So he lined the house with gold—its beams, its thresholds, its walls, and its doors: The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is taken by Revised Standard Version as a logical connector and rendered So. New Revised Standard Version and English Standard Version do the same. But Good News Translation and many other modern versions omit this connector. The verb lined may be translated “overlaid” (New International Version, Revised English Bible). It renders the same Hebrew verb translated “lined” and “covered” in verse 5. In other languages it may be necessary to begin this verse simply with “He put gold on the beams…” or “He added gold to the beams….”

Beams are relatively long, stout timbers that support a roof. “Rafters” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Anchor Bible) and “ceiling beams” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version) are other words with the same meaning.

Thresholds translates a Hebrew noun whose precise meaning is not certain. It refers to something involving the entry of a building or the framework of a door. The variety of translations in English reflects this uncertainty: “thresholds” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible), “entryways” (Good News Translation), “frames” (Revised English Bible), and “doorframes” (New International Version). In most occurrences of this noun in the Old Testament, it seems to mean thresholds. The threshold was the foundational part of the entryway and was made of a single piece of stone or of several stones stuck together (see the comments on 1 Chr 9.19). This stone slab was higher than the surrounding ground and helped keep water from running into the building. In some languages threshold will be expressed as “stone(s) at the base of the door” or “stone(s) at the bottom of the mouth of the house.”

And he carved cherubim on the walls: Once again the pronoun he refers to Solomon. However, he himself did not do this work. Good News Translation makes this explicit by stating that “the workers” did it. The Hebrew verb rendered carved has the same root as the one translated “engraving” in 2 Chr 2.6 and 13. New Jerusalem Bible uses “engraving” in this context. For cherubim see the comments on 1 Chr 13.6, and compare 1 Kgs 6.23, 32, 35.

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 .