Since the LORD was speaking in verse 9, it may be helpful to make explicit that Solomon continues speaking in this verse; for example, Parole de Vie begins with “Solomon continued.”

Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise which he made: There is a strong emphasis in this passage on the fulfillment of God’s promises. The promise (literally “word”) in view here is the one found in the previous verse, that is, that David’s son should build the Temple. The Hebrew verb rendered fulfilled differs from the one used in verses 4 and 15. It is different in this case because there is a wordplay involved here with the next clause. A more literal rendering of the first half of this verse is “And the LORD raised up his word … for I have risen in the place of David….” Chouraqui preserves this wordplay in his very literal rendering by saying “Yahweh raises his word that he had spoken. I raise myself in the place of David my father.” Such a wordplay probably cannot be maintained in most languages since “to raise up a word” will not mean “to fulfill/keep a promise” in most languages. Some possible models for the first clause are “Yahweh has kept the promise which he made” (New Jerusalem Bible) and “The Eternal has done what he promised” (Moffatt).

The two expressions I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel refer to one event and not two separate events. But there are two separate ideas: it is not just that Solomon has become king; he has become king and at the same time he has replaced his father. International Children’s Bible uses two separate sentences, saying “I have taken my father David’s place. Now I am Israel’s king.” This may be a helpful model for some other languages. For sit on the throne, see the comments on 1 Chr 28.5.

And I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel: See the comments on 2Chr 6.7. This clause should not be understood to mean that Solomon did the construction by himself. Rather, he commissioned the work and supervised it to be sure that it was done correctly.

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 .