And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps: The verb questioned may give the impression of a somewhat hostile interrogation. But, in light of the following verse, the meaning is probably that the huge size of the piles made the king wonder whether the priests and Levites had actually been taking the portion that was due to them. So he asked the religious leaders about this because the piles were so large. New Living Translation transforms part of this verse into direct discourse by saying “ ‘Where did all this come from?’ Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites.” However, we do not recommend this model because the precise question asked is not given in the text and it is impossible to be certain exactly what it was.

The heaps refers to the piles of gifts mentioned in verses 6-8. It will be appropriate here to translate “the piles of gifts.”

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 .