9:17 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 9:18 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and a gold footstool was attached to the throne. 3 The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. 4 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. 5
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. 6
1 tn The Hebrew text has simply “300,” with no unit of measure given.
2 sn 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. See 1 Kgs 7:2.
3 tc The parallel text of 1 Kgs 10:19 has instead “and the back of it was rounded on top.”
4 tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”
5 tn Heb “nothing like it had been made for any kingdom.”
6 tn Heb “there was no silver, it was not regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”