The LORD had earlier warned Solomon that the Temple would be destroyed if he or his descendants disobeyed God and worshiped other gods (1 Kgs 9.8).
He burned the house of the LORD …: A number of versions translate the Hebrew verb here as “set fire to” (New International Version, New Century Version, Revised English Bible), but it is probably better to understand it in the sense of Good News Translation and New Jerusalem Bible with “burned down.” The verb phrase translated burned down at the end of the verse is literally “burned with fire.” But in many languages this phrase will be considered redundant and unnatural if translated literally.
Every great house: The Hebrew here may be understood as referring to houses of important people or to important buildings. The Revised Standard Version translation allows for either interpretation. Translations following the first interpretation are “all the houses of the nobles” (em>Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) and “the houses of all the important people” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Translations following the second interpretation include “all the important buildings” (La Bible du Semeur) and “every large building” (New American Bible). There is no evidence in the ancient manuscripts to support the reading “the house of Gedaliah”; but since the name “Gedaliah” is similar to the Hebrew word for “great,” New English Bible speaks of “the mansion of Gedaliah.” Revised English Bible, however, reverts to the more traditional reading, translating “every notable’s house.” Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} degree of certainty to the reading in the Masoretic Text, but notes that the reading in the Masoretic Text is so difficult to understand that it may not be original.
New Jerusalem Bible omits the final clause (every great house he burned down), indicating in a footnote that this is an added explanation. While the textual evidence is not sufficient to justify dropping this clause, it may possibly be omitted for translation reasons since it may be considered redundant after having already said all the houses of Jerusalem. If, however, the Hebrew is understood to mean “he burned down all the houses of the important people,” then this clause is not redundant, and the meaning for the whole verse may be expressed as “he burned down the temple, the royal palace and all the houses in the city, especially the houses of all the important people” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
In some languages the whole verse will be restructured in order to put the all-inclusive statement (all the houses of Jerusalem) at the beginning of the verse. A model for this kind of restructuring is:
• He burned down all the houses of Jerusalem, including the palace, the Temple and everything else.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .