Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim …: The usual formula is used in this verse to summarize the reign of Jehoiakim. It sums up the remainder of his reign and tells where other information about him may be found. See the comments on 1 Chr 29.29 and 2 Chr 9.29.

The abominations which he did: The Hebrew word for abominations is a rather strong one referring to “horrible actions” (Parole de Vie) or “detestable things” (New International Version). See the comments on 2 Chr 28.3, where it is rendered “abominable practices.”

What was found against him: Revised Standard Version reflects the passive verb in Hebrew here, but in many languages it will be futile to try to imitate the form of the original text. Other possible renderings for this clause are “the crimes he committed,” “the evil he committed,” and “all the bad things that people discovered about him.” As an alternative translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente has “his imprisonment,” which is possible in the context but is less likely.

Behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah: See the comments on 2 Chr 27.7.

And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead: For reigned in his stead, see the comments on 1 Chr 19.1 and 2 Chr 9.31.

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 .

Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth: It is not clear why the writer inserts this information about Nimrod, who was the founder of Assyria (see Gen 10.8-12). The prophet Micah refers to Assyria as “the land of Nimrod” (Micah 5.6). The Mesopotamian descendants of Nimrod became Israel’s great enemies during the time when the Assyrians and the Babylonians ruled the ancient Near East. Good News Translation indicates the special character of this verse by placing it within parentheses, but this is probably not necessary.

As the footnote in New International Version correctly states, the word father here and in verses 11, 13, 18, and 20 may mean “ancestor” or “founder.” However, few modern versions adopt this understanding of the text.

According to Gen 10, Nimrod was a great hunter. All that the writer of 1 Chronicles says is he was a mighty one in the earth. The Hebrew noun translated mighty one refers to people or animals that are vigorous and strong. In this verse it is usually rendered “warrior” or something similar. In the earth means “on the earth.” In ordinary English it may be expressed as “in the world.” Translations for a mighty one in the earth include “the world’s first great conqueror” (Good News Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje), “the first great ruler of the earth” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “the world’s first soldier” (Peregrino, “the first warrior on the earth” La Bible: Nouvelle Traduction, El libro del Pueblo de Dios), “a mighty warrior on [the] earth” (New International Version, New Century Version), and “the first to be a hero on the earth” (Nouvelle Bible Segond). The American Translation (An American Translation) has “an outstanding man in the earth,” but this rendering seems to be too general. For mighty one, American Bible has “tyrant.” As Johnstone (volume 1, pages 30-31) points out, Nimrod and Nebuchadnezzar are the first and last Babylonian tyrants to be mentioned in 1–2 Chronicles (1 Chr 1.10; 2 Chr 36.6-13), so perhaps the word “tyrant” or “despot” (Moffatt, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous) better expresses the author’s intended meaning than does a more general word such as “warrior” or “ruler.”

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 .

His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah: See Gen 38.12-30 for the details of how Tamar, the widow of Er, became the mother of Judah’s sons Perez and Zerah. The pronoun His refers to Judah. Translators in some languages will need to make this clear by rendering this pronoun as “Judah’s” (New Century Version). The hyphenated English term daughter-in-law is translated in a wide variety of ways in receptor languages. Some may have special technical terms, while others will convey the meaning by saying “son’s wife.” Revised Standard Version has added the word also because of the context. Good News Translation expresses this same idea with the words “two more sons.” Perez was the twenty-fourth generation in the line of descent that began with Adam.

Judah had five sons in all: Good News Translation moves this clause forward to the beginning of verse 3 in order to present the information in a more logical way in English.

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 .

The sons of Hebron: Good News Translation adds the idea that Hebron had “four” sons. This addition is acceptable if it is natural to do so in the receptor language, but it may not be considered necessary in many languages.

Tappuah, also called Beth-tappuah in Josh 15.53, was a town located a few kilometers west-northwest of Hebron.

It is not clear whether Rekem is a clan name or a place name.

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 .

