Rehoboth on the Euphrates (verse 48) is literally “Rehoboth-han-nahar” (New American Bible; similarly New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet, Peregrino). The name Rehoboth means “broad places.” The Hebrew expression han-nahar means “the river,” and it often refers specifically to the Euphrates River or the Nile River. La Bible Pléiade transliterates the Hebrew in the text and then places the words “Places-of-the-river” in parentheses, while Nueva Biblia Española translates the name in the text as “Plaza del Río.” Good News Translation and Bible en français courant say “Rehoboth-on-the-River” (similarly An American Translation, La Bible du Semeur, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Italian Common Language Version, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous). Since the Hebrew word nahar often refers to the Euphrates River, a number of translations say “Rehoboth on the Euphrates” (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version [English Standard Version]; similarly Moffatt) or “Rehoboth-on-the-River-Euphrates” (Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). But it seems doubtful that a king of Edom had a residence on the Euphrates. More likely nahar here refers to a river in Edom that flowed into Zered Brook. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy provides a helpful model, saying “Rehoboth, the town that was near the river.” If translators wish to indicate that the river may be the Euphrates, it seems better to state this in a footnote as New International Version and Italian Common Language Version do, rather than in the text itself as Revised Standard Version does.

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 .