These are the sons of David that were born to him in Hebron: Verses 1-3 list the sons of David that were born in Hebron, a town located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Jerusalem. Verse 4 mentions there were six sons born in Hebron. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente adds the idea of “six” sons at the beginning of verse 1 by saying “Six sons were born to David in Hebron.” In some languages it may be more natural and more helpful to begin with “Here is the list of the sons of David who were born in Hebron” (Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur). Although the text does not say so, this seems to be a list of the firstborn sons of each of David’s wives and not a list of all of the sons born by these wives.

The first-born Amnon, by Ahino-am the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess: Although the Hebrew says simply by Ahino-am and by Abigail, it may be clearer in some languages to say “whose mother was Ahinoam” and “whose mother was Abigail” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The Hebrew says the Jezreelitess and the Carmelitess, but it may be better to say “from Jezreel” and “from Carmel” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje) or “from the city of Jezreel” and “from the city of Carmel” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). The information that Jezreel and Carmel were towns or cities would have been understood by the ancient readers, but may not be known by modern readers in other languages.

The son named Daniel is called “Chileab” in 2 Sam 3.3. New Living Translation harmonizes the parallel passages with the name “Kileab” in both cases. But since the two names cannot be seen as variants of a single name, such harmonization is not recommended. An explanatory footnote, however, is advisable.

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 .