1tn Heb “the report about Solomon.” The Hebrew text also has, “to the name of the Lord,” which fits very awkwardly in the sentence. If retained, perhaps it should be translated, “because of the reputation of the Lord.” The phrase, which is omitted in the parallel passage in 2 Chr 9:1, may be an addition based on the queen’s declaration of praise to the Lord in v. 9.

2tn Or “test.”

3tn Or “riddles.”

4map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

5tn Heb “with very great strength.” The Hebrew term חַיִל (khayil, “strength”) may refer here to the size of her retinue (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or to the great wealth she brought with her.

6tn Or “balsam oil.”

7tn Heb “Solomon declared to her all her words; there was not a word hidden from the king which he did not declare to her.” If riddles are specifically in view (see v. 1), then one might translate, “Solomon explained to her all her riddles; there was no riddle too complex for the king.”

8tn Heb “all the wisdom of Solomon.”

9tn Heb “house.”

10tn Heb “the food on his table.”

11tn Heb “the seating of his servants and the standing of his attendants.”

12tn Heb “there was no breath still in her.”

13tn Heb “about your words [or perhaps, “deeds”] and your wisdom.”

14tn Heb “the half was not told to me.”

15tn Heb “good.”

16tn Heb “How happy are your men! How happy are these servants of yours, who stand before you continually, who hear your wisdom!”

17tn Or “delighted in.”

18tn Heb “to do justice and righteousness.”

19tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 9,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV, NLT); CEV “five tons”; TEV “4,000 kilogrammes.”

20tn Heb “there has not come like those spices yet for quantity which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

21tn This Hebrew architectural term occurs only here. The meaning is uncertain; some have suggested “banisters” or “parapets”; cf. TEV, NLT “railings.” The parallel passage in 2 Chr 9:11 has a different word, meaning “tracks,” or perhaps “steps.”

22tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither” [?]), and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

23tn Heb “there has not come thus, the fine timber, and there has not been seen to this day.”

24tn Heb “besides what he had given her according to the hand of King Solomon.”

25tn Heb “turned and went.”

26tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 50,000 pounds of gold (cf. NCV); CEV, NLT “twenty-five tons”; TEV “almost 23,000 kilogrammes.”

27tn Heb “the weight of the gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold.”

28tn Heb “traveling men.”

29tn The Hebrew text has simply “six hundred,” with no unit of measure given.

30sn Three minas. The mina was a unit of measure for weight.

31sn The Palace of the Lebanon Forest. This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest.

32tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”

33tn Heb “nothing like it had been made for all the kingdoms.”

34tn Heb “there was no silver, it was not regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”

35tn Heb “a fleet of Tarshish [ships].” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

36tn Heb “the fleet of Tarshish [ships].”

37tn Heb “came carrying.”

38tn The meaning of this word is unclear. Some suggest “baboons.”

39tn Heb “King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth with respect to wealth and with respect to wisdom.”

40tc The Old Greek translation and Syriac Peshitta have “all the kings of the earth.” See 2 Chr 9:23.

41tn Heb “and all the earth was seeking the face of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had placed in his heart.”

42tn Heb “and they were bringing each one his gift, items of silver…and mules, the matter of a year in a year.”

43tn Or “gathered.”

44tn Heb “he placed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”

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

45tn The words “as plentiful” are added for clarification.

46tn Heb “he made.”

47tn Heb “as the sycamore fig trees which are in the Shephelah.”

48sn From Egypt. Because Que is also mentioned, some prefer to see in vv. 28-29 a reference to Mutsur. Que and Mutsur were located in Cilicia/Cappadocia (in modern southern Turkey). See HALOT 625 s.v. מִצְרַיִם.

49tn Heb “and a chariot went up and came out of Egypt for six hundred silver [pieces], and a horse for one hundred fifty, and in the same way to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram by their hand they brought out.”