To them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasture lands: Hebron is first mentioned as a place where Abram camped (Gen 13.18). It was also known in former times as Kiriath Arba (Jdg 1.10). It is located in a mountainous area with many wells and springs. It is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Jerusalem. For pasture lands, see the comments on the next verse.

While the sentence started in verse 54 continues to the end of verse 56, it is probably better in most languages to make a separate sentence of verse 55; for example, Contemporary English Version has “They received the town of Hebron in the territory of Judah and the pastureland around it.”

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 Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five: Bela was one of Benjamin’s sons (verse 6). The names of Bela’s sons according to 1 Chr 8.3-5 were Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. According to Num 26.40, Bela’s sons were Ard and Naaman (see the comments on the previous verse).

Heads of fathers’ houses: See the comments on 1 Chr 7.2.

Mighty warriors: See the comments on 1 Chr 5.24.

And their enrollment by genealogies was twenty-two thousand and thirty-four: For their enrollment by genealogies, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente says “In the registries,” and American Bible has “Their official genealogy.” As in verses 1-5, the numbers in this section seem to come from a military census. Therefore the number twenty-two thousand and thirty-four does not refer to all of the descendants of Bela, but only to “men available for military service” (New Living Translation; similarly 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 .

And Bela had sons …: Verses 3-5 list descendants of Bela, Benjamin’s oldest son. It is possibly correct to translate sons as “descendants” as in Good News Translation since the names in the following verses may not all be literally “sons” of Bela.

Addar is the reading of the Masoretic Text. In agreement with one Hebrew manuscript and parallels in Gen 46.21 and Num 26.40, some translations have the name “Ard” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Luther).

According to the Masoretic Text of this verse, Gera and Abihud are brothers; but according to Jdg 3.15, Gera was the father of Ehud. Possibly the name Abihud (ʾabihud in Hebrew) should be slightly corrected to read “the father of Ehud” (ʾabi ʾehud in Hebrew), so that Gera, Abihud becomes “Gera the father of Ehud” (Revised English Bible; similarly New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Moffatt, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, La Bible Pléiade, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Dutch common language version [Bijbel in Gewone Taal], Osty-Trinquet, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous, alternative translation in New Living Translation). Verse 6 lists the sons of Ehud, so that verse follows smoothly from this correction in verse 3. However, there is no manuscript support for this change of the Masoretic Text. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament acknowledges that the Masoretic Text here probably contains an error, but since there is not manuscript evidence on which to base a change, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament recommends that the Masoretic Text be followed. But translators may decide to indicate in a footnote that the original text probably said “Gera the father of Ehud.”

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 .

Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen, six hundred and ninety: Zerah was also a son of Judah, which Good News Translation makes explicit (see 1 Chr 2.4; Gen 46.12). Once again Good News Translation adds “their leader.” In this case it is the overall context that probably leads to this translation. The number six hundred and ninety probably refers to the total number of people from the tribe of Judah who lived in Jerusalem (so Contemporary English Version), not the total number of families (so 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 .

The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is left untranslated by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and most other versions. However, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente begins this verse with the words “At this point,” and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “Then.” Once the sons of Saul were killed, the Philistines were able to turn their full attention to Saul himself.

The battle pressed hard upon Saul: The Hebrew verb translated pressed hard upon comes from a root meaning “to be heavy.” Knoppers translates this clause as “The battle weighed upon Saul.” The point is not that Saul was in the middle of the battle (so Good News Translation) but rather that Saul was beginning to feel the pressure of the battle; the battle was taking a toll on Saul. In certain languages it may be unnatural to make The battle the subject of such a verb. The whole clause may be restructured by making Saul the subject; for example, “Saul began to feel the fierceness of the fighting.” Some versions change the subject to the Philistines; for example, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual has “Then the Philistines concentrated their forces in the attack on Saul.” Another possible model is “The enemies fought even harder against Saul.” But as already noted, such renderings do not capture the nuance of the Hebrew that the battle was “heavy” on Saul.

And the archers found him: The archers is literally “the archers with the bow.” Since this phrase is redundant, only the most literal translations retain the words “with the bow.” This whole clause may mean either that the archers discovered where Saul was hiding or, more likely, that their arrows found their target and hit him. Revised English Bible translates “and when the archers caught up with him,” implying the latter understanding. New International Version similarly says “and when the archers overtook him.” The meaning of this expression is linked to the understanding of the following verb in Hebrew.

And he was wounded by the archers: The Hebrew verb here in the Masoretic Text means “to tremble” or “to writhe in pain.” Following the Masoretic Text, the sense is that when the enemy archers found Saul, he “was trembling [with fear]” (Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible Pléiade, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, alternative rendering in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “was terrified” (Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur) before them. Like Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, however, many versions render this verb as “[was] wounded” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Peregrino, apparently changing the vowels of the Hebrew verb, in agreement with several ancient versions. This is not recommended. But if this interpretation is accepted, the passive verb was wounded will have to be translated actively in certain languages. The most logical and simplest model for this might be “and the archers wounded him” (similarly Revised English Bible, Knox).

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 .

It is appropriate to begin a new paragraph here for a new subject, as in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds: In the Masoretic Text this sentence is literally “Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, son of a man of valor, of numerous exploits, from Kabzeel” (so La Bible Pléiade). Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente is similar with “Benaiah, son of Jehoiada and grandson of a valiant warrior, was from Kabzeel and he accomplished numerous exploits.” The Syriac omits the words “son of” after the name “Jehoiada” and is followed by most translations (for example, Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text. The punctuation in the Masoretic Text suggests that the words “man of valor” refer either to the father or grandfather of Benaiah.

