³ tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishavaʿ sh^evuʿah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the Lord. The solemn oath seals the vow before the Lord, perhaps with sacrifice. The vocabulary recalls Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the naming of Beer Sheba with the word (see Gen 21).

² tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

³ tn Here “strong drink” probably refers to barley beer (cf. NIV, NCV “beer”).

¹ tn Heb “the head of Sheba son of Bikri.”

⁶ sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.

¹ tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”

³ tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Sheba) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

¹ tn Heb “to Eglaim [is] her wailing, and [to] Beer Elim [is] her wailing.”

¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who arise early in the morning, [who] chase beer.”

² sn Beer Lahai Roi. See the note on this place name in Gen 24:62.

² sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.

² tn Heb “there has not been like those spices which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

² tn Heb “there has not come like those spices yet for quantity which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”

³ sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.

³ sn The metaphors of silver becoming impure and beer being watered down picture the moral and ethical degeneration that had occurred in Jerusalem.

¹ sn Wine and beer should be given to those distressed and dying in order to ease their suffering and help them forget.

¹ tn The word ordinarily means “to oppress.” So many commentators have proposed suitable changes: “overflows” (Beer), “gushes” (Duhm), “swells violently” (Dhorme, from a word that means “be strong”).

¹ sn The drinks are wine and barley beer (e.g., Lev 10:9; Deut 14:26; Isa 28:7). These terms here could be understood as personifications, but better as metonymies for those who drink wine and beer. The inebriated person mocks and brawls.