2 Tawarikh 9:11

9:11 With the timber the king made steps ¹  for the Lord’s temple and royal palace as well as stringed instruments ²  for the musicians. No one had seen anything like them in the land of Judah prior to that. ³ )

2 Tawarikh 9:15-21

9:15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; 600 measures ⁴  of hammered gold were used for each shield. 9:16 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures ⁵  of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. ⁶ 

9:17 The king made a large throne decorated with ivory and overlaid it with pure gold. 9:18 There were six steps leading up to the throne, and a gold footstool was attached to the throne. ⁷  The throne had two armrests with a statue of a lion standing on each side. ⁸  9:19 There were twelve statues of lions on the six steps, one lion at each end of each step. There was nothing like it in any other kingdom. ⁹ 

9:20 All of King Solomon’s cups were made of gold, and all the household items in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest were made of pure gold. There were no silver items, for silver was not considered very valuable in Solomon’s time. ¹⁰  9:21 The king had a fleet of large merchant ships ¹¹  manned by Huram’s men ¹²  that sailed the sea. Once every three years the fleet ¹³  came into port with cargoes of ¹⁴  gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. ¹⁵ 

[9:11]  ¹ tn Heb “tracks.” The parallel text in 1 Kgs 10:12 has a different term whose meaning is uncertain: “supports,” perhaps “banisters” or “parapets.”

[9:11]  ² tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[9:11]  ³ tn Heb “there was not seen like these formerly in the land of Judah.”

[9:15]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has simply “600,” with no unit of measure given.

[9:16]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has simply “300,” with no unit of measure given.

[9:16]  ⁶ sn This name was appropriate because of the large amount of cedar, undoubtedly brought from Lebanon, used in its construction. The cedar pillars in the palace must have given it the appearance of a forest. See 1 Kgs 7:2.

[9:18]  ⁷ tc The parallel text of 1 Kgs 10:19 has instead “and the back of it was rounded on top.”

[9:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “[There were] armrests on each side of the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests.”

[9:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “nothing like it had been made for any kingdom.”

[9:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there was no silver, it was not regarded as anything in the days of Solomon.”

[9:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for ships belonging to the king were going [to] Tarshish with the servants of Huram.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[9:21]  ¹² tn Heb “servants.”

[9:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “the fleet of Tarshish [ships].”

[9:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish came carrying.”

[9:21]  ¹⁵ tn The meaning of this word is unclear; some suggest it refers to “baboons.” NEB has “monkeys,” NASB, NRSV “peacocks,” and NIV “baboons.”