Kabzeel was a city in southern Judah, near Edom (see Josh 15.21). It will be important in many languages to supply the classifier term “city” to distinguish it from a region or country.

He smote two ariels of Moab: The pronoun he is emphatic in Hebrew. It is also emphatic before the verb went down in this verse and before the verb “slew” in the next verse. Bible de Jérusalem maintains the emphatic force of these pronouns by saying “It was he who smote … and it was he who went down … 23 It was he also who killed….” Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible keep the emphasis only on the first pronoun.

Two ariels is literally “two of ariel.” The exact meaning of the Hebrew word transliterated ariels is unknown, as the Revised Standard Version footnote states. Among the various ways of understanding this word are the following:

• (1) It may mean “lion of God” (ʾari is “lion” in Hebrew; ʾel is “God”), in which case it probably should be translated “champions” (New Living Translation, Revised English Bible), “distinguished soldiers” (God’s Word) or “great … warriors” (Good News Translation). King James Version says “lionlike men.” Braun claims that this word is a technical term applied to foreign military leaders, but this interpretation is disputed by others. The most likely meaning of two ariels of Moab is “two of the best fighters from the land of Moab,” “two Moabite heroes” (American Bible), “two heroes of Moab” (English Standard Version), or “two formidable Moabites” (New Jerusalem Bible). This interpretation is followed by Good News Translation, New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, God’s Word, Revised English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente.

• (2) It may mean “altar hearth” as in Ezek 43.15-16. Jewish Publication Version reads “the two altar-hearths of Moab,” but what this would mean is not clear.

• (3) Revised Standard Version simply transliterates the Hebrew noun. Nouvelle Bible Segond also does this but capitalizes the noun to show that it is a title of some kind, saying “the two Ariels of Moab.” But it is better to translate the probable meaning rather than to transliterate the Hebrew noun.

• (4) A number of modern versions understand ariel as the proper name “Ariel” and add the words “sons of,” that is, “[the] two sons of Ariel of Moab” (New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, An American Translation, La Bible Pléiade, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Menge). According to this interpretation, the Hebrew word beney (“sons of”) was accidentally skipped over by a scribe since the preceding word sheney (“two of”) ended in the same letters. Ariel does occur as a proper name in Ezra 8.16.

• (5) Moffatt emends the Hebrew slightly to read “two lion-cubs in their lair.”

He also went down and slew a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen: In languages where lions are unknown, a more generic expression such as “very ferocious animal” may be used without changing the meaning of the text or falsifying the historical facts. However, it would be unwise to translate lion by using another specific animal since this would change the culture of the Bible. The Hebrew word translated pit is the same one translated “well” in verses 17-18. Here it refers to a hole in the ground.

The reference to snow may have been given to indicate the way the lion was tracked down by the hunter, or it may be used to show that the severe cold drove the lion to the village in search of food. It is also possible that the snow indicates a greater danger since the ground would have been slippery. Snow is referred to about twenty times in the Old Testament, most often in the book of Job. It is frequently used figuratively (for example, Exo 4.6; Psa 51.7). There are also two references to snow in the New Testament (Matt 28.3; Rev 1.14), both of which are figurative. But in this verse literal snow is in view, so we advise translators not to substitute rain or hail for snow here. In languages where snow is unknown, there are several possible solutions. Some will simply borrow the term from a world language like French, English or Spanish, and spell it according to the rules of the receptor language. And in some cases where the word for “rain” is considered as a generic term for anything falling from the sky, it may be used as a kind of classifier term to go with the borrowed word for snow, for example, “rain called snow.” Some translators have tried using a descriptive expression such as “small cold flakes that fall from the sky like rain,” although in many languages this may sound very awkward. Finally, some think it adequate in this context to translate on a day when snow had fallen as “in a time of great cold,” although this is a less satisfactory way to resolve the problem. Whatever solution is adopted, it may be a good idea to add an explanatory footnote or include the term used in the glossary.

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 as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David: The Hebrew verb rendered came is a participle, indicating continuous action, so it is better translated “was coming.” It may even be better to say “was being brought” (Good News Translation) to avoid giving the impression that the Covenant Box was mysteriously moving on its own power. Where a language has no passive form, it may be necessary to use an indefinite expression such as “they were bringing” or to specify that “the Levites were bringing.” Probably because Jerusalem is specifically mentioned in the previous verse, Good News Translation has only “the city” in this verse, where the text reads the city of David (see the comments on 1 Chr 11.5 and 13.13).

Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window: Michal was one of David’s wives (see 1 Sam 18.17-30). The relationship between David and Michal is not stated in this verse, but some translators may consider it important to inform the reader that she was one of David’s wives. Contemporary English Version does so in a footnote. The window is better rendered “her window” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation) since no window has been mentioned before.

And saw King David dancing and making merry: The Hebrew verb rendered making merry may mean “leaping as in sport” (see the comments on this verb at 1 Chr 13.8). Good News Translation says “leaping for joy” (similarly La Bible du Semeur). The Hebrew verb is sometimes used of children playing, so New Jerusalem Bible says that David was “playing.” Contemporary English Version adds that this was done “in honor of the LORD.” But it may be better not to provide this detail here.

And she despised him in her heart: Despised translates a Hebrew word that is a very forceful term denoting a strong aversion or feeling of scorn. The words in her heart might indicate that Michal did not share her feelings with those around her at the time, or possibly it suggests the depth of her feeling. For this whole clause Bible en français courant has “Then she had a profound contempt for him,” and New Century Version says simply “she hated him.”

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 .