To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge …: Once again, the sons of Aaron refers to “the descendants of Aaron” (New International Version, New American Bible) and should be so translated. For the impersonal expression they gave, see the comments on the previous verse. The Hebrew here has the plural the cities of refuge while the parallel text in Josh 21.13 has the singular “the city of refuge.” Since only Hebron in the list of cities here in verses 57-59 was a city of refuge, some versions translate the cities of refuge as “a city of refuge” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation; similarly Revised English Bible), “a city of asylum” (New American Bible), or “one of the cities of safety” (New Century Version). But the Masoretic Text clearly has the plural, so translators should keep the plural in the text and explain the problem in a footnote. As the Good News Translation explains, cities of refuge were cities a person could go to for protection and a fair trial if that person accidentally killed someone (see Deut 19.1-13).

Some interpreters think that the phrase “with its pasture lands” was accidentally omitted after Hebron and add it here in agreement with the parallel passage in Josh 21.13 (so Knoppers).

Good News Translation places Jattir before Libnah in order to group the six towns that include pasture lands. The sixfold repetition of with its pasture lands is unnatural in English style, so Good News Translation and several other modern versions reduce this repetition. The same phrase is repeated three more times in verse 60. Receptor language considerations will determine the rendering and the number of times that this phrase is found in translation.

It is surprising that the Masoretic Text does not have the words “with its pasture lands” after the city of Jattir. It may well be that these words have been omitted accidentally from the Masoretic Text. New American Bible and Knoppers add them on the basis of Josh 21.14, which says “Jattir with its pasture lands.”

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 .