(DZ) Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord on the Lord’s altar he had made in front of the portico.(EA) 13 He followed the daily requirement(EB) for offerings according to the commandment of Moses(EC) for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters.(ED) 14 According to the ordinances of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests over their service,(EE) of the Levites over their responsibilities to offer praise and to minister before the priests following the daily requirement,(EF) and of the gatekeepers by their divisions with respect to each temple gate,(EG) for this had been the command of David, the man of God.(EH) 15 They did not turn aside from the king’s command regarding the priests and the Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries.(EI) 16 All of Solomon’s work was carried out from the day the foundation was laid for the Lord’s temple until it was finished. So the Lord’s temple was completed.
Solomon’s Fleet
17 At that time(EJ) Solomon went to Ezion-geber and to Eloth(EK) on the seashore in the land of Edom. 18 So Hiram[bj] sent ships to him by his servants along with crews of experienced seamen. They went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, took from there seventeen tons[bk] of gold, and delivered it to King Solomon.(EL)
The Queen of Sheba
9 The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame,(EM) so she came to test Solomon with difficult questions at Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her mind. 2 So Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for Solomon to explain to her. 3 When the queen of Sheba observed Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he had built, 4 the food at his table, his servants’ residence, his attendants’ service and their attire, his cupbearers and their attire, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple, it took her breath away.
5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your words and about your wisdom is true. 6 But I didn’t believe their reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, I was not even told half of your great wisdom! You far exceed the report I heard. 7 How happy are your men.[bl](EN) How happy are these servants of yours, who always stand in your presence hearing your wisdom. 8 Blessed be the Lord your God! He delighted in you and put you on his throne as king for the Lord your God.(EO) Because your God loved Israel enough to establish them forever, he has set you over them as king to carry out justice and righteousness.”(EP)
9 Then she gave the king four and a half tons[bm] of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones. There never were such spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. 10 In addition, Hiram’s servants and Solomon’s servants who brought gold from Ophir(EQ) also brought algum wood and precious stones. 11 The king made the algum wood into walkways for the Lord’s temple and for the king’s palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before had anything like them been seen in the land of Judah.
12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba her every desire, whatever she asked—far more than she had brought the king. Then she, along with her servants, returned to her own country.
Solomon’s Wealth
13 The weight of gold that came to Solomon(ER) annually was twenty-five tons,[bn] 14 besides what was brought by the merchants and traders. All the Arabian kings and governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 15 pounds[bo] of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 7½ pounds[bp] of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.(ES)
17 The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps; there was a footstool covered in gold for the throne, armrests on either side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. 19 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom.
20 All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, since it was considered as nothing in Solomon’s time, 21 for the king’s ships kept going to Tarshish(ET) with Hiram’s servants, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[bq]
22 King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the world in riches and wisdom.(EU) 23 All the kings of the world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. 24 Each of them would bring his own gift—items[br] of silver and gold, clothing, weapons,[bs][bt] spices, and horses and mules—as an annual tribute.
25 Solomon(EV) had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.(EW) He stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt.(EX) 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills. 28 They were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all the countries.
Solomon’s Death
29 The remaining events(EY) of Solomon’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the Events of the Prophet Nathan, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Visions of the Seer Iddo concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat.(EZ) 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 31 Solomon rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of his father David.(FA) His son Rehoboam became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 1:4 Vg; MT omits the place
- 1:5 Some Hb mss, Tg, Syr; other Hb mss, LXX, Vg read but there was
- 1:5 Or it
- 1:13 LXX, Vg; MT reads to
- 1:16 = Cilicia
- 1:17 Lit 600 shekels
- 1:17 Lit 150 shekels
- 2:3 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read Huram; 2Sm 5:11; 1Kg 5:1–2
- 2:8 = almug in 1Kg 10:11–12
- 2:10 Lit 20,000 cors
- 2:10 Lit 20,000 baths
- 2:11 Lit Tyre said in writing
- 2:13 Lit Huram my father
- 3:1 LXX; Tg reads the angel of the Lord; MT reads he
- 3:1 = Araunah in 2Sm 24:16–24
- 3:3 Tg reads The measurements which Solomon decreed
- 3:3 Lit length—cubits in the former measure—
- 3:3 Lit 60 cubits
- 3:3 Lit 20 cubits, also in vv. 4,8,11,13
- 3:4 LXX, Syr; MT reads 120 cubits
- 3:5 Lit The house
- 3:8 Lit 600 talents
- 3:9 Lit 50 shekels
- 3:11 Lit five cubits, also in vv. 12,15
- 3:12 Syr, Vg; MT reads the one
- 3:13 Lit the house
- 3:15 Syr reads 18 cubits (27 feet); Hb reads 35 cubits (52½ feet)
- 3:17 = He Will Establish
- 3:17 = Strength Is in Him
- 4:1 Lit 20 cubits
- 4:1 Lit 10 cubits, also in v. 2
- 4:2 Lit sea
- 4:2 Lit five cubits
- 4:2 Lit 30 cubits
- 4:3 = gourds in 1Kg 7:24
- 4:3 Lit 10 per cubit
- 4:5 Lit a handbreadth
- 4:5 Text emended; MT reads 3,000 baths in 1Kg 7:26
- 4:11 = Hiram in 1Kg 7:13,40,45
- 4:14 Lit the stands
- 4:16 Lit Huram my father
- 4:22 Or dishes, or spoons; lit palms
- 5:3 = Tishri (September–October)
- 5:9 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read the ark; 1Kg 8:8
- 5:10 = Sinai
- 6:13 Lit five cubits
- 6:13 Lit three cubits
- 6:19 Lit Turn
- 6:22 Lit and he lifts a curse against him to curse him
- 6:26 LXX, Vg; MT reads answering; 1Kg 8:35
- 6:28 Lit land of its gates
- 6:28 Lit if his (Israel’s) enemies besiege him in the land of his gates; Jos 2:7; Jdg 16:2–3
- 6:29 Lit plague
- 6:30 Lit give for the man
- 6:39 Lit and do their judgment, or justice
- 6:42 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read ones; Ps 132:10
- 7:8 Or from Lebo-hamath
- 7:9 = the day after the festival, or the 15th day
- 7:10 Lit people to their tents
- 8:2 = the king of Tyre
- 8:11 LXX reads city
- 8:18 Lit Huram
- 8:18 Lit 450 talents
- 9:7 LXX, Old Lat read wives; 1Kg 10:8
- 9:9 Lit 120 talents
- 9:13 Lit 666 talents
- 9:15 Lit 600 (shekels)
- 9:16 Lit 300 (shekels)
- 9:21 Or baboons
- 9:24 Or vessels, or weapons
- 9:24 LXX reads resin
- 9:24 Or fragrant balsam
2 Chronicles 1-9
New English Translation
The Lord Gives Solomon Wisdom
1 Solomon son of David solidified his royal authority,[a] for[b] the Lord his God was with him and magnified him greatly.
2 Solomon addressed all Israel, including those who commanded units of a thousand and a hundred, the judges, and all the leaders of all Israel who were heads of families. 3 Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center[c] in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God[d] was located there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness. 4 (Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. 5 But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, was in front of the Lord’s tabernacle.[e] Solomon and the entire assembly prayed to him[f] there.) 6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord which was at the meeting tent, and he offered up 1,000 burnt sacrifices.
