He was renowned among the thirty is literally “From [or, More than] the thirty, behold, he was made heavy he.” The Hebrew verb meaning “to be heavy” is used in such a context to indicate honor or glory. The Hebrew focusing particle for “behold,” which is usually left untranslated, draws special attention to the idea of honor or fame. Moffatt uses the adverb “indeed” to express this particle. The independent pronoun “he” at the end of the clause emphasizes that it was Benaiah and no one else who had such honor. Some possible translations of this whole clause are “Of all the Thirty, it was he who was the most respected,” “He had the most glory among the thirty” (Nouvelle version Segond révisée), “He was more highly honored among the thirty” (similarly Braun), and “He was more famous than the rest of the thirty” (Revised English Bible).

But he did not attain to the three: This clause indicates that Benaiah did not reach the status of the Three (see the comments on verse 21). Some other ways of expressing it are “but he was not promoted to the Trio” (Moffatt), “but to the rank of the Three he did not arrive” (Osty-Trinquet), and “but he was not equal to the Three” (New Jerusalem Bible).

And David set him over his bodyguard: Instead of set him over, in some languages it will be more natural to say “made him chief of,” “put him in charge of,” or “named him as leader of.” His bodyguard is literally “his obedience.” The Hebrew noun translated bodyguard comes from the verb meaning “to hear,” “to listen to,” or “to obey.” In this context it seems to refer to King David’s “bodyguards,” but it may also refer to the people who are his “subjects.” The sense of the second interpretation is that David set Benaiah in some position of authority over David’s own people. Perhaps this is the basis for the Revised English Bible rendering “his household.” David’s bodyguards almost certainly included the Cherethites and Pelethites (see 2 Sam 8.18; 20.23). But translators should use a more general term or expression for his bodyguard; for example, “the group of soldiers who guarded him [King David].”

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 .