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.
72:10 The kings of Tarshish 13 and the coastlands will offer gifts;
the kings of Sheba 14 and Seba 15 will bring tribute.
72:15 May he live! 16 May they offer him gold from Sheba! 17
May they continually pray for him!
May they pronounce blessings on him all day long! 18
1 tn Heb “and they were bringing each one his gift, items of silver…and mules, the matter of a year in a year.”
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 “traveling men.”
10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”
12 tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger (so NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.
13 sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.
14 sn Sheba was located in Arabia.
15 sn Seba was located in Africa.
16 tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive, not imperfect. Because the form has the prefixed vav (ו), some subordinate it to what precedes as a purpose/result clause. In this case the representative poor individual might be the subject of this and the following verb, “so that he may live and give to him gold of Sheba.” But the idea of the poor offering gold is incongruous. It is better to take the jussive as a prayer with the king as subject of the verb. (Perhaps the initial vav is dittographic; note the vav at the end of the last form in v. 14.) The statement is probably an abbreviated version of the formula יְחִי הַמֶּלֶךְ (yÿkhiy hammelekh, “may the king live”; see 1 Sam 10:24; 2 Sam 16:16; 1 Kgs 1:25, 34, 39; 2 Kgs 11:12).
17 tn Heb “and he will give to him some gold of Sheba.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive with a grammatically indefinite subject (“and may one give”). Of course, the king’s subjects, mentioned in the preceding context, are the tribute bearers in view here.
18 tn As in the preceding line, the prefixed verbal forms are understood as jussives with a grammatically indefinite subject (“and may one pray…and may one bless”). Of course, the king’s subjects, mentioned in the preceding context, are in view here.