Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)But who could stay strong enough to build a house for him, since the sky and the heavens of the heavens can’t contain him? And who am I that I could build for him a house for him—maybe I’m good enough to burn incense to him?[ref]
Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚαὶ νῦν ἀπόστειλόν μοι ἄνδρα σοφὸν καὶ εἰδότα τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἐν τῷ χρυσίῳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀργυρίῳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ χαλκῷ, καὶ ἐν τῷ σιδήρῳ, καὶ ἐν τῇ πορφύρᾳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ κοκκίνῳ, καὶ ἐν τῇ ὑακίνθῳ, καὶ ἐπιστάμενον γλύψαι γλυφὴν μετὰ τῶν σοφῶν τῶν μετʼ ἐμοῦ ἐν Ἰούδα καὶ ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἃ ἡτοίμασε Δαυὶδ ὁ πατήρ μου. (Kai nun aposteilon moi andra sofon kai eidota tou poiaʸsai en tōi ⱪrusiōi, kai en tōi arguriōi, kai en tōi ⱪalkōi, kai en tōi sidaʸrōi, kai en taʸ porfura, kai en tōi kokkinōi, kai en taʸ huakinthōi, kai epistamenon glupsai glufaʸn meta tōn sofōn tōn metʼ emou en Youda kai en Hierousalaʸm, ha haʸtoimase Dawid ho pataʸr mou. )
BrTrAnd now send me a man wise and skilled to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and in scarlet, and in blue, and one that knows how to grave together with the craftsmen who are with me in Juda and in Jerusalem, which materials my father David prepared.
ULTBut who can keep strength to build for him a house, since the heavens and the heavens of the heavens do not contain him? And who am I that I would build for him a house, except to sacrifice before him?
USTBut no one can build a place for God to live in, since even the heavens and the earth are not big enough for him. I myself an not worthy to build him a house, except as a place to offer sacrifices to him.
BSBBut who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except [as a place] to burn sacrifices before Him?
WEBBEBut who is able to build him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain him? Who am I then, that I should build him a house, except just to burn incense before him?
NETOf course, who can really build a temple for him, since the sky and the highest heavens cannot contain him? Who am I that I should build him a temple! It will really be only a place to offer sacrifices before him.
LSVand who retains strength to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Him? And who [am] I that I build a house for Him, except to make incense before Him?
FBVBut who can build a Temple for him to live in, for the heavens, even highest heaven, cannot contain him, and who am I that I should dare to build him a house, except to burn incense to him?
T4TBut no one can really build a temple that would be big enough for God to live in, because even the highest heavens are not big enough for him. And I am worthy only to build a place where we can burn sacrifices to him.
BBEBut who may have strength enough to make a house for him, seeing that the heaven and the heaven of heavens are not wide enough to be his resting-place? who am I then to make a house for him? But I am building it only for the burning of perfume before him.
JPS(2-5) But who is able to build Him a house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? who am I then, that I should build Him a house, save only to offer before Him?
ASVBut who is able to build him a house, seeing heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn incense before him?
DRAWho then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be burnt before him.
YLTand who doth retain strength to build to Him a house, for the heavens, even the heavens of the heavens, do not contain Him? and who [am] I that I do build to Him a house, except to make perfume before Him?
DrbyBut who is able to build him a house, seeing the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? And who am I that I should build him a house, except to burn sacrifice before him?
RVBut who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn incense before him?
SLTFor who shall retain power to build for him a house? for the heavens and the heavens of the heavens shall not contain him: and who am I who shall build to him a house but to burn incense before him?
WbstrBut who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?
KJB-1769But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?[fn]
KJB-1611But who [fn]is able to build him an house, seeing the heauen, and heauen of heauens cannot conteine him? who am I then that I should build him an house? saue onely to burne sacrifice before him? (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation and footnotes))
GnvaWho is he then that can be able to buylde him an house, when the heauen, and the heauen of heauens can not conteine him? who am I then that I should buylde him an house? but I do it to burne incense before him. (Who is he then that can be able to build him an house, when the heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then that I should build him an house? but I do it to burn incense before him. )
ClVgQuis ergo poterit prævalere, ut ædificet ei dignam domum? si cælum, et cæli cælorum, capere eum nequeunt, quantus ego sum, ut possim ædificare ei domum? sed ad hoc tantum, ut adoleatur incensum coram illo. (Who therefore will_be_able to_prevail, as ædificet to_him worthym home? when/but_if the_sky, and heavens the_skyrum, to_catch him nequeunt, quantusII_am, as possim to_build to_him home? but to this only, as adoleatur incense before that/there. )
2:5-6a magnificent Temple: The greatness of the Temple and the greatness of God were not of the same order, since not even the highest heavens can contain God.
