2tn Heb “he built.”

3sn 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.

4tn Heb “one hundred cubits.”

5tn Heb “fifty cubits.”

6tn Heb “thirty cubits.”

7tn Heb “and framed [windows in] three rows, and opening to opening three times.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain. Another option might be, “overhung [in] three rows.” This might mean they were positioned high on the walls.

8tn Heb “all of the doors and doorposts.”

9sn Rectangular in shape. That is, rather than arched.

10tn Heb “and all the entrances and the doorposts [had] four frames, and in front of opening to opening three times” (the precise meaning of the description is uncertain).

11tn Heb “a porch of pillars.”

12tn Heb “fifty cubits.”

13tn Heb “thirty cubits.”

14tn Heb “and a porch was in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars) and pillars and a roof in front of them (i.e., the aforementioned pillars and porch).” The precise meaning of the term translated “roof” is uncertain; it occurs only here and in Ezek 41:25-26.

15tn Heb “and a porch for the throne, where he was making judicial decisions, the Porch of Judgment, he made.”

16tc The Hebrew text reads, “from the floor to the floor.” The second occurrence of the term הַקַּרְקָע (haqqarqa’, “the floor”) is probably an error; one should emend to הַקּוֹרוֹת (haqqorot, “the rafters”). See 6:16.

17tn Heb “and his house where he lived, the other court [i.e., as opposed to the great court], separated from the house belonging to the hall, was like this work [i.e., this style of architecture].”

18tn Heb “and a house he was making for the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon had taken, like this porch.”

19tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).

20tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”

21tn Heb “inside and out.”

22tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word טְפָחוֹת (t˙fakhot) is uncertain, but it is clear that the referent stands in opposition to the foundation.

23tn Heb “stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits” (it is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured). If both numbers refer to the length of the stones (cf. NCV, CEV, NLT), then perhaps stones of two different sizes were used in some alternating pattern.

24tn Heb “on top,” or “above.”

25tn Or “valuable” (see 5:17).

26tn Heb “according to the measurement of chiseled [stone].”

27tn Or “the porch of the temple.”

28tn Heb “King Solomon sent and took Hiram from Tyre.” In 2 Chr 2:13 (MT v. 12) and 4:11, 16 his name is spelled “Huram.”

29map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

30tn 2 Chr 2:14 (13 HT) says “from the daughters of Dan.”

31tn Heb “he was filled with the skill, understanding, and knowledge.”

32tn Heb “eighteen cubits.”

33tn Heb “twelve cubits.”

34tn Heb “two capitals he made to place on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; five cubits was the height of the first capital, and five cubits was the height of the second capital.”

35tn Heb “there were seven for the first capital, and seven for the second capital.”

36tn Heb “he made the pillars, and two rows surrounding one latticework to cover the capitals which were on top of the pomegranates, and so he did for the second latticework.” The translation supplies “pomegranates” after “two rows,” and understands “pillars,” rather than “pomegranates,” to be the correct reading after “on top of.” The latter change finds support from many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version.

37tn Heb “the capitals which were on the top of the pillars were the work of lilies, in the porch, four cubits.” It is unclear exactly what dimension is being measured.

38tn Heb “and the capitals on the two pillars, also above, close beside the bulge which was beside the latticework, two hundred pomegranates in rows around, on the second capital.” The precise meaning of the word translated “bulge” is uncertain.

39tn Or “south.”

40sn The name Jakin appears to be a verbal form and probably means, “he establishes.”

41tn Or “north.”

42sn The meaning of the name Boaz is uncertain. For various proposals, see BDB 126-27 s.v. בעז. One attractive option is to revocalize the name as בְּעֹז (be’oz, “in strength”) and to understand it as completing the verbal form on the first pillar. Taking the words together and reading from right to left, one can translate the sentence, “he establishes [it] in strength.”

43tn Heb “He made the sea, cast.”

sn This large basin that was mounted on twelve bronze bulls and contained water for the priests to bathe themselves (2 Chr 4:6; cf. Exod 30:17-21).

44tn Heb “ten cubits.”

45tn Heb “five cubits.”

46tn Heb “and a measuring line went around it thirty cubits all around.”

47tn Heb “The Sea.” The proper noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

48tn Or “gourd-shaped ornaments.”

49tn Heb “ten cubits surrounding the sea all around.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.

50tn Heb “the gourd-shaped ornaments were in two rows, cast in its casting.”

51tn Heb “all their hindquarters were toward the inside.”

52tn Heb “two thousand baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).

53tn Heb “four cubits.”

54tn Heb “four cubits.”

55tn Heb “three cubits.”

56tn The precise meaning of these final words is uncertain. A possible literal translation would be, “wreaths, the work of descent.”

57tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.

58tn Heb “And its opening from the inside to the top and upwards [was] a cubit, and its opening was round, the work of a stand, a cubit-and-a-half.” The precise meaning of this description is uncertain.

59tn Heb “also over its opening were carvings and their frames [were] squared, not round.”

60tn Heb “a cubit-and-a-half” (a cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm).

61tn Heb “four shoulders to the four sides of each stand, from the stand its shoulders.” The precise meaning of the description is uncertain.

62tn Heb “and on top of the stand, a half cubit [in] height, round all around” (the meaning of this description is uncertain).

63tn Heb “according to the space of each.”

64tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.

65tn Heb “forty baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).

66tn Heb “four cubits, each basin.” It is unclear which dimension is being measured.

67tn Heb “Hiram.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

68tn Heb “Hiram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of the Lord.”

69tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.

70tn Heb “underneath ‘The Sea.’”

71tn Heb “which Hiram made for King Solomon [for] the house of the Lord.”

72tn Or perhaps, “molds.”

73tn Heb “Solomon left all the items, due to their very great abundance; the weight of the bronze was not sought.”

74tn Heb “the bread of the face [or presence].” Many recent English versions employ “the bread of the Presence,” although this does not convey much to the modern reader.

sn This bread was viewed as a perpetual offering to God and was regarded as holy. See Lev 24:5-9.

75tn Heb “Solomon.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.