This verse begins with the common Hebrew conjunction. Since verse 3 says that God did not want David to build the Temple, the information in verse 4 comes as a surprise: that God still chose David. Revised Standard Version correctly translates this Hebrew conjunction as Yet. Other similar translations include “Nevertheless” (Revised English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), “However” (New American Bible), and “Even so” (New Jerusalem Bible). Another possible connector is “In spite of that.”

The LORD God of Israel chose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel for ever: See 1 Sam 16.1-13 for the story of how God chose David from among his brothers. Of course, David himself was not going to rule for ever. Peregrino says “for life.” But the allusion here is to his dynasty, not just to his own life. For this reason Good News Translation renders me as “me and my descendants” (also Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). For this whole sentence La Bible du Semeur says “The Eternal, the God of Israel chose me from my family to be king of Israel and to begin an eternal dynasty.”

For he chose Judah as leader: The Hebrew word rendered for introduces why God chose David to be the king over Israel. Good News Translation omits this connector, but it is important to show the relationship between the two parts of this verse in some fashion. Bible en français courant and Parole de Vie do so by beginning this part with “Formerly.” The Hebrew word translated for may be an emphatic particle here, so it may be rendered “Indeed” ( NET Bible). Judah refers to “the tribe of Judah” (Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), not the individual ancestor (although see Gen 49.8, 10). The Hebrew word rendered leader is sometimes translated “prince” (see the comments on 1 Chr 5.2). For this whole clause Contemporary English Version says “The LORD God chose Judah to be the leading tribe in Israel,” Revised English Bible has “For it was Judah that he chose as ruling tribe,” and La Bible du Semeur translates “Indeed, it is the tribe of Judah that he has chosen to lead the others.” Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje provides another helpful model: “For he chose the tribe of Judah so that from it might come the kings.”

And in the house of Judah my father’s house, and among my father’s sons he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel: God specifically chose David from the tribe of Judah to be king over Israel. New Century Version provides a helpful model here, saying “and from the people of Judah, he chose my father’s family. From that family God was pleased to make me king of Israel.”

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 .

I know, my God, that thou triest the heart: The shift from “our God” in verses 13 and 16 to my God in this verse is not indicated in Good News Translation. But if possible, this shift in the Hebrew should be preserved in translation since David speaks even more personally to God as my God. However, in those languages where my God would be understood as excluding others, it may have to be made more inclusive.

Thou triest the heart means “you examine our motives” (New Jerusalem Bible). The heart implies the hearts of all people and this will have to be made explicit in some languages as New Jerusalem Bible has done by adding the pronoun “our.” Another way of doing this is to speak of “everyone’s heart” as Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have done.

In Hebrew the pronouns translated I and thou are significant in the prayer at this point and may suggest a stronger contrast than is shown in Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation. Compare Chouraqui, which begins this verse with “I know, God, yes, you, you examine the heart … As for me, in the uprightness of my heart….” But since the Hebrew word translated triest is a participle, the pronoun “you” seems to be required grammatically and probably does not show emphasis.

Hast pleasure in uprightness may be translated “You are happy when people do what is right” (New Century Version), “you delight in integrity” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “integrity pleases you” (Revised English Bible).

In the uprightness of my heart may be translated “with good motives” (New Living Translation), “With a sincere heart” (New American Bible), or “with an honest heart” (Revised English Bible).

I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen thy people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to thee: Freely offered and offering freely render the same Hebrew verb, which occurred earlier in verses 5, 6, 9, and 14. This verb focuses on the voluntary nature of the giving (see the comments on 1 Chr 29.5). Because of the order of words in the Hebrew at the end of this verse, the word translated joyously may be connected in meaning either (1) with the words I have seen or (2) with the words offering freely. King James Version follows this first interpretation by saying “and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.” Compare “and have rejoiced now to see your people who are here present give willingly to you” (Revised English Bible) and “And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you” (New International Version). Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation follow the second interpretation, and so does New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh with “now Your people who are present here–I saw them joyously making freewill offerings.”

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 house which I am to build will be great: As in the previous verse, I am to build may be rendered “I am building.” But most versions correctly take these words to have an immediate future meaning.

For our God is greater than all gods: The connector for introduces the reason for the grandeur of the proposed Temple. It is because of the greatness of God, who surpasses all other deities, that the structure must be an unusually impressive one. As in the previous verse, the pronoun our is exclusive.

Good News Translation restructures this verse so that Solomon, rather than the Temple, is the grammatical subject of the sentence. But this kind of restructuring takes the focus off the Temple and slightly shifts the focus. If other languages have a natural way of keeping the Temple in focus, such a translation is recommended. The words which I am to build may even be left implicit since the previous verse has stated that Solomon is the one who is going to build the Temple. Contemporary English Version, for example, says simply “This will be a great temple, because our God is greater than all other gods.” In some languages it may prove to be more natural to state the reason first and then speak of the greatness of the building to be constructed. One model that does this is:

• Because our God is greater than any other god, the temple I build will be truly great.

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 .

A literal translation of the Hebrew, as in Revised Standard Version, may give the false impression that two different things are being described in the two halves of this verse. But in fact, this is parallelism; the two parts give the same information in different ways. Good News Translation restructures the verse and provides this information in one brief description.

It stood upon twelve oxen is literally “standing upon twelve oxen.” It may be wise to make the subject explicit; for example, Good News Translation and Bible en français courant refer to “The tank,” and New International Version has “The Sea.” And the verb itself may be more naturally translated “seated” rather than “standing.” Revised English Bible says the tank “was mounted,” and several other versions use the verb “rested” (Good News Translation, Moffatt). In some languages it may be necessary to indicate precisely on which part of the anatomy of the oxen or “bulls” (Good News Translation) the basin rested. While the Hebrew does not say so specifically, Good News Translation specifies that it was “on the backs…” (similarly Moffatt).

