² tn Or perhaps “who reigned.”

¹ tn Or perhaps, “reigned.”

¹ tn That is, one currently reigns.

¹ tn Heb “reigned in his place.”

³ tn Heb “when their king began [to reign].”

¹ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

³ sn God delivers the downtrodden and oppressed, but sinful rebels who oppose his reign are treated appropriately.

¹ sn The third year of Xerxes’ reign would be ca. 483 b.c.

³ tn That is, the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign (cf. 2:1).

¹ sn The sixth year of the reign of Darius would be ca. 516 b.c.

² sn That is, the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, 597 b.c.

² tn The words “of Solomon’s reign” are added for clarification. See v. 1.

⁵ sn The worship of astral entities may have begun during the reign of Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:5).

⁵ tc The LXX has an addition: “Forsake folly, that you may reign forever; and seek discretion and direct understanding in knowledge.”

¹ sn The dating formulas indicate that the date was 588/87 b.c. Zedekiah had begun to reign in 598/97, and Nebuchadnezzar had begun to reign in 605/604 b.c. The dating of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule here includes the partial year before he was officially crowned on New Year’s day. See the translator’s note on 25:1 for the method of dating a king’s reign.

² tn Heb “in the days of” (again later in this verse). Cf. NASB “during the days of”; NIV “during the reigns of”; NLT “during the years when.”

⁴ sn The imagery of this verse compares the blessings produced by the king’s reign to fructifying rains that cause the crops to grow.

² sn The first year of Cyrus would be ca. 539 b.c. Cyrus reigned in Persia from ca. 539-530 b.c.

¹ sn The first year of Cyrus would be ca. 539 b.c. Cyrus reigned in Persia from ca. 539-530 b.c.

¹ tn Heb “and Solomon came from the high place which was in Gibeon [to] Jerusalem, from before the tent of meeting, and he reigned over Israel.”