Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor: By sending the man who was in charge of the forced labor, Rehoboam transmitted a clear message to the northern tribes of Israel that he intended to deal harshly with them and was not going to grant their request that he lighten their load. The text does not state why Rehoboam sent Adoniram, but the meaning is clearly “to restore order” (New Living Translation).
In the parallel passage of 1 Kgs 12.18 Hadoram is called “Adoram,” and in 2 Sam 20.24 the man in charge of the forced labor under King David is also called “Adoram.” But the ancient Greek and Syriac translations of these two verses have the name “Adoniram.” In 1 Kgs 4.6 and 5.14 the name of the man holding this position during the reign of Solomon is “Adoniram.” Although some interpreters think it is not probable that the same person held this office for some forty years, it is likely that “Adoram” and Hadoram (so the Masoretic Text here) are simply variants of the name “Adoniram.” Good News Translation and New Living Translation use the name “Adoniram” in all of these passages.
Who was taskmaster over the forced labor is literally “who was over the forced labor.” Revised Standard Version supplies the word taskmaster. Similarly, Revised English Bible adds the word “commander” and New American Bible has “superintendent.” In many languages something will need to be added in order to make the clause complete. New International Version says “who was in charge of forced labor.” The practice of using forced labor existed also in neighboring countries at that time. The people were forced to build buildings and fortified walls around cities and to do other construction projects (see 2 Chr 8.3-8). The function of Adoniram may be expressed in some languages as “captain of those who worked against their will” or “chief of those who compelled other people to work.”
And the people of Israel stoned him to death with stones: And renders the common Hebrew conjunction. Since the reaction of the people here is unexpected, it may be better in many languages to use the connector “but” (New International Version, New Living Translation). As in verse 16, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch identifies Israel as “the northern tribes,” which may be a good model for other languages. Stoned him to death with stones is redundant in English since the action of stoning someone implies that it was with stones. For this reason Good News Translation omits the words with stones (so also New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible). Many languages will say simply “executed him with stones” or “killed him by throwing stones on him.”
And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem: The Hebrew does not state that Rehoboam had also gone from Jerusalem into the northern kingdom, but this sentence implies that he must have gone with Adoniram. Made haste is literally “strengthened himself” or “proved to be strong.” Most interpreters understand the form of the Hebrew verb here to mean “with haste” or “hurriedly” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Others understand it to mean “to persist in something.” For made haste to mount, HALOT suggests the translation “managed to mount” (also New American Bible); that is, Rehoboam persisted (and succeeded) in mounting his chariot. A rendering of the whole sentence that expresses this sense is “and King Rehoboam had to struggle to get up into his chariot in time to flee to Jerusalem.”
Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation suggest that Rehoboam got into his chariot to flee after Adoniram had been stoned to death. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh clearly makes the one action follow the other action in time by saying “Thereupon, King Rehoboam hurriedly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.” However, the form of Hebrew verb for made haste may be understood as expressing simultaneous action; that is, while the people were in the process of stoning Adoniram, Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot and flee. If this understanding of the Hebrew verbs is correct, then Rehoboam did not wait to flee until after Adoniram had been killed.
For chariot see the comments on 1 Chr 18.4 and 2 Chr 1.14.
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 .