I have built thee an exalted house, a place for thee to dwell in for ever: This verse begins with the common Hebrew conjunction followed by the emphatic first person singular pronoun. For this reason some translators begin with a conjunction that marks contrast, such as “But” (New Living Translation, God’s Word, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Bible de Jérusalem leaves the conjunction untranslated, but does reflect the emphatic nature of the personal pronoun by beginning with “I, I have built…” (similarly Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible du Semeur, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Osty-Trinquet).

The archaic pronoun thee in Revised Standard Version does not reflect any special form in Hebrew, but such pronouns are used in prayers to God in that version. It should be rendered by an ordinary second person singular pronoun in the receptor language as New Revised Standard Version and other modern English versions have done.

An exalted house is literally “a house of eminence.” The precise meaning of the Hebrew term rendered exalted is not certain, but it seems to connote the idea of “splendor” or “majesty.” Since the word house clearly refers to the Temple, several modern versions make this explicit in translation, as Good News Translation has done.

If translators decide that verse 2 is the beginning of Solomon’s prayer, there may be some way to mark this in the receptor language; for example, NET Bible renders this whole verse as “O LORD, I have built a lofty temple for you, a place where you can live permanently.”

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 .