¹ tn Grk “the merchants [sellers] of these things.”

¹ tn Or perhaps “Large merchant ships.” The expression “ships of Tarshish” may describe a class of vessel, that is, large oceangoing merchant ships.

⁶ tn Heb “passing for the merchant.” The final clause affirms that the measurement of silver was according to the standards used by the merchants of the time.

² tn Or “a house of merchants” (an allusion to Zech 14:21).

² sn The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.

⁴ sn The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.

² sn The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.

¹ tn The city of Tyre is described in the following account as a merchant ship.

² tn Or perhaps “Canaanites.” Cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי. Translators have rendered the term either as “the merchant people” (KJV, NKJV), “the traders” (NRSV), “merchants” (NEB, NIV), or, alternatively, “the people of Canaan” (NASB).

² sn The proverb refers to a merchant who holds back his grain from the free market to raise prices when there is a great need for the produce. It is assumed that merchants are supposed to have a social conscience.

³ sn The merchants (those who were selling things there) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.

¹ sn Merchants also used rigged scales and deceptive weights to cheat their customers. See the note at Amos 8:5.

¹ tn Heb “the merchant…loves to cheat.” The Hebrew has singular forms (noun and verb) that are used generically to refer to all Israelite merchants and traders in general. The singular noun II כְּנַעַן (k^enaʿan, “a merchant; a trader”; BDB 488 s.v. II כְּנַעַן) is used in a generic sense to refer to the merchant class of Israel as a whole (e.g., Ezek 16:29; 17:4; Zeph 1:11).

¹ tn Or “merchant”; “trader” (because Canaanites, especially Phoenicians, were merchants and traders; cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי). English versions have rendered the term as “Canaanite” (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV), “trader” (RSV, NEB), “traders” (NRSV, NLT), or “merchant” (NAB), although frequently a note is given explaining the other option. Cf. also John 2:16.

⁶ tn The singular form of רוֹכֵל (rokhel, “merchant”) may be classified as a generic singular, representing the genus of the merchant guild of which there are many. The term רוֹכֵל means “trader, vendor,” as small retailer (HALOT 1237 s.v. I רכל) distinct from סָתַר (satar) “shopkeeper, dealer” as large wholesaler (HALOT 750 s.v. סתר). It may refer to a traveling merchant, as in Middle Hebrew רוֹכְלָה (rokh^elah) “traveling merchant” and Old South Arabic rkl “to go about as a trader” (Conti 242a). The general nuance appears in Judean Aramaic רוֹכְלָא (rokh^elaʾ, “hawker, peddler”) and Syriac rakkala “merchant.”

³ sn Merchants would use a smaller than standard measure so they could give the customer less than he thought he was paying for.

⁴ tn In Ps 68:24 this word has the meaning of “processions”; here that procession is of traveling merchants forming convoys or caravans.

² tn Heb “streets,” but this must refer to streets set up with stalls for merchants to sell their goods. See HALOT 299 s.v. חוּץ.

³ sn The Sabeans were Arabian merchants who were influential along the ancient caravan routes that traveled through Arabia. See also Job 1:15; Isa 43:3; 45:14; Ps 72:10.

² tn Heb “The merchant—in his hand are scales of deceit—loves to cheat.” The present translation rearranges the Hebrew line division to produce a smoother English rendering.