And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone: The book of Deuteronomy warns the Israelite people that when they would have a king some time in the future, the king was not to become rich with silver and gold (Deut 17.17). This clause is literally “And the king gave silver and gold to Jerusalem, like stones” (similarly Chouraqui). The rendering of Good News Translation seems to downplay the role of the king, implying that this was merely something that happened during his reign (so also Contemporary English Version). But this should be avoided if possible. Bible en français courant provides a better model with “Thanks to the king, there was as much silver and gold as stones in Jerusalem” (similarly Parole de Vie). To say that silver and gold were as common … as stone is obviously an overstatement, but will probably be understood as such in most languages. The point is that during the time that Solomon was ruling, the kingdom of Israel experienced incredible economic growth and the people were very wealthy.

And he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah: Cedar and sycamore are types of trees (see the comments on 1 Chr 14.1 and 27.28). The original readers and hearers of this text would have known that sycamore trees were very common in the lowlands to the west of Jerusalem and that cedars were relative rare and highly valued. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version speak of “ordinary sycamore” trees in order to make this clear to the modern reader. New Living Translation accomplishes the same purpose by saying “valuable cedarwood was as common as the sycamore wood.”

The text does not mean that Solomon imported and planted cedar trees. Rather, he imported cedar timber. Many translations say something like “he made cedars as plentiful as the sycamore trees” (so New American Bible, Nouvelle version Segond révisée), but the word “cedars” refers to trees and not to timber. The sense is that cedar wood for building was plentiful, not that actual cedar trees were numerous. El libro del Pueblo de Dios says “cedar wood.” In languages where the cedar tree is not known, cedar may be rendered “valuable timber” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “fine wood” (La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual). Sycamore may be translated “sycomore-fig” (Revised English Bible) or “wild fig” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, BTI).

Shephelah is a transliteration of the Hebrew noun here. As indicated in the comments on 1 Chr 27.28, the Shephelah refers to the lowlands in the territory of Judah, west of the hill country and east of the Mediterranean seacoast. The Shephelah was approximately 65 kilometers (40 miles) long and 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide and lay south of Aijalon Valley. Elevations in the Shephelah were about 90-400 meters (300-1300 feet), which was much lower than the Judean plateau to the east, which rose to 1,000 meters (3,300 feet). A number of modern versions simply transliterate the Hebrew term (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In other contexts Revised Standard Version translates the same term as “the lowland” (for example, Deut 1.7; Josh 9.1; Jdg 1.9). In this verse some versions seek to convey the meaning instead of transliterating the term by saying “the lowlands” (New Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt), “the Lowland” (Jewish Publication Version), “the Low-Country” (Bible en français courant, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), or “the foothills” (Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New American Bible). The Septuagint also uses a word that refers to a flat or level place. Good News Translation, New Living Translation, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch say “the foothills of Judah,” which is a more precise and better way of translating the Hebrew term. La Bible du Semeur has “the coastal plain along the Mediterranean,” but such a translation is a bit misleading since the Shephelah refers to a zone between the coastal plain to the west and the Judean hills to the east.

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 .