And we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon: Since the contrast in verses 15 and 16 is between King Hiram and his Phoenician lumbermen on the one hand and King Solomon on the other hand, the pronoun we is exclusive. The pronoun we may include some Israelites as well (see verse 8b), but more likely includes only non-Israelites and would certainly not include Solomon. All of the Hebrew pronouns for you in this verse are singular, referring to Solomon. Lebanon here refers to the mountain range parallel to the Mediterranean coast, located north of Palestine (see the comments on 2Chr 2.8). Good News Translation makes this meaning clear by adding “the mountains of.”

And bring it to you in rafts by sea to Joppa: The workers from Tyre would tie the logs together to make rafts and tow them behind boats. Contemporary English Version has “then tie them together into rafts, and float them down along the coast to Joppa,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “and deliver them to you as rafts by sea to Jaffa.” For a good discussion on rafts, see WTH, pages 360-361|fig:WTH.8.1.2.Raft, float.360-361.html. Since there may be no specific word for rafts in many languages, it will be necessary simply to describe the action of fastening the logs together. One African language says “we will bind them together and cause them to come to you on the great sea to Joppa.”

Joppa is mentioned in the story of Jonah (1.3). It is a suburb of Tel Aviv today, located on the Mediterranean coast, about 60 kilometers (38 miles) from Jerusalem. The distance from Tyre to Joppa was about 160 kilometers (100 miles). New Living Translation makes explicit the name of the sea by saying “and will float the logs in rafts down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa.” Instead of translating by sea literally, New American Bible says “and float them down to you at the port of Joppa.”

So that you make take it up to Jerusalem: From sea level to Jerusalem involved a significant change in elevation of nearly 800 meters (2,625 feet) above sea level. But Parole de Vie leaves the notion of upward movement implied, translating simply “From there, you will transport them to Jerusalem.” NET Bible translates with a more specific verb, saying “You can then haul it on up to Jerusalem.” In the Hebrew text the second person singular pronoun for you is emphatic. New Jerusalem Bible attempts to express this by saying “and it will be your responsibility to transport it to Jerusalem.”

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 .