And they brought …: The pronoun they refers to King Hezekiah and the officials he had called together (verse 20).

The seven bulls, seven rams, and seven lambs were for burnt offerings, which is implied in verse 24. Some scholars think that the Hebrew text originally had the words “for the burnt offerings” here and restore them in translation (so Revised English Bible). However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project gives an {A} rating to the text without this addition. Rams are “male sheep” (New Century Version). The Hebrew noun translated lambs refers specifically to young rams, that is, “male lambs” (New International Version, New Living Translation).

The seven he-goats were for a sin offering (see verse 23). He-goats is better expressed in New Revised Standard Version as “male goats.” The sin offering was made in order to remove the impurity caused by sin (see Lev 4). Revised English Bible says “purification-offering.”

The number seven, which is often a symbolic number in the Old Testament, indicates the importance of these sacrifices. For other places in the Old Testament where seven animals are offered as sacrifices, see Gen 21.28 and Num 23.1.

For the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah: The kingdom here apparently does not refer to the kingdom of Judah since Judah refers to it. Rather, the kingdom refers to the “the royal family” (Good News Translation, Parole de Vie). The sanctuary may be understood as referring to the Temple (so Good News Translation) or to the priests and Levites who worked at the Temple. Perhaps the most natural way to express this whole phrase is “for the royal family of Judah, for the rest of the kingdom, and for their Temple.” Another possible model is “to remove the sins of the king’s family and the rest of the people of Judah and to cleanse the Temple.”

And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the LORD: The pronoun he refers to Hezekiah, which Good News Translation makes clear by saying “The king.” The sons of Aaron is better rendered “the descendants of Aaron” (Good News Translation, New International Version).

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 .