These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada …: Verses 24-25 are a summary statement of what has been said about Benaiah. However, the final sentence of verse 25 is not really a part of the summary. It is rather the result of Benaiah’s proven bravery. As in verse 19, the plural phrase These things refers not just to the immediately preceding deeds of Benaiah but indicates that they were representative of the kinds of things he did. Therefore it may be better to begin this verse with “Such were the exploits of Benaiah…” (New Jerusalem Bible).

And won a name beside the three mighty men: As indicated by the difference between Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, the confusion between three and “thirty” continues. Revised Standard Version follows the Masoretic Text, which has the number “three” (so New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), but Good News Translation and a number of other modern versions have corrected the Masoretic Text to read “thirty” (so Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, La Bible Pléiade). This is comparable to the same problem in verse 20, except that in verse 20 the ancient Syriac does read “thirty.” However, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament strongly recommends “three” here since there is no textual evidence for changing the text to read “thirty.” As in verse 20, some versions take this whole clause to mean “and he was just as famous as the Three” (so New International Version, New Century Version).

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 .