The sons of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six: As in the previous verse, this verse also is difficult in the Masoretic Text, which reads as follows: “And the sons of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush and Igal and Bariah and Neariah and Shaphat, six.” The Masoretic Text is followed by Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Segond and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, but the difficulty is that the Masoretic Text says “six” but lists only five sons of Shemaiah. So many interpreters have proposed various solutions, including the following:

• (1) The words And the sons of Shemaiah are a later insertion and should be omitted in translation. The result of this omission is that the number six now refers to the six sons of Shecaniah instead of Shemaiah. New American Bible, for example, reads “The sons of Shecaniah were Shemiah, Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, Shaphat–six” (similarly Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Einheitsübersetzung, Luther, Osty-Trinquet, and La Bible Pléiade, which has empty square brackets after the first mention of the name Shemaiah). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text, but states that the words And the sons of Shemaiah are probably a scribe’s addition. But if the Masoretic Text contains a very early addition, it will be better to omit this addition in translation. A good model is “Shecaniah had six sons, Shemaiah, Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah and Shaphat” (Bible en français courant; similarly Moffatt, La Bible du Semeur, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

• (2) Various solutions to this difficulty are found in the ancient versions. One part of the ancient Greek manuscript tradition reads “Shaphat and Shophat” at the end of the verse in order to have six names. Some modern scholars suggest that a sixth name was accidentally omitted by a scribe, and this suggestion is, of course, possible.

• (3) Some manuscripts of the Vulgate transliterate the Hebrew word for “six” as a man’s name, “Sessa,” and then translate the word again as “six” in order to have six names.

• (4) It is, of course, possible that the writer intended the number six to refer to both Shemaiah and the five sons of Shemaiah. This seems to be the basis for the translations found in Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje, which take the last five names as the “grandsons” of Shecaniah and omit the word six. This also seems to be the interpretation behind the translation “Son of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. Sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah and Shaphat; six in all” (Peregrino; similarly Reina-Valera revisada). Compare also “Shecaniah’s descendants were Shemaiah and his sons, Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat–six in all” (New Living Translation).

• (5) Berkeley takes a different approach by suggesting that the list here includes only some of the six sons as follows: “Shecaniah’s son being Shemaiah. Shemaiah had six sons, including Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat.” By adding the word “including,” this translation indicates that the author did not intend to list six persons. But this translation is not recommended since the Masoretic Text does not indicate that the author intended to list only some of the six sons.

The most likely solutions here are numbers 1 and 4.

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 .

The names of Adi-el and Jesimiel (verse 36) are omitted in one manuscript of the Septuagint, and others give the second of these two names as “Ishmael,” as is also the case in some Hebrew manuscripts. But most modern versions retain the names as found in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

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 .

Eleazar was the father of Phinehas …: Eleazar was one of Aaron’s four sons (verse 3). The list of his descendants continues through verse 15, down to the time of the Babylonian Exile. Good News Translation restructures verses 4-15 and avoids the repetition of names for the sake of English style. In addition, Good News Translation also supplies information that is implied in the overall text and slightly changes the focus by speaking of “The descendants of Eleazar” rather than saying that Eleazar was the ancestor (father) of the people whose names are given in the following list. Eleazar and Phinehas are mentioned again in verse 50. The first mention of them as father and son is found in Exo 6.25.

Phinehas of Abishua: The Hebrew text of this clause and the following ones has the verb rendered was the father of in the previous clause, so this clause is literally “Phinehas fathered Abishua.” The word of here and in the following verses implies “was the father of.” Revised English Bible repeats “father of” in each case, while New American Bible says “became the father of.” Other languages will use a verb meaning “to give birth to” or “to engender.” Receptor language considerations will determine whether such repetition is desirable. If not, some abbreviated expression may be more natural (so Good News Translation). Abishua is listed again in verse 50.

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 .

These are the sons of Aaron …: The sons of Aaron is better rendered “the descendants of Aaron” (New International Version, New Living Translation, New American Bible). The first name in the list, Eleazar, was a son of Aaron, but those that follow were his descendants since each successive name is the son of the person named previously (see verses 3-8). Good News Translation again avoids the repetition of his son by beginning with “This is the line of Aaron’s descendants….” Another possible way of rewording the listing of the descendants is to follow the model of New American Bible, which says “These were the descendants of Aaron: his son Eleazar, whose son was Phinehas, whose son was Abishua….”

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 .