7 That night God appeared[g] to Solomon and said to him, “Tell me[h] what I should give you.” 8 Solomon replied to God, “You demonstrated[i] great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, may your promise[j] to my father David be realized,[k] for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Now give me wisdom and discernment so[l] I can effectively lead this nation.[m] Otherwise[n] no one is able[o] to make judicial decisions for[p] this great nation of yours.”[q]
11 God said to Solomon, “Because you desire this,[r] and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies,[s] and because you did not ask for long life,[t] but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king, 12 you are granted wisdom and discernment.[u] Furthermore I am giving you riches, wealth, and honor surpassing that of any king before or after you.”[v]
13 Solomon left the meeting tent at the worship center in Gibeon and went to Jerusalem, where he reigned over Israel.[w]
Solomon’s Wealth
14 Solomon accumulated[x] chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses . He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem.[y] 15 The king made silver and gold as plentiful[z] in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was[aa] as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the foothills.[ab] 16 Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt[ac] and from Que; the king’s traders purchased them from Que. 17 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.[ad]
Solomon Gathers Building Materials for the Temple
2 (1:18)[ae] Solomon ordered a temple to be built to honor the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself.[af] 2 (2:1) Solomon had[ag] 70,000 common laborers[ah] and 80,000 stonecutters[ai] in the hills, in addition to 3,600 supervisors.[aj]
3 Solomon sent a message to King Huram[ak] of Tyre: “Help me[al] as you did my father David, when you sent him cedar logs[am] for the construction of his palace.[an] 4 Look, I am ready to build a temple to honor[ao] the Lord my God and to dedicate it to him in order to burn fragrant incense before him, to set out the bread that is regularly displayed,[ap] and to offer burnt sacrifices each morning and evening, and on Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and at other times appointed by the Lord our God. This is something Israel must do on a permanent basis.[aq] 5 I will build a great temple, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 Of course, who can really build a temple for him, since the sky[ar] and the highest heavens cannot contain him? Who am I that I should build him a temple! It will really be only a place to offer sacrifices before him.[as]
7 “Now send me a man who is skilled in working with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, as well as purple-, crimson-, and blue-colored fabrics, and who knows how to engrave. He will work with my skilled craftsmen here in Jerusalem and Judah, whom my father David provided. 8 Send me cedars, evergreens, and algum[at] trees from Lebanon, for I know your servants are adept[au] at cutting down trees in Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants 9 to supply me with large quantities of timber, for I am building a great, magnificent temple. 10 Look, I will pay your servants who cut the timber 20,000 cors[av] of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 120,000 gallons[aw] of wine, and 120,000 gallons of olive oil.”
11 King Huram[ax] of Tyre sent this letter to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king.” 12 Huram also said, “Worthy of praise is the Lord God of Israel, who made the sky and the earth! He has given King David a wise son who has discernment and insight and will build a temple for the Lord, as well as a royal palace for himself.[ay] 13 Now I am sending you Huram Abi,[az] a skilled and capable man, 14 whose mother is a Danite and whose father is a Tyrian.[ba] He knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stones, and wood, as well as purple, blue, white, and crimson fabrics. He knows how to do all kinds of engraving and understands any design given to him. He will work with your skilled craftsmen and the skilled craftsmen of my lord David your father. 15 Now let my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he has promised; 16 we will get all the timber you need from Lebanon[bb] and bring it[bc] in raft-like bundles[bd] by sea to Joppa. You can then haul it on up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon took a census of[be] all the male resident foreigners[bf] in the land of Israel, after the census his father David had taken. There were 153,600 in all. 18 He designated[bg] 70,000 as common laborers,[bh] 80,000 as stonecutters[bi] in the hills, and 3,600 as supervisors to make sure the people completed the work.[bj]
The Building of the Temple
3 Solomon began building the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord[bk] had appeared to his father David. This was the place that David prepared at the threshing floor of Ornan[bl] the Jebusite. 2 He began building on the second day of the second month of the fourth year of his reign.[bm]
3 Solomon laid the foundation for God’s temple;[bn] its length (determined according to the old standard of measure) was 90 feet, and its width 30 feet.[bo] 4 The porch in front of the main hall was 30 feet long, corresponding to the width of the temple,[bp] and its height was 30 feet.[bq] He plated the inside with pure gold. 5 He paneled[br] the main hall[bs] with boards made from evergreen trees[bt] and plated it with fine gold, decorated with palm trees and chains.[bu] 6 He decorated the temple with precious stones; the gold he used came from Parvaim.[bv] 7 He overlaid the temple’s rafters, thresholds, walls and doors with gold; he carved decorative cherubim on the walls.
8 He made the Most Holy Place;[bw] its length was 30 feet,[bx] corresponding to the width of the temple, and its width 30 feet.[by] He plated it with 600 talents[bz] of fine gold. 9 The gold nails weighed 50 shekels; he also plated the upper areas with gold. 10 In the Most Holy Place he made two images of cherubim and plated them with gold. 11 The combined wing span of the cherubim was 30 feet.[ca] One of the first cherub’s wings was 7½ long and touched one wall of the temple; its other wing was also 7½ long and touched one of the second cherub’s wings.[cb] 12 Likewise one of the second cherub’s wings was 7½ long and touched the other wall of the temple; its other wing was also 7½ long and touched one of the first cherub’s wings.[cc] 13 The combined wingspan of these cherubim was 30 feet.[cd] They stood upright, facing inward.[ce] 14 He made the curtain out of blue, purple, crimson, and white fabrics, and embroidered on it decorative cherubim.
15 In front of the temple he made two pillars which had a combined length[cf] of 52½ feet,[cg] with each having a plated capital 7½ high.[ch] 16 He made ornamental chains[ci] and put them on top of the pillars. He also made 100 pomegranate-shaped ornaments and arranged them within the chains. 17 He set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right side and the other on the left.[cj] He named the one on the right Yakin,[ck] and the one on the left Boaz.[cl]
4 He made a bronze altar, 30 feet[cm] long, 30 feet[cn] wide, and 15 feet[co] high. 2 He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.”[cp] It measured 15 feet[cq] from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood 7½[cr] high. Its circumference was 45 feet.[cs] 3 Images of bulls were under it all the way around, ten every 18 inches[ct] all the way around. The bulls were in two rows and had been cast with “The Sea.”[cu] 4 “The Sea” stood on top of twelve bulls. Three faced northward, three westward, three southward, and three eastward. “The Sea” was placed on top of them, and they all faced outward.[cv] 5 It was four fingers thick, and its rim was like that of a cup shaped like a lily blossom. It could hold 18,000 gallons.[cw] 6 He made ten washing basins; he put five on the south side and five on the north side. In them they rinsed the items used for burnt sacrifices; the priests washed in “The Sea.”
7 He made ten gold lampstands according to specifications and put them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. 8 He made ten tables and set them in the temple, five on the right and five on the left. He also made 100 gold bowls. 9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the large enclosure and its doors;[cx] he plated their doors with bronze. 10 He put “The Sea” on the south side, in the southeast corner.
