1 Raja-raja 1:34-35

1:34 There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint ¹  him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 1:35 Then follow him up as he comes and sits on my throne. He will be king in my place; I have decreed ²  that he will be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

1 Raja-raja 1:52

1:52 Solomon said, “If he is a loyal subject, ³  not a hair of his head will be harmed, but if he is found to be a traitor, ⁴  he will die.”

1 Raja-raja 2:5-7

2:5 “You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me – how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. ⁵  During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle; ⁶  when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet. ⁷  2:6 Do to him what you think is appropriate, ⁸  but don’t let him live long and die a peaceful death. ⁹ 

2:7 “Treat fairly ¹⁰  the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs, ¹¹  because they helped me ¹²  when I had to flee from your brother Absalom.

1 Raja-raja 2:9

2:9 But now ¹³  don’t treat him as if he were innocent. You are a wise man and you know how to handle him; ¹⁴  make sure he has a bloody death.” ¹⁵ 

1 Raja-raja 2:15

2:15 He said, “You know that the kingdom ¹⁶  was mine and all Israel considered me king. ¹⁷  But then the kingdom was given to my brother, for the Lord decided it should be his. ¹⁸ 

1 Raja-raja 2:24

2:24 Now, as certainly as the Lord lives (he who made me secure, allowed me to sit on my father David’s throne, and established a dynasty ¹⁹  for me as he promised), Adonijah will be executed today!”

1 Raja-raja 2:37

2:37 If you ever do leave and cross the Kidron Valley, know for sure that you will certainly die! You will be responsible for your own death.” ²⁰ 

1 Raja-raja 2:42

2:42 the king summoned ²¹  Shimei and said to him, “You will recall ²²  that I made you take an oath by the Lord, and I solemnly warned you, ‘If you ever leave and go anywhere, ²³  know for sure that you will certainly die.’ You said to me, ‘The proposal is acceptable; I agree to it.’ ²⁴ 

1 Raja-raja 3:5

3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared ²⁵  to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell ²⁶  me what I should give you.”

1 Raja-raja 4:7

4:7 Solomon had twelve district governors appointed throughout Israel who acquired supplies for the king and his palace. Each was responsible for one month in the year.

1 Raja-raja 5:5

5:5 So I have decided ²⁷  to build a temple to honor the Lord ²⁸  my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’ ²⁹ 

1 Raja-raja 5:11

5:11 and Solomon supplied Hiram annually with 20,000 cors ³⁰  of wheat as provision for his royal court, ³¹  as well as 20,000 baths ³²  of pure ³³  olive oil. ³⁴ 

1 Raja-raja 7:40

7:40 Hiram also made basins, shovels, and bowls. He ³⁵  finished all the work on the Lord’s temple he had been assigned by King Solomon. ³⁶ 

1 Raja-raja 8:15

8:15 He said, “The Lord God of Israel is worthy of praise because he has fulfilled ³⁷  what he promised ³⁸  my father David.

1 Raja-raja 8:35-36

8:35 “The time will come when ³⁹  the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people ⁴⁰  sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, ⁴¹  and turn away from their sin because you punish ⁴²  them, 8:36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly ⁴³  you will then teach them the right way to live ⁴⁴  and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess. ⁴⁵ 

1 Raja-raja 12:5-6

12:5 He said to them, “Go away for three days, then return to me.” So the people went away.

12:6 King Rehoboam consulted with the older advisers who had served ⁴⁶  his father Solomon when he had been alive. He asked them, ⁴⁷  “How do you advise me to answer these people?”

1 Raja-raja 12:9-10

12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me ⁴⁸  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ⁴⁹  12:10 The young advisers with whom Rehoboam ⁵⁰  had grown up said to him, “Say this to these people who have said to you, ‘Your father made us work hard, but now lighten our burden.’ ⁵¹  Say this to them: ‘I am a lot harsher than my father! ⁵² 

1 Raja-raja 12:15

12:15 The king refused to listen to the people, because the Lord was instigating this turn of events ⁵³  so that he might bring to pass the prophetic announcement he had made ⁵⁴  through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.

