The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed: See also verses 17-18. As stated in the comments on the previous verse, a literal translation such as Revised Standard Version may not be clear to the person who only hears the text read. The listener may think the text here says “The sons of Elpaal, Eber, Misham, and Shemed,” when, in fact, the last three persons named are the sons of Elpaal. Good News Translation is more easily understood since it says “Elpaal had three sons….”
Who built Ono and Lod with its towns is literally “he built Ono and Lod and its daughters.” It is not entirely clear whether the pronoun “he” refers to Elpaal or to his son Shemed. The most natural reading of the Hebrew text is that the reference is to Shemed, which some translations make explicit (so Good News Translation, New Century Version, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). However, Knoppers claims that Elpaal is the subject, and he translates the whole verse as follows: “These were the sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemer. He built Ono and Lud, along with its dependencies.”
Ono and Lod were “cities,” as Good News Translation and Bible en français courant make explicit. They were located in the northwest of the Shephelah, that is, the lowlands between the Judean hill country to the east and the coastal plain on the west. Both cities are mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah, and in Neh 11.35 they are identified with the Valley of Craftsmen (see 1 Chr 4.14). Since ancient Egyptian records show that these two cities existed long before this time, some interpreters suggest that the Hebrew verb for built should be translated “rebuilt” or “fortified” here. For towns (literally “daughters,” so Osty-Trinquet), see the comments on 1 Chr 7.28. Its towns may be rendered “their surrounding villages” or “the villages around them” (New Century Version) since the pronoun its refers to Ono and Lod.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .