² sn The spreading of salt over the city was probably a symbolic act designed to place the site under a curse, deprive it of fertility, and prevent any future habitation. The practice is referred to outside the Bible as well. For example, one of the curses in the Aramaic Sefire treaty states concerning Arpad: “May Hadad sow in them salt and weeds, and may it not be mentioned again!” See J. A. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire (BibOr), 15, 53. Deut 29:23, Jer 17:6, and Zeph 2:9 associate salt flats or salty regions with infertility and divine judgment.

³ tn The word מְמֻלָּח (m^emullakh), a passive participle, is usually taken to mean “salted.” Since there is no meaning like that for the Pual form, the word probably should be taken as “mixed,” as in Rashi and Tg. Onq. Seasoning with salt would work if it were food, but since it is not food, if it means “salted” it would be a symbol of what was sound and whole for the covenant. Some have thought that it would have helped the incense burn quickly with more smoke.

¹ tn Heb “Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel has given kingship to David over Israel permanently, to him and to his sons [by] a covenant of salt?”

² tn Heb “the after sea,” that is, the sea behind one when one is facing east, which is the normal OT orientation. Cf. ASV “the hinder sea.”

⁶ sn Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea.

¹ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.

¹ tn Or “sea.” See the note on “lake” in v. 16.

³ sn That is, across the Sea of Galilee from Galilee.

¹ sn Here lake refers to the Sea of Galilee.

² tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”

¹ tn Heb “his hand he stretched out over the sea.”

¹ tn Heb “when he set his decree on the sea.”

¹ tn Heb “and like the sand of the seas winged birds.”

² tn The Hebrew word יָם (yam) can mean “sea” or “lake.”

² sn That is, the Mediterranean Sea (also in the following verse).

¹ tn Heb “the sea,” referring to the Dead Sea. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.

² tn Heb “and it stirred up its [i.e., the sea’s, see v. 23] waves.”

³ tn Heb “the sea of bronze,” or “[the] sea, the bronze one.” See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.

² tn Heb “Reed Sea” (also in v. 15). “Reed Sea” (or “Sea of Reeds”) is a more accurate rendering of the Hebrew expression יָם סוּף (yam suf), traditionally translated “Red Sea.” See the note on the term “Red Sea” in Exod 13:18.