1 Raja-raja 14:5

14:5 But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her so-and-so. ⁵⁵  When she comes, she will be in a disguise.”

1 Raja-raja 14:15

14:15 The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water. ⁵⁶  He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors ⁵⁷  and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, ⁵⁸  because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles. ⁵⁹ 

1 Raja-raja 15:22

15:22 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah (no exemptions were granted) to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. ⁶⁰  King Asa used the materials to build up ⁶¹  Geba (in Benjamin) and Mizpah.

1 Raja-raja 16:13

16:13 This happened because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and which they made Israel commit. They angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols. ⁶² 

1 Raja-raja 16:26

16:26 He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin; ⁶³  they angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols. ⁶⁴ 

1 Raja-raja 16:33

16:33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he ⁶⁵  did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

1 Raja-raja 17:9

17:9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told ⁶⁶  a widow who lives there to provide for you.”

1 Raja-raja 17:18

17:18 She asked Elijah, “Why, prophet, have you come ⁶⁷  to me to confront me with ⁶⁸  my sin and kill my son?”

1 Raja-raja 18:27

18:27 At noon Elijah mocked them, “Yell louder! After all, he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.” ⁶⁹ 

1 Raja-raja 19:7

19:7 The Lord’s angelic messenger came back again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, for otherwise you won’t be able to make the journey.” ⁷⁰ 

1 Raja-raja 19:15-16

19:15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came and then head for the Desert of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael king over Syria. 19:16 You must anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to take your place as prophet.

1 Raja-raja 20:5

20:5 The messengers came again and said, “This is what Ben Hadad says, ‘I sent this message to you, “You must give me your silver, gold, wives, and sons.”

1 Raja-raja 20:14

20:14 Ahab asked, “By whom will this be accomplished?” ⁷¹  He answered, “This is what the Lord says, ‘By the servants of the district governors.’” Ahab ⁷²  asked, “Who will launch the attack?” He answered, “You will.”

1 Raja-raja 20:22

The Lord Gives Israel Another Victory

20:22 The prophet ⁷³  visited the king of Israel and instructed him, “Go, fortify your defenses. ⁷⁴  Determine ⁷⁵  what you must do, for in the spring ⁷⁶  the king of Syria will attack ⁷⁷  you.”

1 Raja-raja 20:39-40

20:39 When the king passed by, he called out to the king, “Your servant went out into the heat ⁷⁸  of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. ⁷⁹  He told me, ‘Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, ⁸⁰  you will pay with your life or with a talent ⁸¹  of silver.’ ⁸²  20:40 Well, it just so happened that while your servant was doing this and that, he disappeared.” The king of Israel said to him, “Your punishment is already determined by your own testimony.” ⁸³ 

1 Raja-raja 20:42

20:42 The prophet ⁸⁴  then said to him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Because you released a man I had determined should die, you will pay with your life and your people will suffer instead of his people.’” ⁸⁵ 

1 Raja-raja 21:10

21:10 Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

1 Raja-raja 22:5-6

22:5 Then Jehoshaphat added, ⁸⁶  “First seek an oracle from the Lord.” ⁸⁷  22:6 So the king of Israel assembled about four hundred prophets and asked them, “Should I attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” ⁸⁸  They said, “Attack! The sovereign one ⁸⁹  will hand it over to the king.”

1 Raja-raja 22:15-16

22:15 When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” He answered him, “Attack! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” ⁹⁰  22:16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you solemnly promise in ⁹¹  the name of the Lord to tell me only the truth?”

1 Raja-raja 22:35

22:35 While the battle raged throughout the day, the king stood propped up in his chariot opposite the Syrians. He died in the evening; the blood from the wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot.

1 Raja-raja 22:48

22:48 Jehoshaphat built a fleet of large merchant ships ⁹²  to travel to Ophir for gold, but they never made the voyage because they were shipwrecked in Ezion Geber.

[1:34]  ¹ tn Or “designate” (i.e., by anointing with oil).

[1:35]  ² tn Or “commanded.”

