In Hebrew this verse continues the long sentence that started at the beginning of verse 11. Good News Translation inserts a new sentence here, beginning with “He also gave instructions as to how much” (see the comments on verse 14).
Pure gold means that it was the best quality gold. In other languages the idea of purity in this sense is expressed by the adjective “true.”
The Hebrew word for forks is also found in Exo 27.3, where they are said to be made of bronze. A simple translation such as forks may well suggest ordinary dinner forks to readers today. For this reason King James Version says “fleshhooks,” referring to forks used to turn the sacrificial meat over while it was being burnt on the altar and to remove the meat from the pots in which it was cooked. Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, and Bible en français courant say “meat forks,” New Living Translation has “meat hooks used to handle the sacrificial meat,” and Peregrino translates “carving knives.” For a good description of these forks, see WTH, page 253|fig:WTH.4.4.2.Fork.253.html.
Basins were bowls used to hold the blood of the animals that had been killed for sacrifices. Since the blood in these bowls was sprinkled on the altar (Lev 1.5; 3.2; 7.2), New International Version and Osty-Trinquet say “sprinkling bowls.” Revised English Bible similarly calls them “tossing-bowls.” To convey this meaning in some languages, it will be necessary to use a longer expression such as “bowls for the blood that the priests would sprinkle on the altar.”
The Hebrew noun for cups refers to pitchers used for pouring libations. See Exo 25.29 and 37.16, where it is rendered “flagons.” This word may be translated “jars” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, American Bible), “pitchers” (New International Version), or “jugs.”
The Hebrew word for bowls occurs only here and in Ezra 1.10 and 8.27. It refers to a small bowl that was used for pouring libations (Exo 25.29; 37.16; see WTH, pages 254-255|fig:WTH.4.4.4.Basin, bowl.254-255.html). Some interpreters think that these bowls were actually baskets made of palm-fiber and covered with pitch. Good News Translation says “dishes.”
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 .