Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD: The king wanted a place to store the surplus food, so he ordered the priests and Levites to prepare chambers. The Hebrew verb translated to prepare can mean “to make ready,” “to erect,” or “to set up.” So there is some ambiguity about whether they were to prepare existing chambers for the food or whether they were to construct new chambers. 1 Chr 9.26 already mentions rooms in the Temple where tithes and supplies were kept, so the first interpretation seems preferable. But the second interpretation is found in New American Bible, which uses the verb “constructed.”

In the house of the LORD is a literal rendering of the Hebrew text. Like other Syrian and Canaanite temples in the Old Testament world, Solomon’s Temple had storage rooms built onto the sides of the Temple. Good News Translation says “in the Temple area.” Bible en français courant has “near the temple,” but the meaning is best expressed as “alongside the temple” (Parole de Vie).

And they prepared them: The structure of the Hebrew is followed by Revised Standard Version, expressing first the command of the king and then, in a separate sentence, stating that the command was fulfilled. But instead of adopting this structure, it will be better in some languages to follow Good News Translation, which says essentially that the action was taken in response to the king’s command. Or the order of the verse in Good News Translation may be reversed by saying:

• Then they prepared storerooms in the Temple area, just as Hezekiah had ordered.

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 .