¹ tn Or “disciplined.”

² tn Heb “did not correct him from his days.” The phrase “from his days” means “from his earliest days,” or “ever in his life.” See GKC 382 §119.w, n. 2.

³ tn Heb “and she gave birth to him after Absalom.” This does not imply they had the same mother; Absalom’s mother was Maacah, not Haggith (2 Sam 3:4).

⁴ tn Heb “the king.”

⁵ tn The plural form is used in the Hebrew text to indicate honor and authority.

⁶ tn Heb “mount Solomon my son on the mule that belongs to me and take him down to Gihon.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew text has “look” at this point. The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh), “look draws attention to Jonathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.

⁸ tn Or “surely.”

⁹ tn Heb “you are a man of strength [or “ability”] and you bring a message [that is] good.” Another option is to understand the phrase אִישׁ חַיִל (’ish khayil) in the sense of “a worthy man,” that is “loyal.” See also 1 Kgs 1:52 and HALOT 311 s.v. חַיִל.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text reads, “and the king said.”

¹¹ tn Or “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who….” In this blessing formula אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who; because”) introduces the reason why the one being blessed deserves the honor.

¹² tn Heb “and my eyes are seeing.”

¹³ tn Heb “sent and they brought him down.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Go to your house.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “[in] peace.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “Solomon loved the Lord by walking in.”

¹⁷ tn Or “policies, rules.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “a covenant,” referring to a formal peace treaty or alliance.

¹⁹ tn Heb “and he built on the wall of the temple an extension all around, the walls of the temple all around, for the main hall and for the holy place, and he made side rooms all around.”

²⁰ tn Heb “five cubits.” This must refer to the height of each floor or room.

²¹ tn Heb “twenty cubits” (this measurement occurs three times in this verse).

²² tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).

²³ tn Heb “he plated [the] altar of cedar.”

²⁴ tn Heb “with plated gold” (or perhaps, “with pure gold”).

²⁵ tn Heb “it.”

²⁶ tn Heb “the pillar, doorposts, a fifth part” (the precise meaning of this description is uncertain).

²⁷ tn Heb “and so he did at the entrance of the main hall, doorposts of olive wood, from a fourth.”

²⁸ tn 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.

²⁹ tn Heb “four cubits.”

³⁰ tn Heb “four cubits.”

³¹ tn Heb “three cubits.”

³² tn Heb “according to the space of each.”

³³ tn The precise meaning of this last word, translated “wreaths,” is uncertain.

³⁴ tn Heb “forty baths” (a bath was a liquid measure roughly equivalent to six gallons).

³⁵ tn Heb “four cubits, each basin.” It is unclear which dimension is being measured.

³⁶ tn The words “he made” are added for stylistic reasons.

³⁷ tn Heb “and all the desire of Solomon which he wanted to do.”

³⁸ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

³⁹ tn Heb “and he said.”

⁴⁰ tn Heb “my brother.” Kings allied through a parity treaty would sometimes address each other as “my brother.” See 1 Kgs 20:32-33.

⁴¹ tn Heb “he called them the land of Cabul to this day.” The significance of the name is unclear, though it appears to be disparaging. The name may be derived from a root, attested in Akkadian and Arabic, meaning “bound” or “restricted.” Some propose a wordplay, pointing out that the name “Cabul” sounds like a Hebrew phrase meaning, “like not,” or “as good as nothing.”

⁴² tn Heb “besides what he had given her according to the hand of King Solomon.”

⁴³ tn Heb “turned and went.”

⁴⁴ tn Heb “bent his heart after.”

⁴⁵ tn Heb “his heart was not complete with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.”

⁴⁶ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

⁴⁷ tn The idiomatic statement reads in Hebrew, “he did not fill up after.”

⁴⁸ tn Heb “bent his heart.”

⁴⁹ sn These two occasions are mentioned in 1 Kgs 3:5 and 9:2.

⁵⁰ tn Heb “raised a hand against.”

