1 Kings 4:20-23

Solomon’s Wealth and Fame

4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore; they had plenty to eat and drink and were happy. 4:21 (5:1) ¹  Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River ²  to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms paid tribute as Solomon’s subjects throughout his lifetime. ³  4:22 Each day Solomon’s royal court consumed ⁴  thirty cors ⁵  of finely milled flour, sixty cors of cereal, 4:23 ten calves fattened in the stall, ⁶  twenty calves from the pasture, and a hundred sheep, not to mention rams, gazelles, deer, and well-fed birds.

1 Kings 4:2

4:2 These were his officials:

Azariah son of Zadok was the priest.

1 Kings 1:7-8

1:7 He collaborated ⁷  with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they supported ⁸  him. ⁹  1:8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and David’s elite warriors ¹⁰  did not ally themselves ¹¹  with Adonijah.

1 Kings 1:12-18

1:12 Now ¹²  let me give you some advice as to how ¹³  you can save your life and your son Solomon’s life. 1:13 Visit ¹⁴  King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise ¹⁵  your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’ 1:14 While ¹⁶  you are still there speaking to the king, I will arrive ¹⁷  and verify your report.” ¹⁸ 

1:15 So Bathsheba visited the king in his private quarters. ¹⁹  (The king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) 1:16 Bathsheba bowed down on the floor before ²⁰  the king. The king said, “What do you want?” 1:17 She replied to him, “My master, you swore an oath to your servant by the Lord your God, ‘Solomon your son will be king after me and he will sit on my throne.’ 1:18 But now, look, Adonijah has become king! But you, ²¹  my master the king, are not even aware of it! ²² 

Ecclesiastes 2:24

Enjoy Work and its Benefits

2:24 There is nothing better for ²³  people ²⁴  than ²⁵  to eat and drink,

and to find enjoyment ²⁶  in their ²⁷  work.

I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment ²⁸  comes from God. ²⁹ 

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

Life is Brief, so Cherish its Joys

9:7 Go, eat your food ³⁰  with joy,

and drink your wine with a happy heart,

because God has already approved your works.

9:8 Let your clothes always be white,

and do not spare precious ointment on your head.

9:9 Enjoy ³¹  life with your beloved wife ³²  during all the days of your fleeting ³³  life

that God ³⁴  has given you on earth ³⁵  during all your fleeting days; ³⁶ 

for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work ³⁷  on earth. ³⁸ 

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ³⁹ 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ⁴⁰ 

the place where you will eventually go. ⁴¹ 

Ecclesiastes 10:17

10:17 Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility, ⁴² 

and your princes feast at the proper time ⁴³  – with self-control and not in drunkenness. ⁴⁴ 

Isaiah 33:16

33:16 This is the person who will live in a secure place; ⁴⁵ 

he will find safety in the rocky, mountain strongholds; ⁴⁶ 

he will have food

and a constant supply of water.

Luke 11:41

11:41 But give from your heart to those in need, ⁴⁷  and ⁴⁸  then everything will be clean for you. ⁴⁹ 

Acts 2:46

2:46 Every day ⁵⁰  they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, ⁵¹  breaking bread from ⁵²  house to house, sharing their food with glad ⁵³  and humble hearts, ⁵⁴ 

Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ⁵⁵  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁵⁶  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[4:21]  ¹ sn Beginning with 4:21, the verse numbers through 5:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:21 ET = 5:1 HT, 4:22 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:18 ET = 5:32 HT. Beginning with 6:1 the numbering of verses in the English Bible and the Hebrew text is again the same.

[4:21]  ² tn Heb “the River” (also in v. 24). This is the standard designation for the Euphrates River in biblical Hebrew.

[4:21]  ³ tn Heb “[They] were bringing tribute and were serving Solomon all the days of his life.”

[4:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “the food of Solomon for each day was.”

[4:22]  ⁵ tn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.

[4:23]  ⁶ tn The words “in the stall” are added for clarification; note the immediately following reference to cattle from the pasture.

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “his words were.”

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “helped after” (i.e., stood by).

[1:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “Adonijah.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “bodyguard” (Heb “mighty men”).

[1:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “were not.”

[1:12]  ¹² tn Heb “now, come.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.

[1:12]  ¹³ tn Or “so that.”

[1:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “come, go to.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.

[1:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “swear an oath to.”

[1:14]  ¹⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), which here draws attention to Nathan’s concluding word of assurance and support. For this use of the word, see HALOT 252 s.v. הִנֵּה.

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will come after you.”

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “fill up [i.e., confirm] your words.”

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “bedroom.”

