Good News Translation adds a paragraph break here, which is helpful. Verses 3 and 4 are a summary of the stories found in Gen 38. Verse 4 lists two additional sons of Judah and states that he had five sons in all. This information is brought forward to the beginning of verse 3 in Good News Translation.

The sons of Judah …: See Gen 38.2-7. Many languages will require a verb in this introductory statement. Good News Translation adds the verb “had.” Other languages will find it more natural to say “Judah fathered the following sons” or “Judah gave birth….”

Er, Onan, and Shelah: Greater detail about Shelah and his descendants is provided in 1 Chr 4.21-23.

These three Bath-shua the Canaanitess bore to him: Translations are rather evenly divided concerning whether the Hebrew for Bath-shua is a woman’s name (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible) or whether it is two words, meaning “the daughter of Shua” (New International Version, Bible en français courant, Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Reina-Valera revisada). Gen 38.2 identifies Shua as a Canaanite man. Languages vary as to whether it is more natural to mention the mother of the children before naming the children. The Hebrew, as reflected in Revised Standard Version, lists the children first and then states who their mother was. Good News Translation has reversed this, naming Bath-shua first. Contemporary English Version restructures in a different way by beginning this verse with “Judah and his Canaanite wife Bathshua had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.” Naturalness in the receptor language will be the most important factor in deciding which kind of structure to use.

Now Er, Judah’s first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD: For firstborn, see the comments on 1 Chr 1.13. LORD renders the Hebrew personal name for God revealed to Moses (see Exo 3.14-15). This name is transliterated “Yahweh” in New Jerusalem Bible and translated “the Eternal” in Moffatt. The American Standard Version of 1901 used the spelling “Jehovah,” but this is based on a mistaken notion about how the divine name was pronounced. The translation “Lord” is used in Revised Standard Version when the Hebrew word ʾadonai is used to refer to God. Er … was wicked in the sight of the LORD is literally “Er was … wicked in the eyes of the LORD.” Some other possible renderings for this clause are “The LORD considered Er … evil” (God’s Word), “he disobeyed and did what the LORD hated” (Contemporary English Version), and “Er … displeased the Lord so much” (Bible en français courant).

He slew him: Revised Standard Version‘s literal rendering here results in possible ambiguity for the pronouns he and him. Some versions avoid this ambiguity by making it clear that the pronoun he refers to “the LORD” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible). Other versions solve this problem by capitalizing the pronoun, saying “He” (New American Standard Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible), but this solution is not recommended since the hearers of the Scriptures will not be able to tell the difference, and the ambiguity will remain. God’s Word translates both of the pronouns with a noun to make the meaning clearer, saying “the LORD killed Er.” It is also possible to translate this clause as a relative clause for clarity; for example, New Jerusalem Bible has “[Yahweh] who put him to death.” Some other ways of translating the verb phrase slew him are “took his life” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) and “caused him to die” (Bible de Jérusalem, Osty-Trinquet).

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 .

Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old: Afterward refers to after the birth of Hezron’s three sons Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb (verse 9). Another commonly used translation at this point is “Later” (New International Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible) or “After this” (Holman Christian Standard Bible). Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and Nueva Versión Internacional reverse the order of the clauses in this verse by beginning with “When Hezron was sixty years old.”

The Hebrew idiom rendered went in to refers to sexual intercourse. The idea of sexual intercourse is made more explicit in some modern translations; for example, “lay with” (New International Version), “had relations with” (New American Bible), “slept with” (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “had sexual relations with” (Complete Jewish Bible), and “had intercourse with” (Revised English Bible).

The daughter of Machir the father of Gilead is a literal translation of the Hebrew, which may be confusing. Machir was both (a) the father of Hezron’s wife and (b) the father of Gilead. Good News Translation restates the relationships by saying “Machir’s daughter, the sister of Gilead.” According to Num 26.29, Machir was Manasseh’s oldest son. The daughter of Machir is not named here, but according to some interpretations of verse 24, her name was “Abijah.” The Hebrew expression for father of Gilead may also mean “founder of Gilead.” In the next verse Gilead refers to a place.

Married is literally “took,” similar to verse 19. Revised English Bible shifts this idea forward in the verse, placing it before of idea of sexual intercourse.

It should be clear in translation that it was Hezron who was sixty years old.

And she bore him Segub: Since the next verse indicates that Segub was a male, that information may be made explicit here by adding “a son” (so Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The “Segub” who is mentioned in 1 Kgs 16.34 refers to a different person much later in the history of Israel.

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 .

His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah: See Gen 38.12-30 for the details of how Tamar, the widow of Er, became the mother of Judah’s sons Perez and Zerah. The pronoun His refers to Judah. Translators in some languages will need to make this clear by rendering this pronoun as “Judah’s” (New Century Version). The hyphenated English term daughter-in-law is translated in a wide variety of ways in receptor languages. Some may have special technical terms, while others will convey the meaning by saying “son’s wife.” Revised Standard Version has added the word also because of the context. Good News Translation expresses this same idea with the words “two more sons.” Perez was the twenty-fourth generation in the line of descent that began with Adam.