11 Huram Abi[cy] made the pots, shovels, and bowls. He finished all the work on God’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon.[cz] 12 He made[da] the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped tops of the pillars, the latticework for the bowl-shaped tops of the two pillars, 13 the 400 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), 14 the ten[db] movable stands with their ten[dc] basins, 15 the big bronze basin called “The Sea” with its twelve bulls underneath, 16 and the pots, shovels, and meat forks.[dd] All the items King Solomon assigned Huram Abi to make for the Lord’s temple[de] were made from polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in earth foundries[df] in the region of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. 18 Solomon made so many of these items they did not weigh the bronze.[dg]
19 Solomon also made these items for God’s temple: the gold altar, the tables on which the Bread of the Presence[dh] was kept, 20 the pure gold lampstands and their lamps which burned as specified at the entrance to the inner sanctuary, 21 the pure gold flower-shaped ornaments, lamps, and tongs, 22 the pure gold trimming shears, basins, pans, and censers, and the gold door sockets for the inner sanctuary (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple. 5 1 When Solomon had finished constructing the Lord’s temple, he put the holy items that belonged to his father David (the silver, gold, and all the other articles) in the treasuries of God’s temple.
Solomon Moves the Ark into the Temple
2 Then Solomon convened Israel’s elders—all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families—in Jerusalem, so they could witness the transferal of the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David[di] (that is, Zion).[dj] 3 All the men of Israel assembled before the king during the festival[dk] in the seventh month.[dl] 4 When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the Levites lifted the ark. 5 The priests and Levites carried the ark, the tent where God appeared to his people,[dm] and all the holy items in the tent.[dn] 6 Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered.[do]
7 The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its assigned[dp] place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the Most Holy Place under the wings of the cherubim. 8 The cherubim’s wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.[dq] 9 The poles were so long their ends extending out from the ark were visible from in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point.[dr] They have remained there to this very day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb.[ds] (It was there that[dt] the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt.)
11 The priests left the Holy Place.[du] All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented.[dv] 12 All the Levites who were musicians, including Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and relatives, wore linen. They played cymbals and stringed instruments as they stood east of the altar. They were accompanied by 120 priests who blew trumpets. 13 The trumpeters and musicians played together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they loudly praised the Lord, singing:[dw] “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!” Then a cloud filled the Lord’s temple.[dx] 14 The priests could not carry out their duties[dy] because of the cloud; the Lord’s splendor filled God’s temple.
6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he lives in thick darkness. 2 O Lord,[dz] I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.” 3 Then the king turned around[ea] and pronounced a blessing over the whole Israelite assembly as they stood there.[eb] 4 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled[ec] what he promised[ed] my father David. 5 He told David,[ee] ‘Since the day I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen a city from all the tribes of Israel to build a temple in which to live.[ef] Nor did I choose a man as leader of my people Israel. 6 But now I have chosen Jerusalem as a place to live,[eg] and I have chosen David to lead my people Israel.’ 7 Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple to honor the Lord God of Israel.[eh] 8 The Lord told my father David, ‘It is right for you to have a strong desire to build a temple to honor me.[ei] 9 But you will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.’[ej] 10 The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have taken my father David’s place and have occupied the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple for the honor of the Lord God of Israel 11 and set up in it a place for the ark containing the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites.”
12 He stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 13 Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was 7½[ek] long, 7½[el] wide, and 4½ feet[em] high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, 14 and prayed:[en] “O Lord God of Israel, there is no god like you in heaven or on earth! You maintain covenantal loyalty[eo] to your servants who obey you with sincerity.[ep] 15 You have kept your word to your servant, my father David;[eq] this very day you have fulfilled what you promised.[er] 16 Now, O Lord God of Israel, keep the promise you made to your servant, my father David, when you said, ‘You will never fail to have a successor ruling before me on the throne of Israel,[es] provided that your descendants watch their step and obey my law as you have done.’[et] 17 Now, O Lord God of Israel, may the promise you made to your servant David be realized.[eu]
18 “God does not really live with humankind on the earth![ev] Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! 19 But respond favorably to[ew] your servant’s prayer and his request for help, O Lord my God. Answer[ex] the desperate prayer[ey] your servant is presenting to you.[ez] 20 Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live.[fa] May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place.[fb] 21 Respond to the requests of your servant and your people Israel for this place.[fc] Hear from your heavenly dwelling place and respond favorably and forgive.[fd]
22 “When someone is accused of sinning against his neighbor and the latter pronounces a curse on the alleged offender before your altar in this temple,[fe] 23 listen from heaven and make a just decision about your servants’ claims. Condemn the guilty party, declare the other innocent, and give both of them what they deserve.[ff]
24 “If your people Israel are defeated by an enemy[fg] because they sinned against you, then if they come back to you, renew their allegiance to you,[fh] and pray for your help[fi] before you in this temple, 25 then listen from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors.[fj]
26 “The time will come when[fk] the skies[fl] are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people[fm] sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you,[fn] and turn away from their sin because you punish[fo] them, 27 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly[fp] you will then teach them the right way to live[fq] and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess.[fr]
28 “The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight, and disease, or a locust[fs] invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land,[ft] or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs. 29 When all your people Israel pray and ask for help,[fu] as they acknowledge their intense pain[fv] and spread out their hands toward this temple, 30 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place, forgive their sin,[fw] and act favorably toward each one based on your evaluation of their motives.[fx] (Indeed you are the only one who can correctly evaluate the motives of all people.)[fy] 31 Then they will honor[fz] you by obeying you[ga] throughout their lifetimes as[gb] they live on the land you gave to our ancestors.
32 “Foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will come from a distant land because of your great reputation[gc] and your ability to accomplish mighty deeds;[gd] they will come and direct their prayers toward this temple. 33 Then listen from your heavenly dwelling place and answer all the prayers of the foreigners.[ge] Then all the nations of the earth will acknowledge your reputation,[gf] obey[gg] you as your people Israel do, and recognize that this temple I built belongs to you.[gh]
34 “When you direct your people to march out and fight their enemies,[gi] and they direct their prayers to you toward this chosen city and this temple I built for your honor,[gj] 35 then listen from heaven to their prayers for help[gk] and vindicate them.[gl]
36 “The time will come when your people[gm] will sin against you (for there is no one who is sinless!) and you will be angry at them and deliver them over to their enemies, who will take them as prisoners to their land, whether far away or close by. 37 When your people[gn] come to their senses[go] 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,[gp] we have done evil!’ 38 When they return to you with all their heart and being[gq] in the land where they are held prisoner and direct their prayers toward the land you gave to their ancestors, your chosen city, and the temple I built for your honor,[gr] 39 then listen from your heavenly dwelling place to their prayers for help,[gs] vindicate them,[gt] and forgive your sinful people.
40 “Now, my God, may you be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.[gu] 41 Now ascend, O Lord God, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength! May your priests, O Lord God, experience your deliverance.[gv] May your loyal followers rejoice in the prosperity you give.[gw] 42 O Lord God, do not reject your chosen ones![gx] Remember the faithful promises you made to your servant David!”
Solomon Dedicates the Temple
7 When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven[gy] and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the Lord’s splendor filled the temple. 2 The priests were unable to enter the Lord’s temple because the Lord’s splendor filled the Lord’s temple. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire come down and the Lord’s splendor over the temple, they got on their knees with their faces downward toward the pavement. They worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,[gz] “Certainly he is good; certainly his loyal love endures!”
