The sons of Javan: As in the previous verse, the word sons is better rendered “descendants.” Javan was the fourth son of Japheth listed in verse 5.

Elishah is mentioned as a seagoing nation in Ezek 27.7. Since the name is mentioned here in association with Javan (that is, “Greece” [Nouvelle Bible Segond]), it is probably located in the Aegean Sea. Non-biblical texts from the ancient world suggest that Elishah refers to part of the island of Cyprus, perhaps an area on its east coast. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch states in a footnote here that “Elishah and Kittim both refer to the (inhabitants of the) island of Cyprus.”

Tarshish is literally “Tarshishah,” but Revised Standard Version and nearly all other translations follow the spelling of the name as found here in the Septuagint and in the Masoretic Text of Genesis. The exact location of Tarshish is uncertain. What is said regarding Tarshish in several Old Testament texts suggests that it should be located west of Israel in the Mediterranean Sea area. Perhaps the most widely accepted view is that Tarshish refers to the ancient Phoenician colony of Tartessus in southwest Spain. Therefore a number of modern versions use the better-known name “Spain” (Good News Translation, Beaumont). Others may prefer to give this information in a footnote. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has the name Tarshish in the text and then explains it in a word list as follows: “Probably the Phoenician colony of Tartessus on the Spanish coast of the Mediterranean Sea with important silver mines.”

Some scholars, however, identify Tarshish as the northern African city of Carthage because of the Septuagint translation of the name in Ezek 27.12. It is also possible that the name Tarshish refers to more than one geographical location in the different places where it occurs in the Old Testament.

The Kittim (a plural noun in Hebrew) are mentioned in several Old Testament books. The Hebrew name, which is transliterated in Revised Standard Version, seems to come from the town of Kition on the south-central coast of the island of Cyprus. Some verses in the Old Testament may refer to this city itself, but often the name seems to refer to the entire island, as here and also in Isa 23.1 and Ezek 27.6. A number of translations use the better-known modern name “Cyprus” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Nueva Versión Internacional, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Beaumont). In order to indicate that Kittim does not refer to just one individual, some translations say “the Kittim” (so Bible de Jérusalem).

Rodanim almost certainly refers to the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes, off the southwest coast of Asia Minor. A number of modern versions say “Rhodes” in the text (Good News Translation, Moffatt, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Beaumont). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has a footnote that states “ Rodanim = inhabitants of the island of Rhodes.” As with the name Kittim, some translations say “the Rodanim” in order to show that the reference is not to an individual (so Bible de Jérusalem). Other translations, however, follow a different text here, reading “Dodanim” on the basis of several Hebrew manuscripts, the ancient Syriac translation, and the parallel text in Gen 10.4 (so La Bible du Semeur, Reina-Valera revisada, Osty-Trinquet). This is another example of the problems caused by the similarity of the Hebrew letters for “r” and “d.”

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 Israel: The word sons is to be taken here in its literal sense. Good News Translation adds the word “twelve,” making explicit what is implied in the Hebrew and what was commonly known by the original readers. Six of the twelve sons are listed in this verse, and the remaining six in the next one.

Israel is the name used in the Masoretic Text, but Good News Translation uses the name “Jacob” rather than Israel as in 1.34, so that readers will not confuse the individual called “Israel” with the nation by the same name. The writer of 1–2 Chronicles consistently uses the name Israel rather than the name “Jacob.”

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun: These first six sons were the sons of Jacob and Leah (Gen 35.23).

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 .

Some of the names in this list are the same as other, better-known, figures in the Old Testament. Obed (verses 37-38) has the same name as the son of Boaz in the story of Ruth (see verse 12); the ancient Syriac has “Jobab.”

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 .

And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei: Zerubbabel, who is the fifty-third generation from Adam, is listed here as one of the sons of Pedaiah; but in other Old Testament texts, he is called the son of Shealtiel (see, for example, Ezra 3.2, 8; 5.2; Neh 12.1; Hag 1.1). The Septuagint, in fact, reads “sons of Shealtiel” instead of sons of Pedaiah. Perhaps Pedaiah died without children and his brother Shealtiel (verse 17) fathered Zerubbabel in accordance with the principle of levirate marriage (Deut 25.5-10). Or perhaps the text here contains a scribal error. It is also possible that Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel refers to a different Zerubbabel. Fortunately, translators do not have to solve the difficulty in order to translate this verse.

And the sons of Zerubbabel is literally “and the son of Zerubbabel.” Revised Standard Version and nearly all other versions change the singular “son” to sons as the context requires. The final three letters in the Hebrew word for “Babylonia” are the same as the final three letters in the name Zerubbabel. Therefore some interpreters suggest that the Hebrew for this phrase originally said “and the sons of Zerubbabel [born] in Babylonia” and that verse 20 then refers to sons of Zerubbabel born in Jerusalem after the return from the exile in Babylonia (see option 2b in the comments on verse 20).

