And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone: The book of Deuteronomy warns the Israelite people that when they one day would have a king, the king was not to become rich with silver and gold (Deut 17.17). See also the comments on verse 28, which show that Solomon also violated the law of Deut 17.16. Although verses 27-28 underline the great wealth and power of Solomon, the original readers, who were familiar with the teachings of Deuteronomy, would have seen the implicit criticism in these verses. Translators may wish to add a footnote explaining this fact. The meaning of this clause may be communicated in a variety of other ways, including “While Solomon was king, there was silver everywhere in Jerusalem” (Contemporary English Version) and “Thanks to the king, there was as much silver in Jerusalem as there were stones” (Parole de Vie).

And cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah: Cedar and sycamore are types of trees. For cedar see 1 Chr 14.1; for sycamore see 1 Chr 27.28. Cedar was imported and was expensive. Sycamore trees, on the other hand, were common in the lowlands to the west of Jerusalem. The meaning of this clause is that Solomon had so much wealth that he was able to import large quantities of cedar timber for building, and as a result cedar wood was as common in Jerusalem as the wood of the native sycamore tree, which was not considered very good for building. The text does not mean that Solomon imported and planted cedar trees. He imported cedar lumber/timber. An American Translation says “he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees,” but the word “cedars” in the plural in English will not refer to timber but to trees, which is wrong here.

Shephelah, which is a transliteration of the Hebrew noun here, refers to the foothills in the territory of Judah, west of the mountains and east of the Mediterranean seacoast (see the comments on 1 Chr 27.28 and 2 Chr 1.15). Instead of the transliterated term Shephelah, it is better to say “foothills of Judah” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “western foothills” (Contemporary English Version).

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 .