And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small …: The words great and small may refer to size or to importance, but the overall effect is to cover all the valuable objects found in the Temple.

The Hebrew word for princes does not refer to the sons of King Zedekiah, but to his “officials” (Good News Translation, New International Version). See the comments on 1 Chr 19.3 and 2 Chr 12.5.

All these he brought to Babylon: The Hebrew verb here may be translated brought (also New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “took” (Good News Translation, New Living Translation, Revised English Bible), depending on the perspective of the biblical author. If the author was in Judah, then “took” is the appropriate word 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 Shem: Having listed the descendants of Noah’s sons Japheth and Ham in verses 5-16, the writer now turns to the descendants of Noah’s son Shem in verses 17-27. Nine of Shem’s sons are named, but only the descendants of Arpachshad are listed since it is through his descendants that the people of Israel come into being.

Elam, the first of Shem’s sons, was the ancestor of the Elamites, the people who inhabited Elam, the fertile region to the east of the Tigris River. The region of Elam was located in part of what is modern Iran.

Asshur was the ancestor of the Assyrians, which is why some modern versions say “Assyria” (An American Translation, Moffatt, Nouvelle Bible Segond). But it will probably be better to retain the name Asshur as a person here and indicate in a footnote that he was the ancestor of the Assyrians.

Arpachshad represents the twelfth generation of humankind. The context suggests that this name refers to a geographical region in Mesopotamia. It may have been near Babylonia, but the exact location is not known. In the Septuagint and the New Testament this name is Arphaxad, so some modern versions use that form of the name in the Old Testament also (so Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Reina-Valera revisada, Peregrino.

A few Old Testament texts associate Lud with Egypt (Jer 46.9; Ezek 30.5). The first-century Jewish historian Josephus equates Lud with the Lydians in west-central Asia Minor (Jewish Antiquities 1.144). Following this identification, Moffatt says “the Lydians.”

Aram was the ancestor of the Arameans (also called Syrians), who composed a powerful nation that struggled with Israel. They are mentioned frequently in the Old Testament (see, for example, Num 23.7; 2 Sam 8.6).

According to Gen 10.23, Aram was the father of Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. Following one Hebrew manuscript and several Septuagint manuscripts, Revised English Bible corrects this verse to read “The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash” (similarly New International Version, La Bible du Semeur, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nueva Versión Internacional, Osty-Trinquet, Peregrino. The words “the sons of Aram” might possibly have dropped out of the text as the eyes of the copyist jumped from the first occurrence to the second occurrence of the name Aram. Perhaps the author of 1 Chronicles or a later scribe accidentally omitted the words “the sons of Aram.” Or possibly the author was copying from a manuscript of Genesis that already had this mistake, and he thought that Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech were brothers of Aram. Perhaps the best solution is to follow the Masoretic Text, as Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation do, and include a footnote stating that according to Gen 10.23 Aram was the father of these four men.

Uz is the sixth son of Shem according to this verse in the Masoretic Text, but in Gen 10.23 he is the first son of Aram. Uz refers to a country in northwestern Arabia. The central character in the book of Job lived in the land of Uz (Job 1.1), but it is uncertain whether there is any relationship between Job’s homeland and the person’s name used here.

Hul is the seventh son of Shem according to this verse in the Masoretic Text, but in Gen 10.23 he is the second son of Aram. Nothing is known concerning the location of his descendants.

Gether is the eighth son of Shem according to this verse in the Masoretic Text, but in Gen 10.23 he is the third son of Aram. Almost nothing is known concerning the location of his descendants, although his association with Aram suggests a city in Syria.

Meshech is the ninth son of Shem according to this verse in the Masoretic Text, but in Gen 10.23 he is the fourth son of Aram. Nothing is known concerning the location of his descendants. The Masoretic Text reads Meshech, but the ancient Syriac and a few Hebrew manuscripts read “Mash” (the longer name has one additional consonant in Hebrew). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament states that the original name is probably “Mash,” as in Gen 10.23, and that the name Meshech probably arose here under the influence of the same name in verse 5, where Meshech is listed as a son of Japheth. But since the oldest known text for this name in 1 Chronicles is Meshech, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text. However, for reasons of translation it may be better to keep the same spelling of the name here and in Gen 10.23 (so Revised English Bible, New American Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).

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 .

Boaz of Obed: The birth of Obed, the child of Boaz and Ruth and grandchild of Naomi, is described in considerable detail in Ruth 4.13-17.

Obed of Jesse: Jesse was the father of King David and of several other sons. The precise number of sons is uncertain. But only seven are specifically mentioned here in verses 13-15.

La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual provides a possible model for the format of verses 10-12 as follows:

• The descendants of Ram were:
Amminadab,
Nahshon,
Salma, Boaz,
Obed,
Jesse.
Nahshon was a leader of the descendants of Judah.

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 were the descendants of Caleb: This sentence may refer to the people named in the previous verses (so Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Complete Jewish Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or to the people named in the following verses (so Good News Translation, New Century Version, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). If the latter interpretation is followed, it will be important to add the conjunction “also” (Good News Translation) or something similar.

