Nebuchadnezzar also carried part of the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon: The Masoretic Text does not have a word corresponding to the word also in Revised Standard Version, but many versions add also since this verse tells additional things that Nebuchadnezzar did. He also took some of the Temple equipment (see 1 Chr 28.14-18 and 2 Chr 4.19-22). The Hebrew word for vessels is a general term that may be translated “equipment,” “utensils” (God’s Word), or “articles” (New International Version) in this context. Here it refers to items or objects for use in the Temple (see the comments on 1 Chr 28.13).

And put them in his palace in Babylon: Palace translates a Hebrew noun that often refers specifically to the central room of the Temple (see the comments on 2 Chr 4.7, 22). As in some other Old Testament passages, the Hebrew noun seems to refer to the palace of a king here. Since it sometimes refers to the Temple or its central room in Jerusalem, some translators think it refers here also to a temple rather than a palace; for example, New International Version and An American Translation render his palace as “his temple,” and the alternative translation of Bible en français courant has “the temple of his gods.”

Babylon refers to the city in this verse, so Good News Translation says “Babylon.” The repetition of this proper name in Revised Standard Version, as in Hebrew, may be avoided if it is unnatural in the receptor language. Good News Translation provides a possible model for doing this.

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 .