1 Kings 9:13

Hiram asked, ¹  “Why did you give me these cities, my friend ² ?” He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day. ³ 

"What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?" he asked. And he called them the Land of Cabul, a name they have to this day.

He said, "What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?" So they were called the land of Cabul to this day.

"What kind of towns are these, my brother?" he asked. "These towns are worthless!" So Hiram called that area Cabul––"worthless"––as it is still known today.

He said, "What kind of reward is this, my friend? Twenty backwoods hick towns!" People still refer to them that way.

And he said, What sort of towns are these which you have given me, my brother? So they were named the land of Cabul, to this day.

Therefore he said, "What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother?" So they are called the land of Cabul to this day.

So he said, "What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother?" And he called them the land of Cabul, as they are to this day.

Hiram asked, ¹  “Why did you give me these cities, my friend ² ?” He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “and he said.”

² tn Heb “my brother.” Kings allied through a parity treaty would sometimes address each other as “my brother.” See 1 Kgs 20:32-33.

³ 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.”