3:4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. 1 Solomon would offer up 2 a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there.
1 tn Heb “for it was the great high place.”
2 tn The verb form is an imperfect, which is probably used here in a customary sense to indicate continued or repeated action in past time. See GKC 314 §107.b.
3 sn Three minas. The mina was a unit of measure for weight.
4 sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.
5 tn Heb “and now my father placed upon you a heavy yoke, but I will add to your yoke.”
6 tn Heb “My father punished you with whips, but I will punish you with scorpions.” “Scorpions” might allude to some type of torture using poisonous insects, but more likely it refers to a type of whip that inflicts an especially biting, painful wound. Cf. CEV “whips with pieces of sharp metal.”