[1:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “bowed low and bowed down to.”

[1:18]  ²¹ tc Instead of עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) many Hebrew mss, along with the Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, have the similar sounding independent pronoun אַתָּה (’attah, “you”). This reading is followed in the present translation.

[1:18]  ²² tn Heb “you do not know [about it].”

[2:24]  ²³ tn The preposition בְּ (bet) on בָּאָדָם (ba’adam) has been taken in two ways: (1) locative with טוֹב (tov, “good”) in reference to man’s moral nature: “There is nothing [inherently] good in man.” (2) advantage with טוֹב (“good”) in reference to the enjoyment theme of 2:24-26: “There is nothing better for a man than…” (this assumes a comparative מִן, min, on מִשֶׁיֹּאכַל, misheyyo’khal); see text critical note on the word “than” below). The latter is preferred for two reasons: (1) The preposition בְּ is used with a similar idiom in 3:12 in collocation with the particle phrase אִם…כִּי (ki…’im, “except”): “There is nothing better…than to rejoice/be happy” (NASB, NIV). (2) The theme of 2:1-26 focuses on the futility of human toil, concluding that the only real reward that man has in his labor is to find enjoyment in it (e.g., 2:10, 24-26). The section says nothing about man’s inherent sinful nature.

[2:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “man.”

[2:24]  ²⁵ tc The MT reads שֶׁיֹּאכַל (sheyyo’khal, “that he should eat”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from אָכַל, ’akhal, “to eat,” with relative pronoun שֶׁ, she, “that”). However, the variant textual tradition of מִשֶּׁיֹּאכַל (misheyyo’khal, “than he should eat” (comparative preposition מִן, min, “than” + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from אָכַל “to eat”) is reflected in the LXX, Coptic, Syriac, Aramaic Targum, Old Latin, and Jerome. The textual error, an example of haplography, arose from a single writing of מ (mem) from בָּאָדָם מִשֶּׁיֹּאכַל (ba’adam misheyyo’khal). The same idiom appears in the expanded form אִם…כִּי followed by טוֹב…אֵין (’en tov … ki ’im, “there is nothing better for man than …”) in Eccl 3:12; 8:15.

[2:24]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to cause his soul to see good.” The idiom רָאָה טוֹב (ra’ah tov, “to see good”) is a metonymy of association, meaning “to find enjoyment” (e.g., 3:13; 5:17; 6:6). In 3:12-13 and 5:17-18 it is in collocation and/or parallelism with בְּ (bet) + שָׂמַח (samakh, “to rejoice in,” or “to find satisfaction or pleasure in” something). Here, it is used in collocation with חוּשׁ (khush, “to enjoy”). The term נַפְשׁוֹ (nafsho, “his soul”) is a metonymy of part (i.e., soul) for the whole (i.e., whole person), e.g., Num 23:10; Judg 16:30; Pss 16:10; 35:13; 103:1 (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 640-41).

[2:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “his.”

[2:24]  ²⁸ tn The phrase “ability to find enjoyment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:24]  ²⁹ tn Heb “is from the hand of God.”

[9:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “your bread.”

[9:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “see.”

[9:9]  ³² tn Heb “the wife whom you love.”

[9:9]  ³³ tn As discussed in the note on the word “futile” in 1:2, the term הֶבֶל (hevel) has a wide range of meanings, and should not be translated the same in every place (see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הבֶל). The term is used in two basic ways in OT, literally and figuratively. The literal, concrete sense is used in reference to the wind, man’s transitory breath, evanescent vapor (Isa 57:13; Pss 62:10; 144:4; Prov 21:6; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is often a synonym for “breath; wind” (Eccl 1:14; Isa 57:13; Jer 10:14). The literal sense lent itself to the metaphorical sense. Because breath/vapor/wind is transitory and fleeting, the figurative connotation “fleeting; transitory” arose (e.g., Prov 31:30; Eccl 6:12; 7:15; 9:9; 11:10; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is parallel to “few days” and “[days] which he passes like a shadow” (Eccl 6:12). It is used in reference to youth and vigor (11:10) or life (6:12; 7:15; 9:9) which are “transitory” or “fleeting.” In this context, the most appropriate meaning is “fleeting.”

[9:9]  ³⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:9]  ³⁵ tn Heb “under the sun”

[9:9]  ³⁶ tc The phrase כָּל יְמֵי הֶבְלֶךָ (kol yÿme hevlekha, “all your fleeting days”) is present in the MT, but absent in the Greek versions, other medieval Hebrew mss, and the Targum. Its appearance in the MT may be due to dittography (repetition: the scribe wrote twice what should have been written once) from כָּל יְמֵי חַיֵּי הֶבְלֶךָ (kol yÿme khayye hevlekha, “all the days of your fleeting life”) which appears in the preceding line. On the other hand, its omission in the alternate textual tradition may be due to haplography (accidental omission of repeated words) with the earlier line.

