These Gadites were officers of the army: Gadites is literally “sons of Gad” (New American Standard Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible de Jérusalem: Nouvelle édition revue et corrigée), which some have translated “descendants of Gad” (Complete Jewish Bible). The Hebrew word translated officers is literally “heads,” the same word rendered “chief” in verses 3 and 9. Officers of the army may be rendered “leaders of the troops” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “army commanders” (New American Bible).

The lesser over a hundred and the greater over a thousand: The lesser and the greater are translated as “junior officers” and “senior officers” in Good News Translation. There are two different ways of understanding this whole Hebrew phrase, which is literally “the lesser to a hundred and the greater to a thousand.” According to the interpretation followed by Good News Translation (and apparently by Revised Standard Version), the “hundred” and the “thousand” refer to Israelite troops. New Century Version is similar to Good News Translation for this phrase, saying “The least of these leaders was in charge of a hundred soldiers, and the greatest was in charge of a thousand.” However, the Hebrew may also be translated “the least equal to a hundred and the greatest equal to a thousand,” in which case the writer does not say how many troops the officers commanded, but rather describes their courage and power by saying that the least powerful was as powerful as a hundred enemy soldiers and the most powerful was equal to a thousand enemy soldiers (compare Lev 26.8; Deut 32.30; Isa 30.17). Compare the Revised English Bible rendering, which reads “the least of them a match for a hundred, the greatest a match for a thousand” (similarly New Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, American Bible, and the alternative translation in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). This second interpretation seems more appropriate in the larger 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 .