1sn Beginning with 2:1, the verse numbers through 2:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 2:1 ET = 1:18 HT, 2:2 ET = 2:1 HT, 2:3 ET = 2:2 HT, etc., through 2:18 ET = 2:17 HT. Beginning with 3:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

2tn Heb “and Solomon said to build a house for the name of the Lord and house for his kingship.”

3tn Heb “counted,” perhaps “conscripted” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

4tn Heb “carriers of loads.”

5tn Or “quarry workers”; Heb “cutters” (probably referring to stonecutters).

6tc The parallel text of MT in 1 Kgs 5:16 has “thirty-six hundred,” but some Greek mss there read “thirty-six hundred” in agreement with 2 Chr 2:2, 18.

tn Heb “and 3,600 supervisors over them.”

7tn Heb “Huram.” Some medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate spell the name “Hiram,” agreeing with 1 Chr 14:1. “Huram” is a variant spelling referring to the same individual.

8map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

9tn The words “help me” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

10tn Heb “cedars.” The word “logs” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

11tn Heb “to build for him a house to live in it.”

12tn Heb “for the name of.”

13tn Heb “and the regular display.”

14tn Heb “permanently [is] this upon Israel.”

15tn Or “heavens” (also in v. 12). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

16tn Heb “Who retains strength to build for him a house, for the heavens and the heavens of heavens do not contain him? And who am I that I should build for him a house, except to sacrifice before him?”

17map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

18tn This is probably a variant name for almug trees; see 9:10-11 and the parallel passage in 1 Kgs 10:11-12; cf. NLT. One or the other probably arose through metathesis of letters.

19tn Heb “know.”

20sn As a unit of dry measure a kor was roughly equivalent to six bushels (about 220 liters).

21tn Heb “20,000 baths” (also a second time later in this verse). A bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons (about 22 liters), so this was a quantity of about 120,000 gallons (440,000 liters).

22tn Heb “Huram” (also in v. 12). Some medieval Hebrew mss, along with the LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate spell the name “Hiram,” agreeing with 1 Chr 14:1. “Huram” is a variant spelling referring to the same individual.

23tn Heb “who has given to David a wise son [who] knows discernment and insight, who will build a house for the Lord and house for his kingship.”

24sn The name Huram Abi means “Huram [is] my father.”

25tn Heb “a son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father a man of Tyre.”

26tn Heb “and we will cut down trees from Lebanon according to all your need.”

27tn Heb “to you,” but this phrase has not been translated for stylistic reasons – it is somewhat redundant.

28tn Or “on rafts.” See the note at 1 Kgs 5:9.

29tn Heb “counted.”

30tn Heb “made.”

31tn Heb “carriers of loads.”

32tn Or “quarry workers”; Heb “cutters” (probably referring to stonecutters).

33tn Heb “and thirty-six hundred [as] supervisors to compel the people to work.”