For the king’s ships went to Tarshish …: The Hebrew conjunction rendered For introduces the reason why all of the gold was so available for King Solomon. If there is any danger of not knowing which king is intended, translators may say specifically “King Solomon” (New Century Version) or simply “Solomon” (Contemporary English Version).

References to Tarshish occur more than thirty times in the Old Testament. Sometimes the Hebrew noun rendered Tarshish refers to a precious stone. In other texts, such as here in verse 21, it appears to refer to a geographical location, but the exact location is uncertain. On the basis of ancient writings, Tarshish has been identified with a colony in southwestern Spain, and with the city of Carthage in northern Africa (see the comments on 1 Chr 1.7). Moffatt says “Tartessus,” which refers to the location in Spain. Some scholars suggest that the Hebrew noun tarshish comes from a root meaning “to heat,” “to melt,” or “to smelt.” If this suggestion is correct, the expression “ships of Tarshish” in the parallel text of 1 Kgs 10.22 may not refer to a specific place but rather to ocean-going ships that transported raw materials to places where the ore was refined. Such ocean-going ships usually sailed within sight of land. This understanding of the Hebrew noun is the basis for the following renderings here in 2 Chronicles: “ocean-going ships” (Good News Translation), “ships that he sent out to trade” (New Century Version), and “trading ships” (New Living Translation). But such translations harmonize the text with the parallel in 1 Kgs 10 even though the Hebrew here almost certainly refers to a place. Some scholars have suggested that the term originally referred to a type of ship and that the author of 2 Chronicles did not understand the meaning of this ancient technical term, taking it as a place rather than a kind of ship.

With the servants of Huram: See the comments on verse 10. This phrase may be rendered “led by the sailors of King Hiram” (Bible en français courant; similarly New Living Translation).

Once every three years: The round trip required a little over a year. Parts of two other years, plus the year of travel, would be counted as three years.

The Hebrew noun rendered ivory is not the same as the one in verse 17, but it comes from the same root (see the comments there).

Apes renders a Hebrew noun that occurs only here and in the parallel text of 1 Kgs 10.22. This word probably refers to monkeys or baboons, which were known in Egypt, and not to apes, which are larger and do not have tails. But a surprising number of modern English versions still say “apes” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, New Century Version). However, Contemporary English Version translates “monkeys” (also Biblia Dios Habla Hoy and most French versions). The translation of this term is closely tied to the understanding of the following one.

The Hebrew noun rendered peacocks (tukiyim) occurs in the Old Testament only here and in the parallel passage of 1 Kgs 10.22. According to Holladay and many modern interpreters, this noun more likely refers to “baboons” (New International Version, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet, alternative translation in New Revised Standard Version) or “monkeys” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New American Bible). Others have suggested that it means “poultry,” or more specifically “peacocks” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Moffatt, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The precise identification of the tukiyim is so uncertain that translators may feel free to translate either meaning. If the preferred interpretation is “peacocks,” it may be rendered with a more general expression, such as “magnificent [or, beautiful] birds” (Parole de Vie). If the preferred interpretation is “baboons/monkeys,” then the two last two terms in this verse may be translated “baboons and monkeys.”

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 .