חִירָ֣ם מֶֽלֶךְ־צֹ֠ר נִשָּׂ֨א אֶת־שְׁלֹמֹ֜ה בַּעֲצֵי֩ אֲרָזִ֨ים וּבַעֲצֵ֧י בְרוֹשִׁ֛ים וּבַזָּהָ֖ב לְכָל־חֶפְצ֑וֹ אָ֡ז יִתֵּן֩ הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹ֤ה לְחִירָם֙ עֶשְׂרִ֣ים עִ֔יר בְּאֶ֖רֶץ הַגָּלִֽיל׃
11King Hiram of Tyre having supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold, as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
The Hebrew, Latin and Greek that is transliterated as “Solomon” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “wise” referring to 1 Kings 3:12. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
“Solomon” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España
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Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )
See also king (Japanese honorifics).
Hiram king of Tyre: See 5.1.
Cedar and cypress: See the comments on 1 Kgs 4.33 and 5.8 regarding the identification of these trees.
The Hebrew says simply that Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee without indicating why. The most obvious reason would seem to be that this was in exchange for the timber and gold that Hiram had supplied to Solomon. Some scholars, however, suggest that Solomon sold these cities to Hiram in order to raise money.
The English word “villages” or “towns” (Good News Translation) is a more appropriate translation here for these cities, as Gray notes.
The land of Galilee refers most probably to the area along the northern border of Israel in the general vicinity of the territory belonging to Hiram. In languages that can make such distinctions, the word “region” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “territory” (New Jerusalem Bible) is probably more suitable than land.
As noted in the discussion on verse 10, the end of verse 11 belongs with verse 10, since the first part of verse 11 is background information, explaining why Solomon gave these cities to Hiram. Revised English Bible reorders verse 11 as follows: “he made over to Hiram king of Tyre twenty towns in Galilee, for Hiram had supplied him with….” New Jerusalem Bible and Gray place the first part of verse 11 within parentheses, showing that these words are parenthetical, but this will not be effective when the text is being heard and not seen. These two verses may be combined and restructured to say:
• At the end of twenty years, King Solomon gave to King Hiram of Tyre twenty towns in the land of Galilee. Solomon did this because during those twenty years Hiram had supplied Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that he wanted in order to build the Temple and his own palace.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .