Almug: See the comments on verse 11.
Supports for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house: The Hebrew noun rendered supports occurs only here in the Old Testament, and its meaning is uncertain. It is a technical architectural term that seems to come from a root meaning “to support.” But the exact kind of support is not known. In addition to supports (Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), various other meanings have been proposed, including “railings” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Osty-Trinquet), “stools” (Revised English Bible), and “[stair] steps” (Contemporary English Version, De Vries).
Lyres also and harps for the singers: Lyres are musical instruments with strings, similar to harps. They probably had ten strings of equal length. Harps had twelve thicker strings of unequal length and had a lower register and louder sound than the lyres. Lyres had a rectangular soundbox and harps had a waterskin-shaped soundbox. An extensive general treatment of musical instruments in the Bible is provided in k The Bible Translatork* (Jones, 1986 and 1987). If these articles are unavailable to translators, consultants may be able to provide photocopies. Notice that Good News Translation and New International Version reverse the order of lyres and harps, perhaps because harps is the more familiar term. The singers (or, “musicians” [New Jerusalem Bible], “chanters” [New American Bible]) may refer to the Temple musicians or to musicians in the royal court. Since the text does not specify where they performed, translators should not do so in the receptor language either.
No such almug wood has come or been seen, to this day: The final clause of this verse may be understood in at least three different ways: (1) such fine almug wood has not been imported into Israel since then (so Good News Translation), (2) such large quantities of almug wood have not been imported since then (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Revised English Bible), or (3) no more wood of this kind has been imported since then (so New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible). The mention of the “amount” of wood in verse 11 may make the translator lean toward the second interpretation. While no such almug wood is the subject of the verbs has come and been seen in Hebrew, this may sound awkward in certain languages if translated literally. Following the second interpretation, the idea is that “no such quantities of almug wood have ever been imported or even seen since that time.” In those languages where the passive verb forms are not possible, translators may have to say something like “Since that time no one has ever brought such a quantity of almug wood to Israel and in fact no one has even seen so much of that wood.”
For to this day, see the comments on 1 Kgs 8.8.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .