And all the elders of Israel came: The elders of Israel refers to the same group mentioned by this title in verse 2. Since verse 4 does not refer to another gathering of the elders, in addition to that in verse 2, many English versions use the past perfect tense here, for example, “had gathered” (Good News Translation) and “had arrived” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible).

And the Levites took up the ark: For Levites see the comments on 1 Chr 9.2. According to Num 1.50 and 1 Chr 15.2, only the Levites were to carry the ark. The ark of the covenant had four feet, with a gold ring attached to each foot. Poles were inserted through the rings to carry the ark (see Exo 25.12-15; 1 Chr 15.15). These poles were to remain in the rings of the ark and not removed. The Levites carried the ark by lifting the poles and placing them on their shoulders. Most translations follow the Hebrew rather literally by saying the Levites took up or “lifted” (Good News Translation) the ark. However, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “the Levites lifted the ark up on their shoulders.”

Revised Standard Version takes this verse as a complete sentence, but Good News Translation restructures it, making the first half a temporal clause and completing the sentence in verse 5 (so also New International Version, Revised English Bible, New American Bible). Translators should adopt whichever structure suits the receptor language at this point.

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 .