4 The king and all the people were presenting sacrifices to the Lord. 5 King Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep. Then the king and all the people dedicated God’s temple. 6 The priests stood in their assigned spots, along with the Levites who had the musical instruments used for praising the Lord.[ha] (These were the ones King David made for giving thanks to the Lord and which were used by David when he offered praise, saying, “Certainly his loyal love endures.”)[hb] Opposite the Levites,[hc] the priests were blowing the trumpets, while all Israel stood there. 7 Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard that is in front of the Lord’s temple. He offered burnt sacrifices, grain offerings,[hd] and the fat from the peace offerings there, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was too small to hold all these offerings.[he] 8 At that time Solomon and all Israel with him celebrated a festival for seven days. This great assembly included people from Lebo Hamath in the north to the Stream of Egypt in the south.[hf] 9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had dedicated the altar for seven days and celebrated the festival for seven more days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month, Solomon[hg] sent the people home. They left[hh] happy and contented[hi] because of the good the Lord had done for David, Solomon, and his people Israel.
The Lord Gives Solomon a Promise and a Warning
11 After Solomon finished building the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and accomplished all his plans for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace,[hj] 12 the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: “I have answered[hk] your prayer and chosen this place to be my temple where sacrifices are to be made.[hl] 13 When[hm] I close up the sky[hn] so that it doesn’t rain, or command locusts to devour the land’s vegetation,[ho] or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who belong to me,[hp] humble themselves, pray, seek to please me,[hq] and repudiate their sinful practices,[hr] then I will respond[hs] from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.[ht] 15 Now I will be attentive and responsive to the prayers offered in this place.[hu] 16 Now I have chosen and consecrated this temple by making it my permanent home;[hv] I will be constantly present there.[hw] 17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations.[hx] 18 Then I will establish your dynasty,[hy] just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’[hz]
19 “But if you people[ia] ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep,[ib] and decide to serve and worship other gods,[ic] 20 then I will remove you[id] from my land I have given you,[ie] I will abandon this temple I have consecrated with my presence,[if] and I will make you[ig] an object of mockery and ridicule[ih] among all the nations. 21 As for this temple, which was once majestic,[ii] everyone who passes by it will be shocked and say, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple?’ 22 Others will then answer,[ij] ‘Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors,[ik] who led them out of Egypt. They embraced other gods whom they worshiped and served.[il] That is why he brought all this disaster down on them.’”
Building Projects and Commercial Efforts
8 After twenty years, during which Solomon built the Lord’s temple and his royal palace, 2 Solomon rebuilt the cities that Huram[im] had given him and settled Israelites there. 3 Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. 4 He built up Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities he had built in Hamath. 5 He made upper Beth Horon and lower Beth Horon fortified cities with walls and barred gates,[in] 6 and built up Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to him,[io] and all the cities where chariots and horses were kept.[ip] He built whatever he wanted in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and throughout his entire kingdom.[iq]
7 Now several non-Israelite peoples were left in the land after the conquest of Joshua, including the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.[ir] 8 Their descendants remained in the land (the Israelites were unable to wipe them out). Solomon conscripted them for his work crews, and they continue in that role to this very day.[is] 9 Solomon did not assign Israelites to these work crews;[it] the Israelites served as his soldiers, officers, charioteers, and commanders of his chariot forces.[iu] 10 These men worked for King Solomon as supervisors; there were a total of 250 of them who were in charge of the people.[iv]
11 Solomon moved Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David[iw] to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of King David of Israel, for the places where the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.”
12 Then Solomon offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord on the altar of the Lord which he had built in front of the temple’s porch.[ix] 13 He observed the daily requirements for sacrifices that Moses had specified for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual celebrations—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Shelters.[iy] 14 As his father David had decreed, Solomon[iz] appointed the divisions of the priests to do their assigned tasks, the Levitical orders to lead worship and help the priests with their daily tasks,[ja] and the divisions of the gatekeepers to serve at their assigned gates.[jb] This was what David the man of God had ordered.[jc] 15 They did not neglect any detail of the king’s orders pertaining to the priests, Levites, and treasuries.[jd]
16 All the work ordered by Solomon was completed, from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid until it was finished; the Lord’s temple was completed.
17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and to Elat on the coast in the land of Edom. 18 Huram sent him ships and some of his sailors, men who were well acquainted with the sea. They sailed with Solomon’s men to Ophir[je] and took from there 450 talents[jf] of gold, which they brought back to King Solomon.
Solomon Entertains a Queen
9 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon,[jg] she came to challenge[jh] him[ji] with difficult questions.[jj] She arrived in Jerusalem with a great display of pomp,[jk] bringing with her camels carrying spices,[jl] a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind. 2 Solomon answered all her questions; there was no question too complex for the king.[jm] 3 When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s wisdom, the palace[jn] he had built, 4 the food in his banquet hall,[jo] his servants and attendants[jp] in their robes, his cupbearers in their robes, and his burnt sacrifices which he presented in the Lord’s temple,[jq] she was amazed.[jr] 5 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your wise sayings and insight[js] was true! 6 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![jt] Your wisdom surpasses what was reported to me. 7 Your attendants, who stand before you at all times and hear your wise sayings, are truly happy![ju] 8 May the Lord your God be praised because he favored[jv] you by placing you on his throne as the one ruling on his behalf.[jw] Because of your God’s love for Israel and his lasting commitment to them,[jx] he made you king over them so you could make just and right decisions.”[jy] 9 She gave the king 120 talents[jz] 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.[ka] 10 (Huram’s[kb] servants, aided by Solomon’s servants, brought gold from Ophir, as well as[kc] fine[kd] timber and precious gems. 11 With the timber the king made steps[ke] for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments[kf] for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah before that.[kg]) 12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she requested, more than what she had brought him.[kh] Then she left and returned[ki] to her homeland with her attendants.
Solomon’s Wealth
13 Solomon received 666 talents[kj] of gold per year,[kk] 14 besides what he collected from the merchants[kl] and traders. All the Arabian kings and the governors of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures[km] of hammered gold were used for each shield. 16 He also made 300 small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures[kn] of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest.[ko]
17 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and a gold footstool was attached to the throne.[kp] The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side.[kq] 19 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.[kr]
20 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.[ks] 21 The king had a fleet of large merchant ships[kt] manned by Huram’s men[ku] that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet[kv] came into port with cargoes of[kw] gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.[kx]
22 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth.[ky] 23 All the kings of the earth wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom.[kz] 24 Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules.[la]
25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses[lb] and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and also with him in Jerusalem.[lc] 26 He ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River[ld] to the land of the Philistines as far as the border of Egypt. 27 The king made silver as plentiful[le] in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was[lf] as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the foothills.[lg] 28 Solomon acquired horses from Egypt and from all the lands.
Solomon’s Reign Ends
29 The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded[lh] in the Annals of Nathan the Prophet, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Vision of Iddo the Seer pertaining to Jeroboam son of Nebat. 30 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years. 31 Then Solomon passed away[li] and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 1:1 tn Heb “and Solomon son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:1 tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + subject pattern) probably has a causal nuance here.
