The sons of Reuben … Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: These same four names of Reuben’s sons are found also in Gen 46.9; Exo 6.14; and Num 26.5-6. Good News Translation has added the word “four” as the context allows. These four men were the immediate offspring of Reuben and not his descendants, so the word sons is an appropriate translation here. The Hebrew has no verb in this verse, but a verb such as “had” (Good News Translation), “fathered” or “gave birth to” may be supplied since that is what is clearly understood in this context.

Bible en français courant (and similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) helpfully restructures verses 1-3 as follows:

• Reuben was the first son of Jacob, but after he had slept with one of his father’s wives, the rights of firstborn son were attributed to Joseph, he too a son of Jacob. Reuben was therefore no longer considered the firstborn. As far as Judah is concerned, he was the strongest among his brothers, and it was one of his descendants who became king of Israel, but the rights of the firstborn son were nevertheless attributed to Joseph.
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Jacob: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

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 .

Gershom was identified as Levi’s son in verses 1 and 16. For the spelling of this name, see the comments on 1 Chr 6.1.

Libni his son …: Libni was identified as Gershom’s son in verse 17. As in verses 4-15, Good News Translation restructures verses 20-21 to avoid the repetition of the words his son. But Good News Translation fails to show that these descendants are all male.

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 .

To the Merarites according to their families were allotted twelve cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun: The Merarites were the descendants of Levi’s son Merari (verse 1). This verse says that the Merarites were given twelve cities, but verses 77-81 name only ten. The cities from the tribe of Reuben are listed in verses 78-79; those from Gad, in verses 80-81; and those from Zebulun, in verse 77.

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 Ulam: Bedan: The Masoretic Text says sons of Ulam even though only one son is listed. Perhaps a scribe mistakenly changed the singular “son” to the plural sons or possibly a scribe accidentally omitted other names. The Vulgate reads the singular “son” here.

These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh: The demonstrative pronoun These may refer only to Asriel and Zelophehad in verses 14 and 15 (but see the comments on those two verses). According to Good News Translation, the pronoun apparently refers to all the people named in the preceding verses.

Gilead was “the son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant, La Bible du Semeur, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). Another way of saying the same thing in some languages is “Gilead, the son of Machir, who was the son of Manasseh.” Compare New Century Version, which has two separate sentences at the end of this verse: “These were the sons of Gilead, who was the son of Makir. Makir was Manasseh’s son.”

The major difficulty in understanding this verse is the following: Ulam was the son of Peresh or Sheresh, and Peresh and Sheresh were both sons of Machir and Maacah, according to verse 16. But if Ulam and Bedan were descendants of Machir through his son Peresh or his son Sheresh, how can these people be said to be sons of Gilead, Machir’s other son? Perhaps sons of Gilead should be understood to mean “members of the family of Gilead” (Parole de Vie) or “Gileadites” (Braun). That is, they are not biological descendants of Gilead but rather belong to the same clan as Gilead. More likely, though, the Masoretic Text contains an error here in the text, so the translations in Parole de Vie and Braun should not be followed.

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 Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed: See also verses 17-18. As stated in the comments on the previous verse, a literal translation such as Revised Standard Version may not be clear to the person who only hears the text read. The listener may think the text here says “The sons of Elpaal, Eber, Misham, and Shemed,” when, in fact, the last three persons named are the sons of Elpaal. Good News Translation is more easily understood since it says “Elpaal had three sons….”

Who built Ono and Lod with its towns is literally “he built Ono and Lod and its daughters.” It is not entirely clear whether the pronoun “he” refers to Elpaal or to his son Shemed. The most natural reading of the Hebrew text is that the reference is to Shemed, which some translations make explicit (so Good News Translation, New Century Version, Bible en français courant, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Nova Tradução na Linguagem de Hoje). However, Knoppers claims that Elpaal is the subject, and he translates the whole verse as follows: “These were the sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemer. He built Ono and Lud, along with its dependencies.”

Ono and Lod were “cities,” as Good News Translation and Bible en français courant make explicit. They were located in the northwest of the Shephelah, that is, the lowlands between the Judean hill country to the east and the coastal plain on the west. Both cities are mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah, and in Neh 11.35 they are identified with the Valley of Craftsmen (see 1 Chr 4.14). Since ancient Egyptian records show that these two cities existed long before this time, some interpreters suggest that the Hebrew verb for built should be translated “rebuilt” or “fortified” here. For towns (literally “daughters,” so Osty-Trinquet), see the comments on 1 Chr 7.28. Its towns may be rendered “their surrounding villages” or “the villages around them” (New Century Version) since the pronoun its refers to Ono and Lod.

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 .

Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper …: Meshelemiah and his family are spoken of in greater detail in chapter 26. It is possible that Meshelemiah refers to the same person as Shallum in verses 17 and 19 and as Shelemiah in 1 Chr 26.14. But because this is not certain, translators should not harmonize these different verses.

The tent of meeting: Normally this expression refers to the Tabernacle used in the wilderness period at the time of Moses (see the comments on 1 Chr 6.32). But as verse 23 shows, the writer uses it here as a synonym for the Temple (so Contemporary English Version, New Century Version).

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 .

But when all Jabesh-gilead heard …: But renders the common Hebrew conjunction. New Revised Standard Version, New Living Translation, and English Standard Version also have “But,” while King James Version and the New King James Version [New King James Version ] use “And.” Either connector is appropriate in this context. However, most other modern versions omit this conjunction since it serves only to connect verse 11 with what goes before it.

Instead of all Jabesh-gilead, the parallel text in 1 Sam 31.11 reads “the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead.” New Jerusalem Bible corrects the Hebrew here to follow the parallel in 1 Samuel by saying “the inhabitants of Jabesh in Gilead.” But there is no reason to change the Hebrew, since the text may be rendered “the people of Jabesh in Gilead” for translational reasons (so Good News Translation, Bible en français courant). According to 1 Sam 11, Saul had rescued the people of Jabesh from the Ammonites at the beginning of his reign. The name Jabesh-gilead is better translated “Jabesh in Gilead” or “the city of Jabesh in the region of Gilead.” Jabesh was one of the main Israelite cities east of the Jordan River. It was located on the eastern side of the Jordan River, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from Jerusalem.

Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation treat verse 11 as a temporal clause. In some languages it may be better to make this verse a complete sentence; for example, Bible en français courant says “The people of Jabesh, in Gilead, learned all that the Philistines had done to Saul” (similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente).

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 .

Netophah (verse 30) was a town in the hill country of Judah, near Bethlehem. Heled appears as “Heleb” in 2 Sam 23.29, showing that the final letter has been confused by the writer of 1 Chronicles or by a scribe, but translators generally retain the difference in the original.

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 .