While twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps: Revised Standard Version continues the sentence started in the previous verse. But it may be better to begin a new sentence here as Good News Translation and other versions have done. The twelve lions probably symbolized the twelve tribes. As in the previous verse, these lions were not real live animals, but rather “lion statues” (Contemporary English Version). Bible en français courant and Parole de Vie say “twelve other lions” in view of the fact that two lions were already mentioned in the previous verse.

The like of it was never made in any kingdom: The throne of Solomon is compared with all other thrones in existence up to that time and the writer finds that there were none that were comparable to it. Moffatt translates “No such throne was ever made in any kingdom,” and New Living Translation says “No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!” The passive verb was … made will have to be made active in many languages. A model that does this is “No one had ever made a throne like this one in any [other] kingdom in the world.”

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 .