- 2 Chronicles 1:3 tn Or “high place.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:3 tn Heb “the tent of meeting of God.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:5 sn The tabernacle was located in Gibeon; see 1 Chr 21:29.
- 2 Chronicles 1:5 tn Heb “sought [or “inquired of”] him.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:7 tn Or “revealed himself.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:7 tn Heb “ask.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:8 tn Heb “did.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:9 tn Heb “your word.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:9 tn Or “be firm, established.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:10 tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) following the imperative here indicates purpose/result.
- 2 Chronicles 1:10 tn Heb “so I may go out before this nation and come in.” The expression “go out…and come in” here means “to lead” (see HALOT 425 s.v. יצא qal.4).
- 2 Chronicles 1:10 tn Heb “for.” The word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.
- 2 Chronicles 1:10 tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:10 tn Heb “to judge.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:10 tn Heb “these numerous people of yours.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:11 tn Heb “because this was in your heart.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:11 tn Heb “the life of those who hate you.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:11 tn Heb “many days.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:12 tn Heb “wisdom and discernment are given to you.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:12 tn Heb “which was not so for the kings who were before you, and after you there will not be so.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:13 tn Heb “and Solomon came from the high place which was in Gibeon [to] Jerusalem, from before the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:14 tn Or “gathered.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:14 tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:15 tn The words “as plentiful” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- 2 Chronicles 1:15 tn Heb “he made.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:15 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
- 2 Chronicles 1:16 sn Because Que is also mentioned, some prefer to see v. 16-17 as a reference to Mutsur. Que and Mutsur were located in Cilicia or Cappadocia (in modern southern Turkey). See HALOT 625 s.v. מִצְרַיִם.
- 2 Chronicles 1:17 tn Heb “and they brought up and brought out from Egypt a chariot for 600 silver (pieces), and a horse for 150, and in the same way to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram by their hand they brought out.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:1 sn Beginning with 2:1, the verse numbers through 2:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 2:1 ET = 1:18 HT, 2:2 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:3 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:18 ET = 2:17 HT. Beginning with 3:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
- 2 Chronicles 2:1 tn Heb “and Solomon said to build a house for the name of the Lord and house for his kingship.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 tn Heb “counted,” perhaps “conscripted” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 tn Heb “men, carriers of loads.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 tn Or “quarry workers”; Heb “cutters” (probably referring to stonecutters).
- 2 Chronicles 2:2 tc The parallel text of MT in 1 Kgs 5:16 has “thirty-three hundred,” but some Greek mss there read “thirty-six hundred” in agreement with 2 Chr 2:2, 18.tn Heb “and 3,600 supervisors over them.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 tn Heb “Huram.” Some medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate spell the name “Hiram,” agreeing with 1 Chr 14:1. “Huram” is a variant spelling referring to the same individual.
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 tn The words “help me” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 tn Heb “cedars.” The word “logs” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 2:3 tn Heb “to build for him a house to live in it.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:4 tn Heb “for the name of.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:4 tn Heb “and the regular display.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:4 tn Heb “permanently [is] this upon Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:6 tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
- 2 Chronicles 2:6 tn Heb “Who retains strength to build for him a house, for the heavens and the heavens of heavens do not contain him? And who am I that I should build for him a house, except to sacrifice before him?”
- 2 Chronicles 2:8 tn This is probably a variant name for almug trees; see 9:10-11 and the parallel passage in 1 Kgs 10:11-12; cf. NLT. One or the other probably arose through metathesis of letters.
- 2 Chronicles 2:8 tn Heb “know.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 sn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels (about 220 liters).
- 2 Chronicles 2:10 tn Heb “20,000 baths” (also a second time later in this verse). A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so this was a quantity of about 120,000 gallons (440,000 liters).
- 2 Chronicles 2:11 tn Heb “Huram” (also in v. 12). Some medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate spell the name “Hiram,” agreeing with 1 Chr 14:1. “Huram” is a variant spelling referring to the same individual.
- 2 Chronicles 2:12 tn Heb “who has given to King David a wise son knowing discernment and insight, who will build a house for the Lord and house for his kingship.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:13 sn The name Huram Abi means “Huram [is] my father.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:14 tn Heb “a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:16 tn Heb “and we will cut down trees from Lebanon according to all your need.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:16 tn Heb “to you,” but this phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons—it is somewhat redundant.
- 2 Chronicles 2:16 tn Or “on rafts.” See the note at 1 Kgs 5:9.
- 2 Chronicles 2:17 tn Heb “Solomon counted.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:17 sn The term גֵּר (ger) refers to a foreign resident, but with different social implications in different settings. In Mosaic Law the resident foreigner was essentially a naturalized citizen and convert to worshiping the God of Israel (see Exod 12:19, 48; Deut 29:10-13).
- 2 Chronicles 2:18 tn Heb “appointed from them.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:18 tn Heb “carriers of loads.”
- 2 Chronicles 2:18 tn Or “quarry workers”; Heb “cutters” (probably referring to stonecutters).
- 2 Chronicles 2:18 tn Heb “and thirty-six hundred [as] supervisors to compel the people to work.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 tn Heb “where he.” “Lord” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 3:1 tn In 2 Sam 24:16 this individual is called אֲרַוְנָא (ʾaravna; traditionally “Araunah”). The form of the name found here also occurs in 1 Chr 21:15; 18-28.
- 2 Chronicles 3:2 sn This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 tn Heb “and these are the founding of Solomon to build the house of God.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:3 tn Heb “the length [in] cubits by the former measure was 60 cubits, and a width of 20 cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches (45 cm) for the standard cubit, the length of the foundation would be 90 feet (27 m) and its width 30 feet (9 m).
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 tc Heb “and the porch which was in front of the length corresponding to the width of the house, 20 cubits.” The phrase הֵיכַל הַבַּיִת (hekhal habbayit, “the main hall of the temple,” which appears in the parallel account in 1 Kgs 6:3) has been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton after עַל־פְּנֵי (’al pene, “in front of”). Note that the following form, הָאֹרֶךְ (haʿorekh, “the length”), also begins with the Hebrew letter he (ה). A scribe’s eye probably jumped from the initial he on הֵיכַל to the initial he on הָאֹרֶךְ, leaving out the intervening letters in the process.
- 2 Chronicles 3:4 tc The Hebrew text has “one hundred and 20 cubits,” i.e., (assuming a cubit of 18 inches) 180 feet (54 m). An ancient Greek witness and the Syriac version read “20 cubits,” i.e., 30 feet (9 m). It is likely that מֵאָה (meʾah, “a hundred”) should be emended to אַמּוֹת (ʾammot, “cubits”).
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 tn Heb “covered.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 tn Heb “the large house.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 tn Heb “wood of evergreens.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:5 tn Heb “and he put up on it palm trees and chains.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:6 tn Heb “and he plated the house [with] precious stone for beauty, and the gold was the gold of Parvaim.”sn The location of Parvaim, the source of the gold for Solomon’s temple, is uncertain. Some have identified it with modern Farwa in Yemen; others relate it to the Sanskrit parvam and understand it to be a general term for the regions east of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 tn Heb “the house of the holy place of holy places.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 tn Heb “20 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), this would give a length of 30 feet (9 m).
