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.
28:22 During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord. 28:23 He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus whom he thought had defeated him. 11 He reasoned, 12 “Since the gods of the kings of Damascus helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they caused him and all Israel to stumble.
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 Heb “Tilgath-pilneser,” a variant spelling of Tiglath-pileser.
9 tn Heb “and he caused him distress and did not strengthen him.”
10 tn Heb “divided up,” but some read חִלֵּץ (khillets, “despoiled”).
11 tn Heb “the gods of Damascus, the ones who had defeated him.” The words “he thought” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The perspective is that of Ahaz, not the narrator! Another option is that “the kings” has been accidentally omitted after “gods of.” See v. 23b.
12 tn Heb “said.”