And Shelomith was their sister means Shelomith was the sister of Meshullam and Hananiah. In some languages it may be more natural to identify Shelomith as the “daughter” of Zerubbabel rather than as the sister of her two brothers (so Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). Compare verse 9, where the same structure is used.

Apart from Zerubbabel, the other persons listed in verses 19-24 are not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament.

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 .

And their villages were …: The Hebrew noun rendered villages here and in the next verse refers to permanent settlements without walls for protection. Translations include “settlements” (Revised English Bible), “towns” (New Living Translation), and “places” (Good News Translation). In Israelite culture cities were generally larger and walled, but towns and villages did not have walls and were smaller than cities. Of course, an ancient Israelite city may be considered a village by modern standards; for example, Jericho, which was considered a city, covered only about twelve acres. The Hebrew nouns for villages and cities are used to refer to the five places in this verse. So the distinction between these two nouns is not always maintained, just as in English the words “city” and “town” are often used with no distinction intended.

The exact location of Etam is not known, but it was probably located between southern Judah and the northern part of the Negev Desert.

Ain is the Hebrew word meaning “eye” or “spring,” and there are several places with this word as a part of their name. In agreement with the Septuagint rendering, some scholars think that this word goes together with Rimmon (which means “pomegranate” in Hebrew) and refers to a single place (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, La Bible Pléiade, Peregrino. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament argues that the Hebrew text contains a primitive error in which the name was mistakenly written as two names. The versions that take Ain-Rimmon as a single place still say five cities. However, Curtis and Madsen correct the Hebrew to read “four cities” at the end of this verse. The parallel text in Josh 19.7 names four towns.

Nothing more is known of Tochen. The village of Ashan mentioned here is perhaps the same place as the city of refuge given to the Levites in 1 Chr 6.59, although there is some confusion with Ain (see Josh 21.16).

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 Levi …: This verse is virtually identical with Gen 46.11 (see also Exo 6.16). Revised Standard Version reflects the Hebrew, which has no verb; but for those languages that require a verb, Good News Translation provides a reasonable model. A number of other versions supply the verb “were” (New Living Translation, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible). Another possible model is found in Contemporary English Version, which begins with “Levi was the father of….” Good News Translation adds the number “three” as the context allows.

The sons of Levi are listed again in verse 16. The sons of Gershom are listed in verse 17; the sons of Kohath in verses 2 and 18; and the sons of Merari in verses 19 and 29.

In Hebrew the name Gershom is spelled “Gershon.” The spelling of this person’s name is “Gershom” in verse 16, as well as in a number of other verses in 1 Chronicles, so Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, and New Jerusalem Bible harmonize it to read “Gershom” here in verse 1. Elsewhere in the Old Testament his name is always spelled “Gershon.” Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and New International Version use the spelling “Gershon” throughout the Old Testament when the reference is to the son of Levi, but the son of Moses in 1 Chr 23.15-16 is spelled Gershom. We recommend doing this in order to avoid confusing the reader.

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 .

On the left hand were their brethren the sons of Merari: Regarding the expression On the left hand, see the comments on verse 39. Some languages will say “Standing at his left side,” “Standing by him at his left,” or “Standing at the left side of Heman and his group.” The pronoun their refers to Heman (verse 33) and Asaph (verse 39). Brethren may be rendered “relatives” (God’s Word, Holman Christian Standard Bible) or “associates” (New International Version). See the comments on the word “brother” at verse 39. Merari was a son of Levi (verse 1).

Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Abdi …: As in verses 33-43, Good News Translation omits the repetition of son of in verses 44-47, but makes it clear that each successive name refers to an earlier generation by saying that Ethan’s “family line went back to Levi.”

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 Issachar … four: As written in Revised Standard Version, this verse does not constitute a complete sentence. It may be made into a complete sentence by supplying the verb phrase “gave birth to,” “was the father of” (Contemporary English Version), or “had” (Good News Translation) or by saying something like “The four sons of Issachar were….” The same kind of structure occurs again in the following verses, and probably complete sentences will be required in most languages.

In Genesis and Numbers Puah is called “Puvah.” Some functional equivalent translations harmonize the spellings and read “Puvah” here in 1 Chronicles also (so Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual). Jashub is called “Iob” in Gen 46.13. The name in the Hebrew text here is “Jashib,” but the correction in the margin of the Masoretic Text reads Jashub in agreement with the name in Num 26.24.

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 .