And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there: Some translations begin a new section here (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, La Bible du Semeur). If a new section is begun here, then the king should be fully identified in this first verse of the new section. Parole de Vie, for example, says “One day, Solomon went to Gibeon….”
This verse begins in Hebrew with the common conjunction, translated And in Revised Standard Version. Since the context clearly indicates that what follows refers to one particular trip to Gibeon, but does not state exactly when, Good News Translation begins a new paragraph here with the words “On one occasion.” Other translations similarly say “One day” (Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).
Gibeon is mentioned frequently in the book of Joshua and is said to have been “a great city, like one of the royal cities” (Josh 10.2). It was located about ten kilometers (more than six miles) to the northwest of Jerusalem. Since this is the first time it is mentioned in this book, it will probably be advisable in most languages to indicate that it was a city.
The great high place: The Hebrew adjective rendered great may mean “great in size” or “great in importance.” Here the second sense is found in most translations. In Hebrew the positive form of adjectives (for example, great) sometimes has the value of the superlative (for example, greatest). Such is the case here, where the great means “the greatest.” Compare “the most famous” high place (Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), “the most renowned high place” (New American Bible), “the principal high place” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible), “the most important” high place (Spanish common language version [Biblia Dios Habla Hoy], Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie), and “the chief shrine” (Revised English Bible). But compare New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, which is based on the meaning “great in size”: “the largest shrine.”
Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings upon that altar: Unlike other kinds of offerings, in a burnt offering the entire animal was burned. In this kind of offering, discussed in Lev 1.2-17, the entire animal is cut up and burned on the altar. Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje makes it explicit that the burnt offerings consisted of animals that had been killed: “he killed animals and offered them as sacrifices….” For altar see the comments on 1 Kgs 1.50.
The end of this verse could be understood to mean that on this one occasion, Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar. Compare New Jerusalem Bible: “Solomon presented a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.” New American Bible is similar with “Upon its altar Solomon offered a thousand holocausts.” But the more probable meaning of the Hebrew verb here is that on various occasions over the past few years Solomon had offered many sacrifices there. For this reason Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente say used to offer, while Good News Translation and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje use the past perfect verb “had offered” and add “in the past.” If the second interpretation is followed, a thousand burnt offerings should not be taken literally, but in a figurative sense. Good News Translation expresses this well with “hundreds of burnt offerings.”
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 .