And Huram sent him by his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea: Revised Standard Version follows the order of the Hebrew here, but the resulting English is awkward. New Revised Standard Version is better with “Huram sent him, in the care of his servants, ships and servants familiar with the sea.” Huram refers to King Hiram of Tyre (see the comments on 2Chr 8.2). By his servants is literally “by the hand of his servants.” In this context the word servants refers to “officers” (Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible) and not to menial domestic workers. Servants familiar with the sea may be rendered “experienced crews of sailors” (New Living Translation; similarly Good News Translation) or, more literally, “men who knew the sea” (New International Version). Bible en français courant says “experienced Phoenician sailors.”

And they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon: The location of Ophir is unknown. Probably it was somewhere in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, although some have suggested places as varied as the coasts of Africa and India (see the comments on 1 Chr 29.4). It was clearly a large area or nation and not a city, as indicated by the translations “land of Ophir” (Good News Translation) and “country of Ophir” (Contemporary English Version). Ophir was famous for its gold (see 1 Chr 29.4; Job 28.16; Psa 45.9; Isa 13.12). The servants of Solomon may be rendered “Solomon’s own sailors” (Contemporary English Version, Parole de Vie) in this context.

And fetched from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon: The verb fetched is archaic English. New Revised Standard Version says “imported.” Good News Translation and New Century Version combine this verb with brought, saying “brought back.” For talents see the comments on 1 Chr 19.6. Four hundred and fifty talents is probably the equivalent of somewhere between sixteen and seventeen tons. The uncertainty as to its exact equivalence in modern terms is clearly seen in the following variety of translations: “about sixteen tons” (Good News Translation), “almost seventeen tons” (New Living Translation), “about seventeen tons” (Contemporary English Version), “about thirty-four thousand pounds” (New Century Version), and “33,750 pounds” (God’s Word). In terms of the metric system the equivalent is probably “more than fifteen thousand kilogrammes” (GNT British edition; similarly Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

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 .