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 tc Heb “20 cubits.” Some suggest adding, “and its height 20 cubits” (see 1 Kgs 6:20). The phrase could have been omitted by homoioteleuton.
- 2 Chronicles 3:8 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (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, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the weight of the gold plating was 40,380 lbs. (18,360 kg).
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 tn Heb “and the wings of the cherubim, their length was 20 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the wingspan of the cherubim would have been 30 feet (9 m).
- 2 Chronicles 3:11 tn Heb “the wing of the one was 5 cubits from the touching of the wall of the house, and the other wing was 5 cubits from the touching of the wing of the other cherub.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), each wing would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m) long.
- 2 Chronicles 3:12 tn Heb “and the wing of the one (הָאֶחָד, haʾekhad, “the one”; this should probably be emended to הָאַחֵר, haʾakher, “the other”) cherub was 5 cubits, touching the wall of the house, and the other wing was 5 cubits, clinging to the wing of the other cherub.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 tn Heb “the wings of these cherubim were spreading 20 cubits.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:13 tn Heb “and they were standing on their feet, with their faces to the house.” An alternative translation of the last clause would be, “with their faces to the main hall.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 sn The figure given here appears to refer to the combined length of both pillars (perhaps when laid end-to-end on the ground prior to being set up; cf. v. 17); the figure given for the height of the pillars in 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21 is half this (i.e., 18 cubits).
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 tc The Syriac reads “18 cubits” (27 feet). This apparently reflects an attempt at harmonization with 1 Kgs 7:15, 2 Kgs 25:17, and Jer 52:21.
- 2 Chronicles 3:15 tn Heb “and he made before the house two pillars, 35 cubits [in] length, and the plated capital which was on its top [was] 5 cubits.” The significance of the measure “35 cubits” (52.5 feet or 15.75 m, assuming a cubit of 18 inches) for the “length” of the pillars is uncertain. According to 1 Kgs 7:15, each pillar was 18 cubits (27 feet or 8.1 m) high. Perhaps the measurement given here was taken with the pillars lying end-to-end on the ground before they were set up.
- 2 Chronicles 3:16 tn The Hebrew text adds here, “in the inner sanctuary,” but the description at this point is of the pillars, not the inner sanctuary.
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 tn Or “one on the south and the other on the north.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 tn The name “Yakin” appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”
- 2 Chronicles 3:17 tn The meaning of the name “Boaz” is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בֹּעַז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name as בְּעֹז (beʿoz, “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.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 tn Heb “20 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 30 feet (9 m).
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 tn Heb “20 cubits.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 tn Heb “10 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”sn The large bronze basin known as “The Sea” was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (see v. 6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “10 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the diameter would have been 15 feet (4.5 m).
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “5 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it 30 cubits all around.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 tn Heb “ten every cubit.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 tn Heb “rows being cast with its casting.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:4 tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 tn Heb “3,000 baths” (note that the capacity is given in 1 Kings 7:26 as “2,000 baths”). A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so 3,000 baths was a quantity of about 18,000 gallons (66,000 liters).
- 2 Chronicles 4:9 tn Heb “and the doors for the enclosure.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 tn Heb “Huram,” but here this refers to Huram Abi (2 Chr 2:13). The complete name has been used in the translation to avoid possible confusion with King Huram of Tyre.
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 tn Heb “Huram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of God.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:12 tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.
- 2 Chronicles 4:14 tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (ʿasah, “he made”), which probably should be emended to עֶשֶׂר (ʿeser, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).
- 2 Chronicles 4:14 tc The Hebrew text has עָשָׂה (ʿasah, “he made”), which probably should be emended to עֲשָׂרָה (ʿasarah, “ten”; see 1 Kgs 7:43).
- 2 Chronicles 4:16 tc Some prefer to read here “bowls,” see v. 11 and 1 Kgs 7:45.
- 2 Chronicles 4:16 tn Heb “Huram Abi made for King Solomon [for] the house of the Lord.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:17 tn Or perhaps, “molds.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:18 tn Heb “Solomon made all these items in great abundance so that the weight of the bronze was not sought.”
- 2 Chronicles 4:19 tn Heb “the bread of the face/presence.”sn This bread offered to God was viewed as a perpetual offering to God. See Lev 24:5-9.
- 2 Chronicles 5:2 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
- 2 Chronicles 5:2 tn Heb “Then Solomon convened the elders of Israel, the heads of the tribes, the chiefs of the fathers belonging to the sons of Israel to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David (it is Zion).”
- 2 Chronicles 5:3 sn This festival in the seventh month was the Feast of Tabernacles, see Lev 23:34.
- 2 Chronicles 5:3 sn The seventh month would be September-October in modern reckoning.
- 2 Chronicles 5:5 tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”sn See Exod 33:7-11.
- 2 Chronicles 5:5 tn Heb “and they carried the ark of the Lord…. The priests and the Levites carried them.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:6 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.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:7 tn The word “assigned” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- 2 Chronicles 5:8 sn These poles were used to carry the ark. The Levites were to carry it with the poles on their shoulders. See Exod 25:13-15; 1 Chr 15:15.
- 2 Chronicles 5:9 tn Heb “they could not be seen outside.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).
- 2 Chronicles 5:10 tn Heb “in Horeb where.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:11 tn Heb “and when the priests went from the holy place.” The syntactical relationship of this temporal clause to the following context is unclear. Perhaps the thought is completed in v. 14 after a lengthy digression.
- 2 Chronicles 5:11 tn Heb “Indeed [or “for”] all the priests who were found consecrated themselves without guarding divisions.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:13 tn Heb “like one were the trumpeters and the musicians, causing one voice to be heard, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, and while raising a voice with trumpets and with cymbals and with instruments of music, and while praising the Lord.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:13 tn Heb “and the house was filled with a cloud, the house of the Lord.”
- 2 Chronicles 5:14 tn Heb “were not able to stand to serve.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:2 tn The words “O Lord” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but they are supplied in the translation for clarification; Solomon addresses the Lord in prayer at this point.
- 2 Chronicles 6:3 tn Heb “turned his face.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:3 tn Heb “and he blessed all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly of Israel was standing.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:4 tn The Hebrew text reads, “fulfilled by his hand,” but the phrase “by his hand” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
- 2 Chronicles 6:4 tn The Hebrew text reads, “promised by his mouth,” but the phrase “by his mouth” is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
- 2 Chronicles 6:5 tn Heb “saying.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:5 tn Heb “to build a house for my name to be there.” Here “name” is used by metonymy for the Lord himself, and thus the expression “to be there” refers to his taking up residence there (hence the translation, “a temple in which to live”). In this case the temple is referred to as a “house” where the Lord himself can reside.
- 2 Chronicles 6:6 tn Heb “for my name to be there.” See also the note on the word “live” in v. 5.
- 2 Chronicles 6:7 tn Heb “and it was with the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel.”sn On the significance of the Lord’s “name,” see the note on the word “live” in v. 5.
- 2 Chronicles 6:8 tn Heb “Because it was with your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was with your heart.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:9 tn Heb “your son, the one who came out of your body, he will build the temple for my name.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:13 tn Heb “5 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the length would have been 7.5 feet (2.25 m).