[9:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in your toil in which you toil.”

[9:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

[9:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[9:10]  ⁴¹ tn Or “where you are about to go.”

[10:17]  ⁴² tn Heb “son of nobles”; or “son of freemen.” The term חוֹרִים (khorim) is from חֹר (khor, “noble one; freeman”); cf. HALOT 348 s.v. I חֹר; BDB 359 s.v. I חֹר. It is related to the Aramaic noun חֲרַר (kharar, “freeman”); Sabean חר (“freeman; noble”); Old South Arabic חר and Arabic hurr (“freedom”); cf. HALOT 348 s.v. חֹר; BDB 359 s.v. חֹר.

[10:17]  ⁴³ tn The noun עֵת (’et, “point in time”) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) “time of an event” and (2) “time for an event” (BDB 773 s.v. עֵת). The latter has four sub-categories: (a) “usual time,” (b) “the proper, suitable or appropriate time,” (c) “the appointed time,” and (d) “uncertain time.” Here it connotes “a proper, suitable time for an event” (HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6; BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.b). Examples of this use include: “it was the time for rain” (Ezra 10:13); “a time of judgment for the nations” (Ezek 30:3); “there is an appropriate time for every occasion” (Eccl 3:1); “the rain in its season” (Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24); “the time for the harvest” (Hos 2:11; Ps 1:3); “food in its season” (Ps 104:27); “the right moment” (Eccl 8:5); cf. HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6.

[10:17]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “for strength and not for drunkenness”; or “as heroes and not as drunkards”; or “for nourishment and not for drunkenness.” According to HALOT 172 s.v. גְבוּרה 1.d the term גְבוּרָה (gÿvurah, “strength”) may here connote “self-control.” This tactic is adopted by a few English versions: “with self-control, and not as drunkards” (NEB) and “with restraint, not with guzzling” (NJPS). On the other hand, most English versions render בִּגְבוּרָה וְלֹא בַשְּׁתִי (bigvurah vÿlo’ vashÿti) in a woodenly literal sense, “for strength and not for drunkenness” (YLT, KJV, ASV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, NIV). However, a few attempt to express the idiom clearly: “as stalwarts and not as drunkards” (MLB); “stalwart men, not sots” (Moffatt); “for vigor and not in drinking bouts” (NAB); “for refreshment, and not for riotousness” (Douay).

[33:16]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “he [in the] exalted places will live.”

[33:16]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “mountain strongholds, cliffs [will be] his elevated place.”

[11:41]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “Give the things inside as alms.” Three different approaches have been taken to the syntax and meaning of this phrase: (1) τὰ ἐνόντα (ta enonta, “the things inside”) is an accusative of respect (“give alms with respect to the things inside”); (2) τὰ ἐνόντα is an adverbial accusative (“give alms inwardly,” i.e., from the heart); (3) the word translated “alms” represents a mistranslation of the original Aramaic term “cleanse,” so the statement urges the hearers to “cleanse the things inside.” According to D. L. Bock (Luke [BECNT], 2:1115) the latter meaning is unlikely because the present verse is independent of Matt 23:26, not parallel to it, and makes good sense as it stands.

[11:41]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this clause has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[11:41]  ⁴⁹ sn The expression everything will be clean for you refers to the agreement that should exist between the overt practice of one’s religious duties, such as almsgiving, and the inner condition of one’s heart, including true love for God and the poor; one is not only to wash the outside of the cup and plate, but the inside as well, since as Jesus said, God created the inside too. Religious duties are not to be performed hypocritically, i.e., for the applause and esteem of people, but rather they are to be done out of a deep love for God and a sensitivity to and concern for the needs of others. Then, everything will be clean, both hearts and lives.

[2:46]  ⁵⁰ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

[2:46]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “in the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[2:46]  ⁵² tn Here κατά (kata) is used as a distributive (BDAG 512 s.v. B.1.d).

[2:46]  ⁵³ sn The term glad (Grk “gladness”) often refers to joy brought about by God’s saving acts (Luke 1:14, 44; also the related verb in 1:47; 10:21).

[2:46]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “with gladness and humbleness of hearts.” It is best to understand καρδίας (kardias) as an attributed genitive, with the two nouns it modifies actually listing attributes of the genitive noun which is related to them.

[2:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[1:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.