And on the eighth day they held a solemn assembly: The eighth day refers to the day after the seven days of celebration for the Festival of Shelters. The Hebrew word rendered solemn assembly is related to a root that involves restraint. Perhaps for this reason many translations retain the idea of solemnity, but some drop it; for example, New International Version, God’s Word, and Dillard say “assembly,” and New Century Version has “meeting.” In this context it may be best to say “final celebration” (Anchor Bible) or “closing ceremony” (New Living Translation, Revised English Bible, Nouvelle Bible Segond footnote). The Hebrew word is used elsewhere in Lev 23.36; Num 29.35; Deut 16.8; 2 Kgs 10.20; Neh 8.18; Isa 1.13; Joel 1.14; 2.15; and Amos 5.21.

For they had kept the dedication of the altar seven days and the feast seven days: Before the closing ceremony, the Israelites first celebrated the dedication of the Temple and the altar for seven days, and then the Festival of Shelters for seven days. The altar refers to the bronze altar for burning sacrifices (see verse 7). As in the previous verse, the feast refers to the Festival of Shelters.

Good News Translation and New Century Version restructure this verse, putting the events in more chronological order, with the final day of the celebration coming at the end of the verse instead of the beginning. Another model that does this is:

• They had already celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and then they spent seven more days for the Festival of Shelters. On the next day they had a closing ceremony.

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 .