9:22 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. 1
9:1 When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, 2 she came to challenge 3 him 4 with difficult questions. 5 She arrived in Jerusalem 6 with a great display of pomp, 7 bringing with her camels carrying spices, 8 a very large quantity of gold, and precious gems. She visited Solomon and discussed with him everything that was on her mind.
29:25 King Hezekiah 9 stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king’s prophet, 10 and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The Lord had actually given these orders through his prophets.)
2:9 So 11 I was far wealthier 12 than all my predecessors in Jerusalem,
yet I maintained my objectivity: 13
1 tn Heb “King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and wisdom.”
2 tn Heb “the report about Solomon.”
3 tn Or “test.”
4 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.
5 tn Or “riddles.”
6 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
7 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.
8 tn Or “balsam oil.”
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (King Hezekiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Or “seer.”
11 tn The vav prefixed to וְגָדַלְתִּי (vÿgadalti, vav + Qal perfect first common singular from גָּדַל, gadal, “to be great; to increase”) functions in a final summarizing sense, that is, it introduces the concluding summary of 2:4-9.
12 tn Heb “I became great and I surpassed” (וְהוֹסַפְתִּי וְגָדַלְתִּי, vÿgadalti vÿhosafti). This is a verbal hendiadys in which the second verb functions adverbially, modifying the first: “I became far greater.” Most translations miss the hendiadys and render the line in a woodenly literal sense (KJV, ASV, RSV, NEB, NRSV, NAB, NASB, MLB, Moffatt), while only a few recognize the presence of hendiadys here: “I became greater by far” (NIV) and “I gained more” (NJPS).
13 tn Heb “yet my wisdom stood for me,” meaning he retained his wise perspective despite his great wealth.