Footnotes

1. 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.”
2. 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Or “test.”
3. 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.
4. 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Or “riddles.”
5. 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.
6. 2 Chronicles 9:1 tn Or “balsam oil.”
7. 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.”
8. 2 Chronicles 9:3 tn Heb “house.”
9. 2 Chronicles 9:4 tn Heb “the food on his table.”
10. 2 Chronicles 9:4 tn Heb “the seating of his servants and the standing of his attendants.”
11. 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.
12. 2 Chronicles 9:4 tn Or “it took her breath away”; Heb “there was no breath still in her.”
13. 2 Chronicles 9:5 tn Heb “about your words [or perhaps, “deeds”] and your wisdom.”
14. 2 Chronicles 9:6 tn Heb “the half was not told to me.”
15. 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!”
16. 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Or “delighted in.”
17. 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Heb “as king for the Lord your God.”
18. 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Heb “to make him stand permanently.”
19. 2 Chronicles 9:8 tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”
20. 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).
21. 2 Chronicles 9:9 tn Heb “there has not been like those spices which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”
22. 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.
23. 2 Chronicles 9:10 tn Heb “who brought gold from Ophir, brought.”
24. 2 Chronicles 9:10 tn Heb “algum.”
25. 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.”
26. 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”).
27. 2 Chronicles 9:11 tn Heb “there was not seen like these formerly in the land of Judah.”
28. 2 Chronicles 9:12 tn Heb “besides what she brought to the king.”
29. 2 Chronicles 9:12 tn Heb “turned and went.”