9:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, 1 she came to challenge 2 him 3 with difficult questions. 4 She arrived in Jerusalem 5 with a great display of pomp, 6 bringing with her camels carrying spices, 7 a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind.
43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
30:34 The Lord said to Moses: “Take 8 spices, gum resin, 9 onycha, 10 galbanum, 11 and pure frankincense 12 of equal amounts 13
1 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.”
2 tn Or “test.”
3 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 tn Or “riddles.”
5 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
6 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.
7 tn Or “balsam oil.”
8 tn The construction is “take to you,” which could be left in that literal sense, but more likely the suffix is an ethical dative, stressing the subject of the imperative.
9 sn This is from a word that means “to drip”; the spice is a balsam that drips from a resinous tree.
10 sn This may be a plant, or it may be from a species of mollusks; it is mentioned in Ugaritic and Akkadian; it gives a pungent odor when burnt.
11 sn This is a gum from plants of the genus Ferula; it has an unpleasant odor, but when mixed with others is pleasant.
12 tn The word “spice is repeated here, suggesting that the first three formed half of the ingredient and this spice the other half – but this is conjecture (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 400).
13 tn Heb “of each part there will be an equal part.”