2 Chronicles 1:1-12

The Lord Gives Solomon Wisdom

1:1 Solomon son of David solidified his royal authority, ¹  for ²  the Lord his God was with him and magnified him greatly.

1:2 Solomon addressed all Israel, including those who commanded units of a thousand and a hundred, the judges, and all the leaders of all Israel who were heads of families. 1:3 Solomon and the entire assembly went to the worship center ³  in Gibeon, for the tent where they met God ⁴  was located there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the wilderness. 1:4 (Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. ⁵  1:5 But the bronze altar made by Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, was in front of the Lord’s tabernacle. ⁶  Solomon and the entire assembly prayed to him ⁷  there.) 1:6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord which was at the meeting tent, and he offered up a thousand burnt sacrifices.

1:7 That night God appeared ⁸  to Solomon and said to him, “Tell me ⁹  what I should give you.” 1:8 Solomon replied to God, “You demonstrated ¹⁰  great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place. 1:9 Now, Lord God, may your promise ¹¹  to my father David be realized, ¹²  for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth. 1:10 Now give me wisdom and discernment so ¹³  I can effectively lead this nation. ¹⁴  Otherwise ¹⁵  no one is able ¹⁶  to make judicial decisions for ¹⁷  this great nation of yours.” ¹⁸ 

1:11 God said to Solomon, “Because you desire this, ¹⁹  and did not ask for riches, wealth, and honor, or for vengeance on your enemies, ²⁰  and because you did not ask for long life, ²¹  but requested wisdom and discernment so you can make judicial decisions for my people over whom I have made you king, 1:12 you are granted wisdom and discernment. ²²  Furthermore I am giving you riches, wealth, and honor surpassing that of any king before or after you.” ²³ 

2 Chronicles 7:17-19

7:17 You must serve me as your father David did. Do everything I commanded and obey my rules and regulations. ²⁴  7:18 Then I will establish your dynasty, ²⁵  just as I promised your father David, ‘You will not fail to have a successor ruling over Israel.’ ²⁶ 

7:19 “But if you people ²⁷  ever turn away from me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, ²⁸  and decide to serve and worship other gods, ²⁹ 

2 Chronicles 8:13-16

8:13 He observed the daily requirements for sacrifices that Moses had specified for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and the three annual celebrations – the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Temporary Shelters. ³⁰  8:14 As his father David had decreed, Solomon ³¹  appointed the divisions of the priests to do their assigned tasks, the Levitical orders to lead worship and help the priests with their daily tasks, ³²  and the divisions of the gatekeepers to serve at their assigned gates. ³³  This was what David the man of God had ordered. ³⁴  8:15 They did not neglect any detail of the king’s orders pertaining to the priests, Levites, and treasuries. ³⁵ 

8:16 All the work ordered by Solomon was completed, from the day the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid until it was finished; the Lord’s temple was completed.

Hosea 6:4

Transitory Faithfulness and Imminent Judgment

6:4 What am I going to do with you, O Ephraim?

What am I going to do with you, O Judah?

For ³⁶  your faithfulness is as fleeting as the morning mist; ³⁷ 

it disappears as quickly as dawn’s dew! ³⁸ 

Matthew 13:20-21

13:20 The ³⁹  seed sown on rocky ground ⁴⁰  is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ⁴¹  when ⁴²  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Heb “and Solomon son of David strengthened himself over his kingdom.”

[1:1]  ² tn The disjunctive clause (note the vav [ו] + subject pattern) probably has a causal nuance here.

[1:3]  ³ tn Or “high place.”

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the tent of meeting of God.”

[1:4]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:5]  ⁶ sn The tabernacle was located in Gibeon; see 1 Chr 21:29.

[1:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “sought [or “inquired of”] him.”

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Or “revealed himself.”

[1:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “ask.”

[1:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “did.”

[1:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you word.”

[1:9]  ¹² tn Or “be firm, established.”

[1:10]  ¹³ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) following the imperative here indicates purpose/result.

[1:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “so I may go out before this nation and come in.” The expression “go out…and come in” here means “to lead” (see HALOT 425 s.v. יצא qal.4).

[1:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for.” The word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.

[1:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[1:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to judge.”

[1:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “these numerous people of yours.”

[1:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “because this was in your heart.”

[1:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the life of those who hate you.”

[1:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “many days.”

[1:12]  ²² tn Heb “wisdom and discernment are given to you.”

[1:12]  ²³ tn Heb “which was not so for the kings who were before you, and after you there will not be so.”

[7:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “As for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, by doing all which I commanded you, [and] you keep my rules and my regulations.”

[7:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “I will establish the throne of your kingdom.”

[7:18]  ²⁶ tn Heb “there will not be cut off from you a man ruling over Israel.”

[7:19]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew pronoun is plural, suggesting that Solomon and all Israel (or perhaps Solomon and his successors) are in view. To convey this to the English reader, the translation “you people” has been employed.

[7:19]  ²⁸ tn Heb “which I placed before you.”

[7:19]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”

[8:13]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew phrase הַסֻּכּוֹת[חַג] (khag hassukot, “[festival of] huts” [or “shelters”]) is traditionally known as the Feast of Tabernacles. The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut; booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.

[8:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Solomon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ³² tn Heb “and the Levites, according to their posts, to praise and to serve opposite the priests according to the matter of a day in its day.”

[8:14]  ³³ tn Heb “and the gatekeepers by their divisions for a gate and a gate.”

[8:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for so [was] the command of David the man of God.”

[8:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and they did not turn aside from the command of the king concerning the priests and the Levites with regard to any matter and with regard to the treasuries.”

[6:4]  ³⁶ tn The vav prefixed to וְחַסְדְּכֶם (vÿkhasdÿkhem, “your faithfulness”) functions in an explanatory sense (“For”).

[6:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “your faithfulness [so NCV; NASB “your loyalty”; NIV, NRSV, NLT “your love”] is like a morning cloud” (וְחַסְדְּכֶם כַּעֲנַן־בֹּקֶר, vÿkhasdÿkhem ka’anan-boqer).

[6:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the dew departing early” (BDB 1014 s.v. שָׁכַם); cf. NRSV “the dew that goes away early.” The Hiphil participle מַשְׁכִּים (mashkim) means “to depart early” (Gen 19:27; Josh 8:14; Judg 19:9). The idiom means “early morning” (1 Sam 17:16).

[13:20]  ³⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.

[13:21]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “is temporary.”

[13:21]  ⁴² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.