And one third shall be at the king’s house may be rendered “another third must guard the royal palace” (similarly Good News Translation).

And one third at the Gate of the Foundation: The location of the Gate of the Foundation is unknown. This gate was not one of the gates in the outer wall that surrounded Jerusalem but was probably a gate in an inner wall that surrounded the Temple and the royal palace The Septuagint calls this gate “the Middle Gate,” and the parallel passage in 2 Kgs 11.6 calls it “the gate Sur.” An American Translation transliterates the Hebrew word for Foundation, saying “the Gate Jesod” (similarly Nouvelle version Segond révisée, Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible du Semeur), but this is not recommended.

And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD: All the people refers to the lay people. This phrase may be rendered “all the rest of the people.” The courts of the house of the LORD refers to the two courtyards of the Temple, which were the inner and outer courtyards (see the comments on 2 Chr 4.9). Courts is better translated in English as “courtyards” (New International Version), since the English word courts often refers to buildings where legal decisions are made. Good News Translation has the singular word “courtyard,” probably because lay people could not be in the inner court of the priests.

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 .