Judah had five sons in all: Good News Translation moves this clause forward to the beginning of verse 3 in order to present the information in a more logical way in English.

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 .

And Segub was the father of Jair: According to Num 32.41, Manasseh was the father of Jair. However, here it says Segub was his father, which Good News Translation makes explicit by saying “and Segub had a son named Jair.”

Who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead: Good News Translation states in a footnote that the meaning of the Hebrew verbal expression here may be either that Jair “ruled” or “owned” these cities. The difference in meaning between the two verbs is not very great in this context. Some other model translations are “controlled” (New Century Version) and “possessed” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, New American Bible, La Bible du Semeur).

Gilead was on the east side of the Jordan River. It is described as a land by Revised Standard Version, but the meaning of the Hebrew term here is better translated “region” (Contemporary English Version) or “territory” (Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible en français courant) in this context.

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 .

The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul: See Gen 46.12. Once again certain languages will require a verb in such an expression, following the model of Good News Translation or that of New Century Version, which has “Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul.” In order to make it clear that Perez does not have other sons listed later in this chapter, some translations say that “Perez had two sons…” (Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The line of descent will continue with the descendants of Hezron in verses 9 and following.

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 .

But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath and its villages, sixty towns: Several versions place this sentence in parentheses since it interrupts the list of Machir’s descendants (so New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version).

But renders the common Hebrew conjunction, which is often translated “and.” Revised English Bible and New American Bible leave it untranslated here, but in many languages the context will require that some sort of contrast be indicated. The towns in Gilead had belonged to Jair, but they were taken over by Geshur and Aram. This information is introduced without any time reference in the Hebrew. Some translations relate this episode to the preceding verses by adding the words “Some time later” (Contemporary English Version) or simply “Later” (New Living Translation).

Geshur and Aram were Syrian kingdoms on the north and east borders of Israel. One of King David’s wives was a daughter of King Talmai of Geshur (2 Sam 3.3). A literal translation of the Hebrew here may incorrectly suggest that Geshur and Aram were individuals. Good News Translation avoids this by saying “the kingdoms of Geshur and Aram,” and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “the Geshurites and the Arameans.” Parole de Vie has “the kings of Geshur and Aram” as representatives of their respective kingdoms, while Contemporary English Version speaks of “the nations of Geshur and Aram.” Aram may be translated by the better-known name “the Syrians” (La Bible du Semeur, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous, Menge).

In certain languages the verb took in this context may be better rendered “took control of,” “conquered” (Good News Translation), or “captured” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Century Version). The pronoun them refers to Machir and his descendants mentioned in the previous verses.

Havvoth-jair, Kenath and its villages is literally “Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its daughters.” Since there is no conjunction “and” between the names of the two towns here, some interpreters consider Kenath and its villages to be in apposition to Havvoth-jair. Most interpreters take the Hebrew sign of the direct object (the word ʾeth) before Kenath as indicating that Kenath was conquered, as was Havvoth-jair. However, it is possible to understand the Hebrew word ʾeth as meaning “with” here. Braun, for example, says that they took from them “Havvoth-jair with Kenath and its villages” (similarly Reina-Valera revisada).

Havvoth-jair may be understood in two different ways. It may be a place name, as in Revised Standard Version. Or Havvoth may mean here “the villages of” (Good News Translation, Reina-Valera revisada, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous; similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), in which case Havvoth-jair refers to the towns owned (or, ruled) by Jair (see verse 22). Other renderings that reflect this understanding are “the Towns of Jair” (New Living Translation) and “the Encampments of Jair” (New Jerusalem Bible, Parole de Vie, Osty-Trinquet). Contemporary English Version is more explicit with “the villages that belonged to Jair.” Either interpretation is possible.

As noted above its villages is literally “its daughters.” The Hebrew word for “daughters” is used figuratively to refer to the smaller towns in the neighborhood of the larger town of Kenath, which provided protection for the smaller towns.

All these were the descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead refers to the people who lived in these towns in Gilead. The Hebrew word for descendants is literally “sons,” but Revised Standard Version gives it the correct sense here.

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 .

The sons of Zerah: On the basis of verse 4, Good News Translation identifies Zerah as the brother of Perez, saying “His brother Zerah.”

Regarding the identity of Zimri, see the comments on the next verse.

The Masoretic Text reads Dara, but the parallel in 1 Kgs 5.11God’s Word (4.31 in RSV) has the name “Darda.” Here in 1 Chronicles some Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, as well as the Vulgate and the Syriac, read “Darda.” Since there is no way to know whether the name in the Masoretic Text of 1 Kings or the name here in 1 Chronicles is the correct name, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to Dara here, encouraging translators not to harmonize the differences. However, it is clear that the same person is intended and the difference in spelling is minimal. Many modern versions harmonize the names (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible, La Bible du Semeur, Bible de Jérusalem, Nueva Versión Internacional, Osty-Trinquet), and many of them do so without any explanatory footnote.

