And he made the most holy place: The conjunction And may be omitted in translation since it only serves as a transition marker and may be represented by the beginning of a new paragraph. Beginning here in verse 8 and continuing through 4.10, the writer uses the Hebrew verb form rendered he made thirteen times. The focus is clearly on Solomon as the person who was responsible for building the Temple. However, in some languages a literal translation of he made may incorrectly suggest that Solomon was actually the builder rather than the person who had the Temple and the various objects made. So a causative verb form may be required in such languages.
The most holy place is literally “the house of holy of holies” or “the most holy house” (see the comments on 1 Chr 6.49). This phrase does not refer to the whole Temple but rather to the special inner chamber of the Temple, behind the nave. The Tent of the LORD’s presence also had an inner room called the Most Holy Place (see Exo 26.33-34). Verses 8-14 deal with the Most Holy Place. The only person allowed to enter the Most Holy Place was the High Priest, and then only once a year (see Lev 16.17).
Its length, corresponding to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth was twenty cubits: Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version follow rather literally the form of the Hebrew in giving the measurements of the Most Holy Place. Revised English Bible provides a clearer model in English by beginning this verse with “He made the Most Holy Place twenty cubits long, corresponding to the breadth of the house, and twenty cubits broad.” Good News Translation is also a good model here, as is Contemporary English Version, which says “The most holy place was thirty feet square.”
He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold: For talents see the comments on 1 Chr 19.6. Six hundred talents was about 45,000 pounds. Contemporary English Version says “over 20 tons” (similarly Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur), and Good News Translation has “Twenty-five tons.” Berkeley uses modern American currency by rendering this whole clause as “and overlaid it with 18,000,000 dollars worth of fine gold,” but this is not recommended since the value of the dollar and that of gold are constantly changing. For fine gold, see the comments on 2Chr 3.5.
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 .