For oxen see the comments on 1 Chr 12.40. The twelve oxen were not live animals. As verse 15 shows, these oxen were also made of bronze. This information may be made explicit here in verse 4 (so Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Perhaps there were twelve oxen to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel, which camped around the Tabernacle with three tribes on each side during the time of Moses (see Num 2).

Three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east: In Hebrew west is literally “the Sea,” referring to the Mediterranean Sea. South is literally “the Negev,” that is, the region south of the hill country of western Palestine. For further discussion on the four directions, see the comments on 1 Chr 9.24. In languages where the translation of the four directions presents great difficulties, the model of Good News Translation may be helpful since it says simply “three facing in each direction” (similarly Contemporary English Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

And all their hinder parts were inward: The rear parts of the animals (“their haunches” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Moffatt) were facing toward the center of the tank. In some languages it will be much more natural to speak of the animals “facing outward” (Contemporary English Version; similarly Good News Translation) or “looking outward,” rather than their rear ends “facing inward.”

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 .

Since God was speaking in verses 5-6, it may be helpful to make explicit that Solomon resumes speaking on his own in this verse. Good News Translation does this by beginning with “And Solomon continued” (similarly Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). New Living Translation is similar with “Then Solomon said.”

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house: Since the heart in Hebrew often refers to the thinking part of a person rather than to the seat of emotions, this clause may be translated “My father David had it in mind to build a house” (Revised English Bible; similarly Moffatt), “Now my father David had a strong desire to build a temple” ( NET Bible), or “My father David wanted to build a temple” (New Century Version; similarly Contemporary English Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Translations in English that retain the word “heart” may give the mistaken impression that this was more of an emotional matter with David than was actually the case. According to 2 Sam 7.1-3 and 1 Chr 17.1-2, David had planned to build a temple.

It is a matter of receptor language style whether one says David my father or “My father David” (New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version). The Revised Standard Version structure reflects the form of the Hebrew, but this may not be natural in other languages.

For the name of the LORD, the God of Israel: See the comments on 2Chr 6.5 and 2 Chr 2.1. This phrase may be rendered “for the worship of the LORD God of Israel” (Good News Translation) or “to honor the LORD God of Israel” ( NET Bible). Since Solomon and the people to whom he was speaking were all members of the Israelite people, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual renders the God of Israel as “our God.”

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 .

Now renders a Hebrew adverb that may mean “now, at the present time” or “now, in these circumstances.” The first sense is more likely in this context.

O my God: Once again the vocative O reflects nothing in the Hebrew and may be omitted in translation.

Let thy eyes be open and thy ears be attentive to a prayer of this place: Let thy eyes be open and thy ears be attentive is an idiomatic expression meaning “look and listen” (see the comments on verse 20). In languages where it is inappropriate to speak of God as having body parts like eyes and ears, it may be more acceptable to use such imperatives. But to convey the full force of this expression, it may be advisable to say “look carefully and listen attentively.”

A prayer of this place does not refer to a single prayer, but to all the prayers offered to God in his Temple. Prayer has a collective sense here, so it may be rendered “prayers” (Good News Translation). This place refers again to the Temple. In some languages it may be more natural to say simply “here” (Parole de Vie).

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 these were the chief officers of King Solomon, two hundred and fifty: The demonstrative pronoun these may point backward to the officers in the previous verse, or it may point forward to another group of two hundred and fifty officers (see the comments below).

Chief officers is literally “officers of those in charge.” This phrase is usually understood in one of two different ways: (1) “chiefs in charge” or (2) “chiefs of [or, over] the ones in charge.” The first interpretation is followed by Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and Contemporary English Version. The second interpretation is followed by Revised English Bible (“officers … in charge of the foremen”) and New Jerusalem Bible (“officials in charge of the foremen”). The question is whether these 250 officials were directly in charge of the people doing the work (so Revised Standard Version) or whether these 250 officials were in charge of the foremen who supervised the workers (so Revised English Bible). Either way of interpreting the Hebrew grammar is acceptable.

Instead of two hundred and fifty officers, the parallel passage in 1 Kgs 9.23 speaks of “five hundred and fifty.” But there is no justification for harmonizing the two accounts and no major version does so.

Who exercised authority over the people: The people were those who were forced to work on Solomon’s building projects. For this whole clause Good News Translation has “in charge of the forced labor working on the various building projects,” and Bible en français courant says “to oversee the crowd of workers in the service of King Solomon.”

It is not clear whether the chief officers refer to the officers mentioned in the previous verse or whether they are another group of officers of Solomon. If the first understanding is followed, then New American Bible provides a helpful model for this verse, saying “They were also King Solomon’s two hundred and fifty overseers who had charge of the people.” If this verse introduces additional officers, then it will be better to restructure this verse along the lines of 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 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots …: See 1 Kgs 4.26 and 2 Chr 1.14. The Hebrew word translated stalls is found only twice elsewhere in the Old Testament (1 Kgs 4.26; 2 Chr 32.28). It refers to a structure built specifically to accommodate horses and related equipment. Archaeological evidence shows that buildings for housing horses followed a standard pattern. These were long, roofed buildings with a double row of pillars that ran the length of the building, dividing the building into three aisles. In languages where no such specific term for stalls exists, it will be necessary to use a more general expression. Parole de Vie speaks of “buildings that can shelter 4,000 horses and 4,000 chariots.”

And twelve thousand horsemen: Regarding the various possible meanings of the Hebrew noun rendered horsemen, see the comments on 2 Chr 1.14. Here it most likely refers to “cavalry horses” (Good News Translation).

Whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem: See the comments on 2 Chr 1.14.

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 .