32:27 Hezekiah was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, and all his other valuable possessions. 11
33:14 After this Manasseh 24 built up the outer wall of the City of David 25 on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.
9:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, 26 she came to challenge 27 him 28 with difficult questions. 29 She arrived in Jerusalem 30 with a great display of pomp, 31 bringing with her camels carrying spices, 32 a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind.
1 tn Heb “Solomon made all these items in great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”
2 tn Heb “he strengthened them greatly, very much.”
3 tn Or “distress.”
4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “appeased the face of the
6 tn Or “greatly.”
7 tn Heb “fathers.”
4 tn Heb “carry me away.”
5 tn Heb “and Amaziah separated them, the troops who came to him from Ephraim, to go to their place.”
6 tn The Hebrew text adds here, “a very large assembly.” This has not been translated to avoid redundancy with the expression “a huge crowd” at the beginning of the verse.
7 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and shields and all the desirable items.” The present translation assumes an emendation of מָגִנִּים (maginnim, “shields”) to מִגְדָּנִים (migdanim, “precious items”). See v. 23.
8 tn Heb “and cities he made for himself.”
9 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.”
10 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “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).
11 tn Heb “there has not been like those spices which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”
11 tn Heb “and there fell from the Cushites so that there was not to them preservation of life.”
12 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
13 tn Heb “and they burned for him a large fire, very great.”
13 tn Heb “though with a small amount of men the army of Aram came, the
14 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “executed judgments [on] Joash.”
14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Manasseh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 sn The phrase the City of David refers here to the fortress of Zion in Jerusalem, not to Bethlehem. See 2 Sam 5:7.
15 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.”
16 tn Or “test.”
17 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.
18 tn Or “riddles.”
19 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
20 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.
21 tn Or “balsam oil.”