⁵¹ tn Heb “Ephrathite,” which here refers to an Ephraimite (see HALOT 81 s.v. אֶפְרַיִם).

⁵² tn Heb “but Jeroboam arose and ran away to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt.”

⁵³ tn Heb “made our yoke burdensome.”

⁵⁴ tn Heb “but you, now, lighten the burdensome work of your father and the heavy yoke which he placed on us, and we will serve you.” In the Hebrew text the prefixed verbal form with vav (וְנַעַבְדֶךָ, [vÿna’avdekha] “and we will serve you”) following the imperative (הָקֵל [haqel], “lighten”) indicates purpose (or result). The conditional sentence used in the translation above is an attempt to bring out the logical relationship between these forms.

⁵⁵ tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.

⁵⁶ tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

⁵⁷ tn Heb “came.”

⁵⁸ tc The Old Greek translation has here a lengthy section consisting of twenty-three verses that are not found in the MT.

⁵⁹ tn The Hebrew text has “and his sons saw” (וַיִּרְאוּ [vayyir’u], Qal from רָאָה [ra’ah]). In this case the verbal construction (vav consecutive + prefixed verbal form) would have to be understood as pluperfect, “his sons had seen.” Such uses of this construction are rare at best. Consequently many, following the lead of the ancient versions, prefer to emend the verbal form to a Hiphil with pronominal suffix (וַיַּרְאֻהוּ [vayyar’uhu], “and they showed him”).

⁶⁰ tn Heb “the man of God.”

⁶¹ tn Heb “take in your hand.”

⁶² tn The word used here, גִלּוּלִים [gillulim], is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אֱלִילִים, ’elilim), “vanities” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).

⁶³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 24).

⁶⁴ tn Heb “because of Jeroboam which he committed and which he made Israel commit, by his provocation by which he made the Lord God of Israel angry.”

⁶⁵ tn Heb “walked in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin which he made Israel sin.”

⁶⁶ tn Heb “angering the Lord God of Israel with their empty things.”

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

⁶⁸ tn Heb “after these things.”

⁶⁹ sn Torn down. The condition of the altar symbolizes the spiritual state of the people.

⁷⁰ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah.”

⁷¹ tn Heb “and girded up his loins.” The idea is that of gathering up the robes and tucking them into the sash or belt so that they do not get in the way of the legs when running (or working or fighting).

⁷² tn Or “lay down.”

⁷³ tn Heb “Look, a messenger.”

⁷⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷⁵ tn Heb “after them he assembled all the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand.”

⁷⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷⁷ tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words here: “he tore his garments and put on sackcloth. After these things.”

⁷⁸ tn Heb “and fall.”

⁷⁹ tn Heb “the spirit.” The significance of the article prefixed to רוּחַ (ruakh) is uncertain, but it could contain a clue as to this spirit’s identity, especially when interpreted in light of v. 24. It is certainly possible, and probably even likely, that the article is used in a generic or dramatic sense and should be translated, “a spirit.” In the latter case it would show that this spirit was vivid and definite in the mind of Micaiah the storyteller. However, if one insists that the article indicates a well-known or universally known spirit, the following context provides a likely referent. Verse 24 tells how Zedekiah slapped Micaiah in the face and then asked sarcastically, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord (רוּחַ־יְהוָה, [ruakh-Yahweh], Heb “the spirit of the Lord”) go when he went from me to speak to you?” When the phrase “the spirit of the Lord” refers to the divine spirit (rather than the divine breath or mind, Isa 40:7, 13) elsewhere, the spirit energizes an individual or group for special tasks or moves one to prophesy. This raises the possibility that the deceiving spirit of vv. 20-23 is the same as the divine spirit mentioned by Zedekiah in v. 24. This would explain why the article is used on רוּחַ; he can be called “the spirit” because he is the well-known spirit who energizes the prophets.

⁸⁰ tn Heb “Listen.”