The account of Solomon’s reign is concluded by the common formula used to summarize the reign of most of the kings of Israel and Judah. It refers to his death, burial, and successor.

And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: Slept with his fathers (literally “lay down with his fathers”) is a common Old Testament euphemism meaning “to die.” It occurs numerous times in 1-2 Kings and 2 Chronicles in reference to the kings of Israel and Judah. It is frequently accompanied as here by the words was buried, but there are cases where these words are not added and the euphemism seems to mean “died and was buried.” So this idiomatic expression refers to burial in a place that is physically close to the dead person’s parents, grandparents, and other ancestors. If there is no corresponding idiom in the receptor language, it will be best to translate slept with his fathers, and was buried as “died and was buried with his ancestors.” The passive verb was buried will have to be made active in some languages. One possible model that does this is “his people buried him.”

For the city of David, see the comments on 1 Chr 11.5 and 2 Chr 5.2.

And Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead: Rehoboam became the first king of the southern kingdom of Judah. Regarding his reign, see 2 Chr 10.1-19 and 12.13-16. According to 2 Chr 12.13, he became king when he was forty-one years old. The expression reigned in his stead is a formula found frequently in 1-2 Kings and 1-2 Chronicles (see the comments on 1 Chr 19.1). It may be translated in a variety of ways depending on the resources of the receptor language. Some possible models are “succeeded him as king” (Good News Translation, New International Version), “became king in his place” (New Century Version), “took power after he died,” and “began to govern following his death.”

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 .