Verse 18 is also unclear and has textual difficulties. Good News Translation has considerably simplified the wording of the Hebrew, but has most likely expressed the basic meaning correctly.

Likewise he made is literally “and he made.”

Pomegranates are a reddish fruit about the size of an orange with a reddish pulp. The seeds of this fruit were a symbol of fertility in the ancient Near East. Most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text read “pillars” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), but the correct reading may possibly be preserved in the two Hebrew manuscripts that read pomegranates (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament acknowledges that the Masoretic Text contains errors here which do not allow us to determine the original text; and for this reason Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text.

It will be noted that New Century Version, like Good News Translation, rightly indicates that the pomegranates were made of bronze. Contemporary English Version goes a step further, stating that these were “designs that looked like pomegranates.”

To cover the capital that was upon the top of the pillar: The Masoretic Text is literally “to cover the capitals that were on the top of the pomegranates” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly New Revised Standard Version). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, which gives a {D} rating to the Masoretic Text, acknowledges that the Masoretic Text does not have the original reading and that the reading “… of the pillars” in some Hebrew manuscripts may be a scribal attempt to make sense of the difficult text.

It must be admitted that the meaning of this verse is simply not clear, and translations differ considerably. The translation in New American Bible is based on the assumption that the second part of verse 20 is misplaced and belongs in verse 18. New American Bible reads “Four hundred pomegranates were also cast; two hundred of them in a double row encircled the piece of network on each of the two capitals.”

When the textual problems are combined with the fact that technical Hebrew terms are used whose meanings are uncertain today, it becomes impossible to recommend any one interpretation or translation as the correct one. Translators may wish to follow the interpretation found in a widely used existing translation in the area of the receptor language.

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 .