Translation commentary on 2 Chronicles 17:17

Of Benjamin refers to the tribe of Benjamin.

Eliada, a mighty man of valor: Eliada was the top commander of the soldiers from Benjamin. A mighty man of valor may be rendered “a mighty warrior” (New Revised Standard Version), “an experienced soldier” (Revised English Bible), or “an outstanding soldier” (Good News Translation).

With two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield: This phrase leaves a certain amount of information implied. Each of the 200,000 men under the command of Eliada was issued a bow and shield. For this reason Good News Translation uses the plural “shields and bows.” But it is certainly understood that those who had bows were also given arrows. So in some languages it may be advisable to make this explicit by saying “bows and arrows as well as shields.” However, in certain languages there is a single term that refers to the bow and arrow combination as a weapon. For the Hebrew words rendered bow and shield, see the comments on 1 Chr 5.18.

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 .

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