[1:52]  ³ tn Heb “if he is a man of strength [or ability].” In this context, where Adonijah calls himself a “servant,” implying allegiance to the new king, the phrase אִישׁ חַיִל (’ish khayil) probably carries the sense of “a worthy man,” that is, “loyal” (see HALOT 311 s.v. חַיִל).

[1:52]  ⁴ tn Heb “but if evil is found in him.”

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “what he did to the two commanders…and he killed them.”

[2:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “he shed the blood of battle in peace.”

[2:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he shed the blood of battle when he killed which is on his waist and on his sandal[s] which are on his feet.” That is, he covered himself with guilt and his guilt was obvious to all who saw him.

[2:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to your wisdom.”

[2:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “and do not bring down his grey hair in peace [to] Sheol.”

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “do loyalty with”; or “act faithfully toward.”

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and let them be among the ones who eat [at] your table.”

[2:7]  ¹² tn Heb “drew near to.”

[2:9]  ¹³ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek and the Vulgate have here “you” rather than “now.” The two words are homonyms in Hebrew.

[2:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “what you should do to him.”

[2:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “bring his grey hair down in blood [to] Sheol.”

[2:15]  ¹⁶ tn Or “kingship.”

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “set their face to me to be king.”

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the kingdom turned about and became my brother’s, for from the Lord it became his.”

[2:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[2:37]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your blood will be upon your head.”

[2:42]  ²¹ tn Heb “sent and summoned.”

[2:42]  ²² tn Heb “Is it not [true]…?” In the Hebrew text the statement is interrogative; the rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course it is.”

[2:42]  ²³ tn Heb “here or there.”

[2:42]  ²⁴ tn Heb “good is the word; I have heard.”

[3:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “revealed himself.”

[3:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “ask.”

[5:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Look, I am saying.”

[5:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a house for the name of the Lord.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

[5:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a house for my name.” The word “name” sometimes refers to one’s reputation or honor. The “name” of the Lord sometimes designates the Lord himself, being indistinguishable from the proper name.

[5:11]  ³⁰ sn As a unit of dry measure a cor was roughly equivalent to six bushels.

[5:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “his house.”

[5:11]  ³² tc The Hebrew text has “twenty cors,” but the ancient Greek version and the parallel text in 2 Chr 2:10 read “twenty thousand baths.”

[5:11]  sn A bath was a liquid measure equivalent to almost six gallons.

[5:11]  ³³ tn Or “pressed.”

[5:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and Solomon supplied Hiram with twenty thousand cors of wheat…pure olive oil. So Solomon would give to Hiram year by year.”

[7:40]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Hiram.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:40]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Hiram finished doing all the work which he did for King Solomon [on] the house of the Lord.”

[8:15]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his hand.”

[8:15]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew text reads, “by his mouth.”

[8:35]  ³⁹ tn Heb “when.” In the Hebrew text vv. 35-36a actually contain one lengthy conditional sentence, which the translation has divided into two sentences for stylistic reasons.

[8:35]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (your people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:35]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “confess [or perhaps, “praise”] your name.”

[8:35]  ⁴² tn The Hebrew text has “because you answer them,” as if the verb is from עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”). However, this reference to a divine answer is premature, since the next verse asks for God to intervene in mercy. It is better to revocalize the consonantal text as תְעַנֵּם (tÿ’annem, “you afflict them”), a Piel verb form from the homonym עָנָה (“to afflict”).

[8:36]  ⁴³ tn The translation understands כִּי (ki) in an emphatic or asseverative sense.

[8:36]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the good way in which they should walk.”

[8:36]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “for an inheritance.”

[12:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “stood before.”

[12:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[12:9]  ⁴⁸ tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.

[12:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

[12:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Rehoboam) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Your father made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter upon us.”

[12:10]  ⁵² tn Heb “My little one is thicker than my father’s hips.” The referent of “my little one” is not clear. The traditional view is that it refers to the little finger. As the following statement makes clear, Rehoboam’s point is that he is more harsh and demanding than his father.

[12:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “because this turn of events was from the Lord.”

[12:15]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “so that he might bring to pass his word which the Lord spoke.”

