2 Chronicles 9:18-31

9:18 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and a gold footstool was attached to the throne. ¹  The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. ²  9:19 There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom. ³ 

9:20 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time. ⁴  9:21 The king had a fleet of large merchant ships ⁵  manned by Huram’s men ⁶  that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet ⁷  came into port with cargoes of ⁸  gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ⁹ 

9:22 King Solomon was wealthier and wiser than any of the kings of the earth. ¹⁰  9:23 All the kings of the earth wanted to visit Solomon to see him display his God-given wisdom. ¹¹  9:24 Year after year visitors brought their gifts, which included items of silver, items of gold, clothes, perfume, spices, horses, and mules. ¹² 

9:25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses ¹³  and 12,000 horses. He kept them in assigned cities and in Jerusalem. ¹⁴  9:26 He ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River ¹⁵  to the land of the Philistines as far as the border of Egypt. 9:27 The king made silver as plentiful ¹⁶  in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was ¹⁷  as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands ¹⁸ . 9:28 Solomon acquired horses from Egypt and from all the lands.

Solomon’s Reign Ends

9:29 The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, from start to finish, are recorded ¹⁹  in the Annals of Nathan the Prophet, the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the Vision of Iddo the Seer pertaining to Jeroboam son of Nebat. 9:30 Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem ²⁰  for forty years. 9:31 Then Solomon passed away ²¹  and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king.

[9:18]  ¹ tc The parallel text of 1 Kgs 10:19 has instead “and the back of it was rounded on top.”

[9:18]  ² tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”

[9:19]  ³ tn Heb “nothing like it had been made for any kingdom.”

[9:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “there was no silver, it was not regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”

[9:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “for ships belonging to the king were going [to] Tarshish with the servants of Huram.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[9:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “servants.”

[9:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “the fleet of Tarshish [ships].”

[9:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish came carrying.”

[9:21]  ⁹ tn The meaning of this word is unclear; some suggest it refers to “baboons.” NEB has “monkeys,” NASB, NRSV “peacocks,” and NIV “baboons.”

[9:22]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and wisdom.”

[9:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and all the kings of the earth were seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had placed in his heart.”

[9:24]  ¹² tn Heb “and they were bringing each one his gift, items of silver…and mules, the matter of a year in a year.”

[9:25]  ¹³ tc The parallel text of 1 Kgs 10:26 reads “fourteen hundred chariots.”

[9:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”

[9:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew the Euphrates River was typically referred to simply as “the River.”

[9:27]  ¹⁶ tn The words “as plentiful” are supplied for clarification.

[9:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he made cedar.”

[9:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah.”

[9:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Solomon, the former and the latter, are they not written?”

[9:30]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[9:31]  ²¹ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”