- 2 Chronicles 6:13 tn Heb “5 cubits.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:13 tn Heb “3 cubits.” Assuming a cubit of 18 inches (45 cm), the height would have been 4.5 feet (1.35 m).
- 2 Chronicles 6:14 tn Heb “said.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:14 tn Heb “one who keeps the covenant and the loyal love.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:14 tn Heb “who walk before you with all their heart.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:15 tn Heb “[you] who kept to your servant David my father that which you spoke to him.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:15 tn Heb “you spoke by your mouth and by your hand you fulfilled, as this day.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:16 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man from before me sitting on the throne of Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:16 tn Heb “guard their way by walking in my law as you have walked before me.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:17 tn Or “prove to be reliable.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:18 tn Heb “Indeed, can God really live with mankind on the earth?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not,” the force of which is reflected in the translation “God does not really live with mankind on the earth.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “turn to.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “by listening to.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “the loud cry and the prayer.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:19 tn Heb “praying before you.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:20 tn Heb “so your eyes might be open toward this house night and day, toward the place about which you promised to place your name there.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:20 tn Heb “by listening to the prayer which your servant is praying concerning this place.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:21 tn Heb “listen to the requests of your servant and your people Israel which they are praying concerning this place.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:21 tn Heb “hear and forgive.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:22 tn Heb “and if the man who sins against his neighbor when one takes up against him a curse to curse him and the curse comes before your altar in this house.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:23 tn Heb “and you, hear [from] heaven and act and judge your servants by repaying the guilty, to give his way on his head, and to declare the innocent to be innocent, to give to him according to his innocence.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:24 tn Or “are struck down before an enemy.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:24 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:24 tn Heb “and they pray and ask for help.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:25 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 38).
- 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 26-27a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.
- 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
- 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “they.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:26 tn The Hebrew text reads “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (ʿanah, “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 (teʿannem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“afflict”).
- 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense (“Certainly”). Other translations have “indeed” (NASB), “when” (NRSV), “so” (NEB), or leave the word untranslated (NIV).
- 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:27 tn Or “for an inheritance.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:28 tn Actually two Hebrew words appear here, both of which are usually (but not always) taken as referring to locusts. Perhaps different stages of growth or different varieties are in view, but this is uncertain. NEB has “locusts new-sloughed or fully grown”; NASB has “locust or grasshopper”; NIV has “locusts or grasshoppers”; NRSV has “locust, or caterpillar.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:28 tn Heb “in the land, his gates.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:29 tn Heb “every prayer, every request for help which will be to all the people, to all your people Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:29 tn Heb “which they know, each his pain and his affliction.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:30 tn The words “their sin” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarification.
- 2 Chronicles 6:30 tn Heb “and give to each one according to all his ways because you know his heart.” In the Hebrew text vv. 28-30a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided up for stylistic reasons.
- 2 Chronicles 6:30 tn Heb “Indeed you know, you alone, the heart of the sons of mankind.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:31 tn Heb “fear.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:31 tn Heb “by walking in your ways.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:31 tn Heb “all the days [in] which.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:32 tn Heb “your great name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your great reputation”).
- 2 Chronicles 6:32 tn Heb “and your strong hand and your outstretched arm.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “and do all which the foreigner calls to [i.e., “requests of”] you.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “name.” See the note on “reputation” in v. 32.
- 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “fear.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:33 tn Heb “that your name is called over this house which I built.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
- 2 Chronicles 6:34 tn Heb “When your people go out for battle against their enemies in the way which you send them.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:34 tn Heb “toward this city which you have chosen and the house which I built for your name.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:35 tn Heb “their prayer and their request for help.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:35 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:36 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 6:37 tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 6:37 tn Or “stop and reflect”; Heb “bring back to their heart.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:37 tn Or “done wrong.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:38 tn Or “soul.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:38 tn Heb “your name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor (thus the translation here, “your honor”).
- 2 Chronicles 6:39 tn Heb “their prayer and their requests for help.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:39 tn Heb “and accomplish their justice.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:40 tn Heb “May your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:41 tn Heb “be clothed with deliverance.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:41 tn Heb “and may your loyal ones rejoice in good.”
- 2 Chronicles 6:42 tc Heb “do not turn away the face of your anointed ones.” Many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as the ancient versions, read the singular, “your anointed,” which would probably refer to Solomon specifically, rather than the people.
- 2 Chronicles 7:1 tn Or “the sky.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
- 2 Chronicles 7:3 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 2 Chronicles 7:6 tn Heb “and the priests were standing at their posts, and the Levites with the instruments of music of the Lord.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:6 tn Heb “which David the king made to give thanks to the Lord, for lasting is his loyal love, when David praised by them.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:6 tn Heb “opposite them”; the referent (the Levites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 7:7 tc The Hebrew text omits reference to the grain offerings at this point, but note that they are included both in the list in the second half of the verse (see note on “offerings” at the end of this verse) and in the parallel account in 1 Kgs 8:64. The construction וְאֶת־הַמִּנְחָה (veʾet-hamminkhah; vav [ו] + accusative sign + noun with article; “grain offerings”) was probably omitted accidentally by homoioarcton. Note the וְאֶת (veʾet) that immediately follows.
- 2 Chronicles 7:7 tn Heb “to hold the burnt sacrifice, the grain offering, and the fat portions.” Because this is redundant, the translation employs a summary phrase: “all these offerings.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:8 tn Heb “Solomon held the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel was with him, a very great assembly from Lebo Hamath to the wadi of Egypt.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Solomon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 7:10 tn The words “they left” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 2 Chronicles 7:10 tn Heb “good of heart.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:11 tn Heb “and all that entered the heart of Solomon to do in the house of the Lord and in his house he successfully accomplished.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:12 tn Heb “I have heard.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:12 tn Heb “temple of sacrifice.” This means the Lord designated the temple as the place for making sacrifices, and this has been clarified in the translation.
- 2 Chronicles 7:13 tn Or “if.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:13 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
- 2 Chronicles 7:13 tn Heb “the land,” which stands here by metonymy for the vegetation growing in it.
- 2 Chronicles 7:14 tn Heb “over whom my name is called.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28.
- 2 Chronicles 7:14 tn Heb “seek my face,” where “my face” is figurative for God’s presence and acceptance.
- 2 Chronicles 7:14 tn Heb “and turn from their sinful ways.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14 tn Heb “hear.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:14 sn Here the phrase heal their land means restore the damage done by the drought, locusts and plague mentioned in v. 13.
- 2 Chronicles 7:15 tn Heb “my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place.” Note Solomon’s request in 6:40.
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 tn Heb “for my name to be there perpetually [or perhaps, “forever”].”
- 2 Chronicles 7:16 tn Heb “and my eyes and my heart will be there all the days.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:17 tn Heb “As for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, by doing all which I commanded you, [and] you keep my rules and my regulations.”sn Verse 17 is actually a lengthy protasis (“if” section) of a conditional sentence, the apodosis (“then” section) of which appears in v. 18.
- 2 Chronicles 7:18 tn Heb “I will establish the throne of your kingdom.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:18 tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man ruling over Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:19 tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, suggesting that Solomon and all Israel (or perhaps Solomon and his successors) are in view. To convey this to the English reader, the translation “you people” has been employed.