The sons of Hur the first-born of Ephrathah: Verse 19 has already identified Hur as the son of Caleb and Ephrath (or, Ephrathah); but Hur’s son Uri, who was mentioned in verse 20, is not listed here. The sons of Hur is literally “Son of Hur.” Many versions have the plural “sons,” as the context requires (so Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Reina-Valera revisada). Others, following the Septuagint, correct the text to read “sons” (so Revised English Bible). Whether done for textual reasons or not, the context requires the plural.

Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim: Here and in the next verse, the father of may be translated “the founder of” (Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “founded” (Good News Translation). Kiriathjearim, as well as “Bethlehem” and “Bethgader” in the next verse, were all well-known cities. Kiriath-jearim, located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) northwest of Jerusalem, is well known from the story about the Covenant Box in 1 Sam 5–7. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has the following footnote on this verse: “Here it will be particularly clear that the lists of descendants at the same time describe a classification of clans in a specific territory (names of cities and of clans).”

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 .

Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Ha-ahashtari: Verse 6 lists four sons of Ashhur and his wife Naarah, and verse 7 lists the three sons of Ashhur and his other wife, Helah. The names Temeni and Ha-ahashtari are understood as the names of individuals by most translations. But the Hebrew form of the names suggests that these may be adjectives indicating the place of origin, so it is probably better to understand the names as referring to “the Temenites and the Ahashtarites” (New American Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente; similarly New Jerusalem Bible, Osty-Trinquet).

These were the sons of Naarah: Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, and Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje apparently saw this sentence as unnecessarily repetitious and omitted it since the number of sons was shifted forward to the beginning of the verse. However, in some languages the structure of Revised Standard Version may be considered perfectly natural.

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 they destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites that had escaped: In this context the Hebrew word for destroyed may be rendered “defeated” (English Standard Version), “struck down” (Holman Christian Standard Bible), or “killed” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Century Version). The Amalekites were the descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau according to Gen 36.15-16. They attacked the people of Israel during their trek across the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land (Exo 17.8-16) and were persistent enemies of the Israelites. The remnant of the Amalekites that had escaped refers to those who had escaped previous fighting and were still alive. It may be necessary in certain languages to indicate from what these Amalekites had escaped. They had been living in the Akaba region among the Edomites since they were chased there by Saul (1 Sam 15.7) and David (1 Sam 30.17).

And they have dwelt there to this day: The pronoun they might possibly be misunderstood as referring to the Amalekites. For this reason it may be better to make the referent for this pronoun explicit by saying “these Simeonites.” The adverb there refers to Edom. As in verse 41, the phrase to this day refers either to the time of the writing of the account followed by the Chronicler or to the time that he himself was writing his account. This whole clause may be rendered “From that time until now these Simeonites have lived in Edom.”

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 are the names of the sons of Gershom …: See Exo 6.17. Good News Translation sets the stage for the following verses by beginning this verse with the words “Each of them also had sons….” Strictly speaking, the text speaks here only of the sons of Gershon.

The descendants of Gershon’s son Libni are listed in verses 20-21. In 1 Chr 23.7 and 26.21, Libni is called “Ladan.”

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 from the tribe of Benjamin, Geba with its pasture lands, Alemeth with its pasture lands, and Anathoth with its pasture lands: As in the previous three verses, Good News Translation again restructures here in order to avoid repeating the phrase with its pasture lands. It also has a separate sentence here rather than continuing the long sentence from the previous verse.

The parallel list in Josh 21.17 has the words “Gibeon with its pasture lands” before Geba. Some translations add the words “Gibeon with its pasture lands” here after the name Benjamin (so New Living Translation, New American Bible, Braun, Knoppers, and Einheitsübersetzung, which places the addition within parentheses). Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia suggests that the words “Gibeon with its pasture lands” should be added here. It is possible that the original author of 1 Chronicles or a later scribe accidentally omitted those words here, but since neither the Hebrew text nor the ancient versions include them, most translations rightly do not include them.

It is uncertain whether Geba is another name for the town of Gibeah or whether the two names refer to two separate locations. Since 1838 Geba has been located by archaeologists as a site about 9 kilometers (about 5.5 miles) northeast of Jerusalem, directly opposite Michmash on the other side of the pass of Michmash. Since about 1930 most archaeologists have located the city of Gibeah at a site only 5 kilometers (3 miles) north of Jerusalem. More recent studies, however, suggest that Geba and Gibeah are different names for the same town. Possibly “Gibeah” was the older Israelite name, while Geba was the name used in Judah.

Alemeth is a variant spelling of the name “Almon” (New American Bible), which is the name used in the parallel text of Josh 21.18. Alemeth was a city about 8 kilometers (5 miles) north of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin. Alemeth is also the name of two different individuals in 1 Chr 7.8 and 8.36.

Anathoth is well known as the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah (1.1).

All their cities throughout their families were thirteen: The number thirteen represents the total number of towns that were assigned to the priests in territories of Judah and Benjamin. The list in verses 57-60 gives the names of only eleven towns. The parallel list in Josh 21.13-19 also mentions Juttah and Gibeon. As noted above, several modern versions add these two towns in verses 59-60 on the assumption that the Masoretic Text originally contained them. But since strong manuscript evidence for this addition is lacking, this information should be placed in a footnote rather than in the text itself.

Verses 64-65 seem to fit better following verse 60; and, in fact, some interpreters think that these two verses originally followed verse 60 in the Masoretic Text. New American Bible places verses 64-65 after verse 60.

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 .