(Occurrence 0) who is able to build God a house, since the entire universe and even heaven itself cannot contain him? Who am I to build him a house, except to burn sacrifices before him?
(Some words not found in UHB: and=now send to=me (a)_man skilled for=doing in/on/at/with,gold and,in/on/at/with,silver and,in/on/at/with,bronze and,in/on/at/with,iron and,in/on/at/with,purple and,crimson and,blue_yarn and,trained in,engrave engravings with the,skilled which/who with,me in/on/at/with,Judah and,in/on/at/with,Jerusalem which/who provided Dāvid father_of,my )
Solomon uses a question to emphasize that no one is able or worthy to build a house for God. Alternate translation: “no one is able to build a house for God because not even the universe or heaven is big enough to contain him. I am not worthy to build a house for him, except as a place to offer sacrifices to him.”
Near the beginning of Solomon’s reign, the Lord promised to bless him with great wisdom, riches, and honor (1 Kings 3:2-15), and the fulfillment of this promise led to great fame for Solomon throughout the Near East. Humanly speaking, Solomon had been set up for immense success by his father David, who passed on to him a powerful kingdom that stretched from the tip of the Red Sea to the Euphrates River (2 Samuel 8-10; 1 Chronicles 18-19; 2 Chronicles 8). During Solomon’s reign Israel controlled all land routes leading from Egypt and the Red Sea to the Aramean and Hittite nations to the north, and they also controlled the northern terminus of the great Incense Route leading from the peoples of southwest Arabia to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea at Gaza. Solomon appears to have capitalized on his strategic control over travel and shipping throughout the region by setting up a very lucrative international arms dealership, through which he paired chariots bought from Egypt with horses bought from Kue (the term sometimes translated as “Egypt” should probably be translated “Muzur,” a district near Kue) and sold them to the kings of the Hittites and Arameans. Solomon also likely gained immense wealth from very productive copper mines at Punon, Timna, and elsewhere (see “Southern Arabah Valley” map). All this won him great renown among all the rulers of the Near East, including the queen of Sheba, who traveled over a thousand miles to see for herself Solomon’s great wisdom and splendor. She brought with her luxurious gifts from her land, including spices, precious stones, and gold, which she may have obtained from nearby Ophir. Solomon also arranged for King Hiram of Tyre to provide him with cedar timbers from Lebanon to build the Temple of the Lord and his royal palace (2 Chronicles 2). The logs were bound into rafts, floated down to Joppa, and then disassembled and hauled up to Jerusalem. Solomon also launched ships to sail to faraway lands during his reign and bring back riches and exotic goods. Scholars have proposed various locations for the exact destination of the ships, and some have struggled to reconcile what can seem like confusion on the part of the biblical writers over the term Tarshish. But a careful reading of the biblical accounts indicates that there were probably two separate fleets of ships: the fleet of Hiram and Solomon’s fleet of ships of Tarshish. Both fleets are separately mentioned in 1 Kings 10:22, and the phrase “at sea with” may simply indicate that they were sailing at the same time but not necessarily together. Also, the list of goods brought back by Hiram’s fleet is somewhat different than the list of goods brought back by Solomon’s fleet (compare 1 Kings 10:11, 22; 2 Chronicles 8:17-18; 9:10, 21). Likewise, the wording of 2 Chronicles 8:17-18 is that Hiram “sent to [Solomon] by the hand of his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea,” but the implication seems to be that the ships remained Hiram’s, not Solomon’s, whereas the other fleet of ships of Tarshish appears to have belonged to Solomon, though the ships were manned by Hiram’s men as well (2 Chronicles 9:21). Thus, Hiram’s fleet set sail from Ezion-geber, traveled the length of the Red Sea, and acquired gold from Ophir. Solomon’s fleet, on the other hand, could have sailed either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean Sea, since the term ships of Tarshish seems to have been used at times to indicate a class of trading or refinery ships rather than a specific destination (see article for “Tarshish” map). It is also possible, however, that the term Tarshish referred to the ships’ actual destination, which during Solomon’s reign appears to have been located in the far western Mediterranean Sea. This is supported by isotopic studies of silver found in Israel during Solomon’s time, which have traced the source to Tharros on the island of Sardinia. This also fits well with the length of time given for the voyage of Solomon’s fleet, which returned every three years with their exotic goods.
