1 Kings 4:21-24

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. 4:24 His royal court was so large because ⁷  he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River from Tiphsah ⁸  to Gaza; he was at peace with all his neighbors. ⁹ 

1 Kings 10:23-29

10:23 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. ¹⁰  10:24 Everyone ¹¹  in the world wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom. ¹²  10:25 Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules. ¹³ 

10:26 Solomon accumulated ¹⁴  chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. ¹⁵  10:27 The king made silver as plentiful ¹⁶  in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was ¹⁷  as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands. ¹⁸  10:28 Solomon acquired his horses from Egypt ¹⁹  and from Que; the king’s traders purchased them from Que. 10:29 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. ²⁰ 

Proverbs 3:16

3:16 Long life ²¹  is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

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.

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

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

⁴ tn Heb “the food of Solomon for each day was.”

⁵ tn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.

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

⁷ tn Heb “because.” The words “his royal court was so large” are added to facilitate the logical connection with the preceding verse.

⁸ sn Tiphsah. This was located on the Euphrates River.

⁹ tn Heb “for he was ruling over all [the region] beyond the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kingdoms beyond the River, and he had peace on every side all around.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and with respect to wisdom.”

¹¹ tc The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “all the kings of the earth.” See 2 Chr 9:23.

¹² tn Heb “and all the earth was seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had placed in his heart.”

¹³ tn Heb “and they were bringing each one his gift, items of silver…and mules, the matter of a year in a year.”

¹⁴ tn Or “gathered.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”

¹⁶ tn The words “as plentiful” are added for clarification.

¹⁷ tn Heb “he made.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah.”

¹⁹ sn From Egypt. Because Que is also mentioned, some prefer to see in vv. 28-29 a reference to Mutsur. Que and Mutsur were located in Cilicia/Cappadocia (in modern southern Turkey). See HALOT 625 s.v. מִצְרַיִם.

²⁰ tn Heb “and a chariot went up and came out of Egypt for six hundred silver [pieces], and a horse for one hundred fifty, and in the same way to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram by their hand they brought out.”

²¹ tn Heb “length of days” (so KJV, ASV).