Five in all: This detail may be naturally shifted forward in some languages following the model of Good News Translation. These five sons became the heads of the five clans of the Zerahites (Num 26.20).

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 .

After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa: This verse appears to be an explanation of verse 19. The Hebrew of this very difficult verse in the Masoretic Text reads as follows: “And after the death of Hezron in Caleb-ephrathah, and the wife of Hezron [was] Abiyyah, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.” Among the problems are the following:

• (1) It is not certain whether the Hebrew word abiyyah is a woman’s name (Abijah) or whether it is the word for “father” followed by the third person singular pronoun suffix (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation), that is, his father.

• (2) It is not clear whether the Hebrew letter for “b” prefixed to the name “Caleb” is a preposition meaning “in” or whether it is an abbreviated form of the verb “to go” or “to go into.”

• (3) If the Hebrew letter for “b” is an abbreviated form of the verb, does it have its literal sense of “to go to a place” or is it an idiom here, meaning “to have sexual intercourse”?

• (4) Is “ephrathah” the name of a woman or the name of a place?

• (5) Is “Caleb” a person’s name or is it part of the place name “Caleb-ephrathah”?

• (6) “Caleb-ephrathah” is not otherwise known in the Old Testament.

It is very difficult to make sense of this verse, and the following interpretations and translations have been proposed:

• (1) Many interpreters, following the Septuagint, understand the Hebrew letter for “b” to be an abbreviation of the Hebrew verb baʾ (“he went”), that is, “Caleb went.” They also take “ephrathah” to be a woman’s name rather than a place name and correct “Abiyyah” to read “his father.” These changes are the basis for the Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation renderings (also New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Luther, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous). This reading requires that the Hebrew verb for “he went” be understood in a sexual sense, which is not uncommon (see verse 21). Revised English Bible says Caleb “had intercourse with” Ephrathah (similarly New American Bible). But this translation seems unlikely since the Hebrew text here does not have the normal preposition used with the verb when it is used to mean “have intercourse.” This translation also requires that Ephrathah was married to Caleb’s father, but verse 19 seems to contradict that possibility, unless verse 19 leaves unstated that Hezron had already died. Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible say that Caleb “married” Ephrathah, but even if this basic interpretation is followed, it is going beyond what the Hebrew says to state that he “married” the wife of his dead father. Following this interpretation, verse 24 will be translated as follows: “And after the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to [or, had intercourse with] Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.”

• (2) As in the first interpretation, other translations also follow the Septuagint in reading that Caleb “went in” but they do not make the other corrections to the Masoretic Text found in Revised Standard Version (so Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). These translations read the verse as follows: “After the death of Hezron, whose wife was Abijah, Caleb had relations again with Ephrathah, who gave him a son, Ashhur, the founder of Tekoa.” This translation says that the name of Hezron’s wife was “Abijah,” who was perhaps the unnamed daughter of Machir in verse 21.

• (3) Revised English Bible, following the Syriac, does not translate the Hebrew words for “and the wife of Hezron [was] Abiyyah.” It reads “After the death of Hezron, Caleb had intercourse with Ephrathah and she bore him Ashhur the founder of Tekoa.”

• (4) It is possible, however, to make sense of the Masoretic Text, without following the Septuagint or the ancient Syriac. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh does it by saying “After the death of Hezron, in Caleb-ephrathah, Abijah, wife of Hezron, bore Ashhur, the father of Tekoa” (similarly New Revised Standard Version, La Bible du Semeur, Nueva Versión Internacional, Reina-Valera revisada, Menge). According to this translation, Ashhur was the son of Hezron and Abijah, and Hezron died before his son Ashhur was born. This is unlike the translations found in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, where Ashhur was the son of Caleb and Ephrathah (or Ephrath). Compare also the following La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual rendering, which follows the Masoretic Text: “After Hezron died in Caleb of Ephrathah, his wife Abijah had a son, Ashhur. Ashhur had a son, Tekoa.”

• (5) Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Septuagint text and recommends that the beginning of the verse be translated “And after the death of Hezron, Caleb went to Ephrathah….” With this interpretation a possible rendering for the whole verse is “After the death of Hezron, Caleb went to the town of Ephrathah; and Abijah, the widow of Hezron, gave him a son, Ashhur, the founder of Tekoa.” However, there do not seem to be any modern versions that follow this interpretation recommended by Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament.

In addition to the textual and exegetical difficulties in this verse, there is also the minor difference in the spelling of the name Ephrathah (also in verse 50) as compared with the shorter form “Ephrath” in verse 19, if in fact they both refer to a person. Good News Translation harmonizes the spelling, using the shorter form throughout.

As in similar contexts elsewhere in the Old Testament, the word father in the phrase the father of Tekoa is not to be taken literally since Tekoa is the name of a city and not an individual person. This city is best known as the hometown of the prophet Amos. It is probably best to say “founder of the city of Tekoa” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente; similarly Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

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 .