And they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness: The common Hebrew conjunction rendered and is better translated “So” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible) or “Then” in this context. But in some languages it may be omitted as in New International Version and New Living Translation. They ate and drank may be rendered “They held a feast” ( NET Bible). Good News Translation shifts the phrase on that day near the beginning of the verse, which may be appropriate in other languages. Before the LORD may be rendered “in the presence of the Lord” (Bible en français courant). Contemporary English Version attempts to convey the same meaning with “there at the LORD’s altar,” while New Century Version has “and the LORD was with them.”

And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time: The phrase the second time is missing in some manuscripts of the Septuagint, so some translators do not render it, considering it to be a later addition in order to harmonize the text with 1 Chr 23.1 (so Braun, Knoppers, Klein). It is possible that this phrase was not original and was added by a later scribe who thought that 23.1 referred to the first proclamation of Solomon as king. The writer of 1 Chronicles may have intended 23.1 to be a heading for the following section, pointing ahead to 29.22 as the first proclamation of Solomon as king. But a scribe may have mistakenly understood 23.1 in a chronological sense rather than as a summary heading and therefore added the phrase the second time here to harmonize with 23.1. If this phrase is original, then the first time may refer to the events in 1 Kgs 1, although 1 Chronicles does not record this. Or perhaps the writer intended 23.1 to be the first time. The Hebrew may also be understood to mean that for the second time the people proclaimed a king as their ruler, the first time being when David became king and the second time being Solomon. But this alternative interpretation is not likely the intended meaning.

And they anointed him as prince for the LORD, and Zadok as priest: For anointed see the comments on 1 Chr 11.3. The Masoretic Text does not have the object pronoun him, which Revised Standard Version has added as the sense requires. The Septuagint has this pronoun, so some scholars think that a scribe accidentally omitted it in Hebrew. But regardless of the original text, the pronoun will be required in many languages. For the Hebrew word rendered prince, see the comments on 1 Chr 5.2. Here it is better rendered “ruler” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The phrase for the LORD may be understood as “in the name of the LORD” and shifted forward as in Good News Translation. Since Zadok had already been serving as a priest, some interpreters think the sense here is that he was anointed as “high priest” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). Contemporary English Version renders this whole sentence as “The people celebrated and poured olive oil on Solomon’s head to show that he would be their next king. They also poured oil on Zadok’s head to show that he was their priest.”

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 .