[14:5]  ⁵⁵ sn Tell her so-and-so. Certainly the Lord gave Ahijah a specific message to give to Jeroboam’s wife (see vv. 6-16), but the author of Kings here condenses the Lord’s message with the words “so-and-so.” For dramatic effect he prefers to have us hear the message from Ahijah’s lips as he speaks to the king’s wife.

[14:15]  ⁵⁶ tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the Lord will strike Israel as a reed sways in the water.”

[14:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).

[14:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew this is a typical reference to the Euphrates River. The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:15]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the Lord”; or “their images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “they set up idols to worship Asherah.”

[14:15]  sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).

[15:22]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “and King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, there was no one exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its wood which Baasha had built.”

[15:22]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and King Asa built with them.”

[16:13]  ⁶² tn Heb “angering the Lord God of Israel with their empty things.”

[16:26]  ⁶³ tn Heb “walked in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin which he made Israel sin.”

[16:26]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “angering the Lord God of Israel with their empty things.”

[16:33]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “Ahab”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[17:9]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “Look, I have commanded.”

[17:18]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “What to me and to you, man of God, that you have come.”

[17:18]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “to make me remember.”

[18:27]  ⁶⁹ sn Elijah’s sarcastic proposals would have been especially offensive and irritating to Baal’s prophets, for they believed Baal was imprisoned in the underworld as death’s captive during this time of drought. Elijah’s apparent ignorance of their theology is probably designed for dramatic effect; indeed the suggestion that Baal is away on a trip or deep in sleep comes precariously close to the truth as viewed by the prophets.

[19:7]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “for the journey is too great for you.”

[20:14]  ⁷¹ tn The words “will this be accomplished” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[20:14]  ⁷² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:22]  ⁷³ tn The definite article indicates previous reference, that is, “the prophet mentioned earlier” (see v. 13).

[20:22]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “strengthen yourself.”

[20:22]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “know and see.”

[20:22]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “at the turning of the year.”

[20:22]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “go up against.”

[20:39]  ⁷⁸ tn Heb “middle.”

[20:39]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “man” (also a second time later in this verse).

[20:39]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “if being missed, he is missed.” The emphatic infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form lends solemnity to the warning.

[20:39]  ⁸¹ tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75 pounds of silver.

[20:39]  ⁸² tn Heb “your life will be in place of his life, or a unit of silver you will pay.”

[20:40]  ⁸³ tn Heb “so [i.e., in accordance with his testimony] is your judgment, you have determined [it].”

[20:42]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:42]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “Because you sent away the man of my destruction [i.e., that I determined should be destroyed] from [my/your?] hand, your life will be in place of his life, and your people in place of his people.”

[22:5]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel.”

[22:5]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “the word of the Lord.” Jehoshaphat is requesting a prophetic oracle revealing the Lord’s will in the matter and their prospects for success. For examples of such oracles, see 2 Sam 5:19, 23-24.

[22:6]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead for war or should I refrain?”

[22:6]  ⁸⁹ tn Though Jehoshaphat requested an oracle from “the Lord” (יְהוָה, Yahweh), they stop short of actually using this name and substitute the title אֲדֹנָי (’adonai, “lord; master”). This ambiguity may explain in part Jehoshaphat’s hesitancy and caution (vv. 7-8). He seems to doubt that the four hundred are genuine prophets of the Lord.

[22:15]  ⁹⁰ sn “Attack! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” One does not expect Micaiah, having just vowed to speak only what the Lord tells him, to agree with the other prophets and give the king an inaccurate prophecy. Micaiah’s actions became understandable later, when it is revealed that the Lord desires to deceive the king and lead him to his demise. The Lord even dispatches a lying spirit to deceive Ahab’s prophets. Micaiah can lie to the king because he realizes this lie is from the Lord. It is important to note that in v. 14 Micaiah only vows to speak the word of the Lord; he does not necessarily say he will tell the truth. In this case the Lord’s word itself is deceptive. Only when the king adjures him to tell the truth (v. 16), does Micaiah do so.

[22:16]  ⁹¹ tn Or “swear an oath by.”

[22:48]  ⁹² tn Heb “a fleet of Tarshish [ships].” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.