Amaziah: See 2 Chr 25.

Azariah: See 2 Chr 26. He is called “Uzziah” in 2 Chr 26–27 and the prophetic writings. The reason for two different names in not clear. Perhaps Azariah was his personal name and “Uzziah” was the name he took when he became king. Or possibly the two spellings in Hebrew are variants of the same name. Translators should be consistent throughout the Old Testament, either by using a footnote to indicate where the Hebrew has a different form of the name or by following the example of Good News Translation, which consistently uses the better-known name Uzziah for this king. Other versions using the name “Uzziah” here include New Living Translation and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje.

Jotham: See 2 Chr 27.

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 Mishma: Hammu-el his son, Zaccur his son, Shime-i his son: Mishma was the father of Hammu-el, the grandfather of Zaccur, and the great-grandfather of Shime-i. Some interpreters, however, understand the Hebrew of this verse to mean that Hammuel, Zaccur, and Shimei were brothers–all sons of Mishma. There is a textual problem here since the Septuagint does not have the phrase The sons of Mishma. Klein follows the Septuagint here, which makes Shime-i the seventh generation after Simeon.

Eight or nine other people in the Old Testament have the name Zaccur, but nothing else is known of the person by that name in this verse.

Apart from verses 26-27, nothing more is known of the person named Shime-i. Sixteen different men or clans bear this name 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 .

They made war upon the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab: The Hebrew expression rendered made war upon may be translated “attacked,” “fought against” (Contemporary English Version), or “started a war against” (New Century Version). This war took place during the time of King Saul according to verse 10. See the comments there on the Hagrites.

A literal translation of this verse could falsely suggest that Jetur, Naphish and Nodab were individuals whom the Israelites attacked. Good News Translation correctly expresses the sense by adding “tribes of” before these three names. However, there is some ambiguity in the Hebrew. It is not clear whether the Hebrew conjunction before the name Jetur should be translated “and” or “even/including.” If the first interpretation is followed, then the Hebrew may be understood as referring to four different groups. New American Bible, for example, says “… against the Hagrites and against Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.” Compare also “… the tribe of Hagrites and the descendants of Jetur, Naphish and Nodab” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Bible en français courant similarly reads “… the Hagrites, as well as the descendants of Jetur, Naphish and Nodab.” Some interpreters consider the Hagrites to be a Syrian confederation mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions.

If, however, the second interpretation (“even/including”) is followed, Jetur, Naphish and Nodab will be understood as groups within the larger Hagrite tribe (so Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The punctuation of New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh seems to suggest the same interpretation. According to this interpretation, the Hagrites are probably to be seen as related to Hagar, the mother of Ishmael (Gen 16). Jetur and Naphish are listed as sons of Ishmael in 1 Chr 1.31; and some scholars identify Nodab with Adbeel, an Ishmaelite tribe (Gen 25.13).

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 .

While Revised Standard Version and most other English versions follow the Hebrew structure by continuing the sentence begun in verse 71, Good News Translation and New Century Version begin a new paragraph here. Contemporary English Version begins a new sentence here and adds the transition word “Finally” at the beginning of the verse.

Some scholars think that the names Hammon and “Hammoth-dor” (Josh 21.32) both developed as scribal errors from an original name “Hammath” (Josh 19.35), so that all three names refer to the same place. Others think that different towns are intended. Because of this uncertainty, it is better to keep the different names in the text and indicate in a footnote that these may be variant spellings.

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 .

Heber was the son of Beriah and the grandson of Asher.

It is not certain whether Shomer is the same person as “Shemer” in verse 34. However, a number of translations are based on the understanding that the two names refer to the same person. Some translations, therefore, have “Shemer” here in agreement with the same spelling in verse 34 (so Moffatt, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Other translations change the spelling in verse 34 to “Shomer” to agree with the spelling here in this verse (so Good News Translation). The Septuagint reads “Samer” here, but Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text.

It is also not certain whether Hotham is the same person as “Helem” in verse 35. See the discussion there.

As in verse 30, the meaning of their sister may be better expressed in some languages in terms of the relationship of the girl to her father; for example, “his [Heber’s] daughter.”

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 .

Tarea is called “Tahre-a” in 1 Chr 9.41. New Living Translation reads “Tahrea” here also. Good News Translation and Bible en français courant have “Tarea” both here and in 9.41. It is advisable to use the same form in both cases in translation unless there is an explanatory footnote in the receptor language.

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 his first-born son Abdon …: This verse has its parallel in 1 Chr 8.30 and is almost identical (see the comments there). The pronoun his refers to Jeiel. As in previous verses, first-born son may be translated “oldest son” (Good News Translation) or “first son” (New Century Version). Then the list presumably continues in the order in which Jeiel’s sons were born.

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 .