1tn Heb “were scribes”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “secretaries”; TEV, NLT “court secretaries.”

2tn Heb “was over.”

3tn Heb “was over.”

4tn Heb “close associate of”; KJV, ASV, NASB “the king’s friend” (a title for an adviser, not just an acquaintance).

5tn Heb “over the house.”

6tn Heb “was over.”

7sn The work crews. This Hebrew word (מַס, mas) refers to a group of laborers conscripted for royal or public service.

8map For location see Map1-D4; Map2-C1; Map4-C2; Map5-F2; Map7-B1.

9sn Beginning with 4:21, the verse numbers through 5:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:21 ET = 5:1 HT, 4:22 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:18 ET = 5:32 HT. Beginning with 6:1 the numbering of verses in the English Bible and the Hebrew text is again the same.

10tn Heb “the River” (also in v. 24). This is the standard designation for the Euphrates River in biblical Hebrew.

11tn Heb “[They] were bringing tribute and were serving Solomon all the days of his life.”

12tn Heb “the food of Solomon for each day was.”

13tn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.

14tn The words “in the stall” are added for clarification; note the immediately following reference to cattle from the pasture.

15tn Heb “because.” The words “his royal court was so large” are added to facilitate the logical connection with the preceding verse.

16sn Tiphsah. This was located on the Euphrates River.

17tn Heb “for he was ruling over all [the region] beyond the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kingdoms beyond the River, and he had peace on every side all around.”

18tn Heb “Judah and Israel lived securely, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beer Sheba, all the days of Solomon.”

19tn The Hebrew text has “40,000,” but this is probably an inflated number (nevertheless it is followed by KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, CEV). Some Greek mss of the OT and the parallel in 2 Chr 9:25 read “4,000” (cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

20tn Heb “everyone who drew near to the table of King Solomon.”

21tn Heb “barley and straw for the horses and the steeds they brought to the place which was there, each according to his measure.”

22tn Heb “heart,” i.e., mind. (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

23tn Heb “the wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.”

24tn Heb “his name was in all the surrounding nations.”

25tn Heb “spoke.”

26tn Heb “he spoke about plants.”

27tn Heb “he spoke about.”

28tn Heb “the wisdom of Solomon.”