- 2 Chronicles 7:19 tn Heb “which I placed before you.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:19 tn Heb “and walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 tn Heb “them.” The switch from the second to the third person pronoun is rhetorically effective, for it mirrors God’s rejection of his people—he has stopped addressing them as “you” and begun addressing them as “them.” However, the switch is awkward and confusing in English, so the translation maintains the direct address style.
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 tn Heb “them.” See the note on “you” earlier in this verse.
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 tc Instead of “I will throw away,” the parallel text in 1 Kgs 9:7 has “I will send away.” The two verbs sound very similar in Hebrew, so the discrepancy is likely due to an oral transmissional error.tn Heb “and this temple which I consecrated for my name I will throw away from before my face.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 tn Heb “him,” which appears in context to refer to Israel (i.e., “you” in direct address). Many translations understand the direct object of the verb “make” to be the temple (NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “it”).
- 2 Chronicles 7:20 tn Heb “and I will make him [i.e., Israel] a proverb and a taunt,” that is, a proverbial example of destruction and an object of reproach.
- 2 Chronicles 7:21 tn Heb “and this house which was high/elevated.” The statement makes little sense in this context, which predicts the desolation that judgment will bring. Some treat the clause as concessive, “Even though this temple is lofty [now].” Others, following the lead of several ancient versions, emend the text to, “this temple will become a heap of ruins.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:22 tn Heb “and they will say.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:22 tn Heb “fathers.”
- 2 Chronicles 7:22 tn Heb “and they took hold of other gods and bowed down to them and served them.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:2 tn Heb “Huram” (also in v. 18). Some medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate spell the name “Hiram,” agreeing with 1 Chr 14:1. “Huram” is a variant spelling referring to the same individual.
- 2 Chronicles 8:5 tn Heb “and he built…[as] cities of fortification, [with] walls, doors, and a bar.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:6 tn Heb “Solomon.” The recurrence of the proper name is unexpected in terms of contemporary English style, so the pronoun has been used in the translation instead.
- 2 Chronicles 8:6 tn Heb “the cities of the chariots and the cities of the horses.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:6 tn Heb “and all the desire of Solomon which he desired to build in Jerusalem and in Lebanon and in all the land of his kingdom.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:7 tn Heb “all the people who were left from the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not from Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:8 tn Heb “from their sons who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel did not wipe out, and Solomon raised them up for a work crew to this day.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:9 tn Heb “and from the sons of Israel whom Solomon did not assign to the laborers for his work.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:9 tn Heb “officers of his chariots and his horses.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:10 tn Heb “these [were] the officials of the governors who belonged to the king, Solomon, 250, the ones ruling over the people.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:11 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
- 2 Chronicles 8:12 tn Heb “the porch.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:13 tn The Hebrew phrase הַסֻּכּוֹת[חַג] (khag hassukkot, “[Feast of] shelters” [or “huts”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “shelters” is more appropriate.
- 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Solomon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “and the Levites, according to their posts, to praise and to serve opposite the priests according to the matter of a day in its day.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “and the gatekeepers by their divisions for a gate and a gate.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:14 tn Heb “for so [was] the command of David the man of God.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:15 tn Heb “and they did not turn aside from the command of the king concerning the priests and the Levites with regard to any matter and with regard to the treasuries.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:18 tn Heb “and Huram sent to him by the hand of his servants, ships, and servants [who] know the sea, and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir.”
- 2 Chronicles 8:18 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (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, 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 30,285 lbs. (13,770 kg).
- 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Or “test.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Heb “Solomon.” The recurrence of the proper name here is redundant in terms of contemporary English style, so the pronoun has been used in the translation instead.
- 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Or “riddles.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Heb “with very great strength.” The Hebrew word חַיִל (khayil, “strength”) may refer here to the size of her retinue or to the great wealth she brought with her.
- 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Or “balsam oil.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:2 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.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:3 tn Heb “house.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:4 tn Heb “the food on his table.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:4 tn Heb “the seating of his servants and the standing of his attendants.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:4 tc The Hebrew text has here, “and his upper room [by] which he was going up to the house of the Lord.” But עֲלִיָּתוֹ (ʿaliyyato, “his upper room”) should be emended to עֹלָתוֹ, (ʿolato, “his burnt sacrifice[s]”). See the parallel account in 1 Kgs 10:5.
- 2 Chronicles 9:4 tn Or “it took her breath away”; Heb “there was no breath still in her.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:5 tn Heb “about your words [or perhaps, “deeds”] and your wisdom.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:6 tn Heb “the half was not told to me.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:7 tn Heb “How happy are your men! How happy are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually, who hear your wisdom!”
- 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Or “delighted in.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Heb “as king for the Lord your God.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Heb “to make him stand permanently.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:9 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (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, 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).
- 2 Chronicles 9:9 tn Heb “there has not been like those spices which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:10 tn Heb “Huram’s” (also in v. 21). Some medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate spell the name “Hiram,” agreeing with 1 Chr 14:1. “Huram” is a variant spelling referring to the same individual.
- 2 Chronicles 9:10 tn Heb “who brought gold from Ophir, brought.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:10 tn Heb “algum.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:11 tn Heb “tracks.” The parallel text in 1 Kgs 10:12 has a different term whose meaning is uncertain: “supports,” perhaps “banisters” or “parapets.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:11 tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).
- 2 Chronicles 9:11 tn Heb “there was not seen like these formerly in the land of Judah.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:12 tn Heb “besides what she brought to the king.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:12 tn Heb “turned and went.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:13 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (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, 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 Solomon received annually was 44,822 lbs. (20,380 kg).
- 2 Chronicles 9:13 tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:14 tn Heb “traveling men.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:15 tn The Hebrew text has simply “600,” with no unit of measure given.
- 2 Chronicles 9:16 tn The Hebrew text has simply “300,” with no unit of measure given.
- 2 Chronicles 9:16 sn 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. See 1 Kgs 7:2.
- 2 Chronicles 9:18 tc The parallel text of 1 Kgs 10:19 has instead “and the back of it was rounded on top.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:18 tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:19 tn Heb “nothing like it had been made for any kingdom.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:20 tn Heb “there was no silver regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 tn Heb “for ships belonging to the king were going [to] Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 tn Heb “servants.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 tn Heb “the fleet of Tarshish [ships].”
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish came carrying.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 tn The meaning of this word is unclear; some suggest it refers to “baboons.” NEB has “monkeys,” NASB, NRSV “peacocks,” and NIV “baboons.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:22 tn Heb “King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and wisdom.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:23 tn Heb “and all the kings of the earth were seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had placed in his heart.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:24 tn Heb “and they were bringing each one his gift, items of silver…and mules, the matter of a year in a year.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:25 tc The parallel text of 1 Kgs 10:26 reads “fourteen hundred chariots.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:25 tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:26 tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew the Euphrates River was typically referred to simply as “the River.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:27 tn The words “as plentiful” are supplied for clarification.
- 2 Chronicles 9:27 tn Heb “he made cedar.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:27 sn The foothills (שְׁפֵלָה, shephelah) are the region between the Judean hill country and the Mediterranean coastal plain.
- 2 Chronicles 9:29 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Solomon, the former and the latter, are they not written?”
- 2 Chronicles 9:31 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
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