As noted in the introductory comments on this chapter [2 Chr 1.1-17], some versions begin a new section here instead of at verse 13.

Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: Since the name Solomon has been used in the previous verse, it may be more natural to substitute it with a pronoun (so Good News Translation). However, if a new section begins here, it is better to keep the name Solomon. In this context the verb gathered together does not refer to the assembling of the chariots and horsemen at a specific time or place. Rather, it was over a period of time that Solomon “amassed” (Revised English Bible) or “built up” (Good News Translation, God’s Word) these forces in different places. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente begins this verse with “Solomon put together an army of….” Chariots were two-wheeled carts that were pulled by horses (see the comments on 1 Chr 18.4). The body of the chariot had a front and two sides that were came to about mid-thigh level and had an open back. Iron was used to strengthen the wood of a chariot, especially the rims of its wheels. Chariots were used for ordinary transportation, but they are best known for their use in warfare. They carried two or three riders armed with weapons. The earliest chariots were pulled by two horses, but later chariots were pulled by teams of three or four horses. The Hebrew word translated horsemen is difficult to translate because sometimes it refers to horses and sometimes to charioteers (see the comments on 1 Chr 18.4). Here some versions say horsemen (also New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “drivers” (New American Bible), “crew members” (La Bible du Semeur), or “chariot fighters” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), but others use “horses” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant). In fact, in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and El libro del Pueblo de Dios the first occurrence of this noun in the verse is translated as “horsemen,” and the second occurrence as “horses.” When it does refer to horsemen, it probably always refers to men who rode in chariots and not to men who rode on horses. Translators may say “horses” or “chariot fighters” here.

He had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen: Compare 1 Kgs 4.26.

Whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem: Stationed translates the causative form of a Hebrew verb meaning “to settle down” or “to rest.” Here it may be rendered “placed” (Jewish Publication Version) or “kept” (New Jerusalem Bible, Anchor Bible, Dillard). The chariot cities were probably located in the Valley of Esdraelon (also called the Plain of Megiddo), which extended from the port of Jaffa to the city of Beth Shan. Much of the territory of Israel was mountainous and not suited to the use of chariots. Some may have to translate “the cities where chariots could be used.” New Century Version has “special cities for the chariots.” And with the king in Jerusalem means that some of these horses and chariots were kept on the grounds of the royal palace. Since King Solomon is already mentioned by name at the beginning of this verse, it may be better to replace the king with a pronoun in some languages (so New Living Translation, Bible en français courant, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Obviously, Solomon stationed some of the chariots and horses in the chariot cities and some in Jerusalem. In some languages it will be natural and clear to add “some” and “others” as in Revised English Bible, which renders this whole clause as “he stationed some in the chariot-towns, while others he kept at hand in Jerusalem” (similarly Good News Translation, God’s Word, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the order of the chariot cities and Jerusalem, as Good News Translation has done.

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 .