And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark: Solomon and the people of Israel were at the Temple in front of the ark of the covenant. The ark had not yet been carried inside the Temple into the Most Holy Place, where it would remain. The Hebrew noun rendered congregation refers to a gathering. The purpose of the gathering must be determined by the context. Here the purpose is for worship.

Sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered: Solomon and his people sacrificed many animals before the ark was carried inside the Temple. For oxen see the comments on 1 Chr 12.40. Revised Standard Version follows the form of the Hebrew here by saying that the number of animals sacrificed were so numerous that they could not be counted or numbered. The Hebrew is literally “they were not counted or numbered for multitude.” Compare “in numbers past counting or reckoning” (Revised English Bible). The use of two synonyms in Hebrew gives emphasis, but there is no distinction in meaning between the two verbs. It is legitimate to merge the two verbs into a single expression in the receptor language. Good News Translation, for example, says “too many to count,” and Contemporary English Version has “more sheep and cattle than could be counted.” This passive expression will have to be made active in a number of languages. The implied agent is clearly “no one.” So it may be perfectly natural to say “no one could count them exactly” (Parole de Vie).

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 .