Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name: Since the name of Yahweh represents his person, some modern versions omit the reference to his name; for example, Contemporary English Version renders this line as “He is wonderful! Praise him,” and Bible en français courant has “Come proclaim his glory.” Compare “Give to the LORD the glory his name deserves” (God’s Word) and “Give to the LORD the glory he deserves” (New Living Translation).

Bring an offering, and come before him!: The parallel text in Psa 96.8 reads “come into his courts” instead of come before him. The author of 1 Chronicles apparently changed “into his courts” to before him since the Temple had not yet been built. So translators should not follow Good News Translation here, which has “into his Temple.”

Worship the LORD in holy array: The Hebrew verb rendered Worship is literally “Bow down” (Good News Translation). Either rendering is acceptable here. Instead of the LORD, Good News Translation speaks of “the Holy One.” The Hebrew text repeats the name of the LORD in this line and unless it is unnatural to use his name again so soon, it should probably appear here. The meaning of the Hebrew expression rendered in holy array is debated among scholars. The noun translated array means “splendor, magnificence.” There are two ways of interpreting this whole phrase:

• (1) It may refer to clothing, in which case it refers to ornamental garments of holiness that people are to wear when they come to worship God. Compare “in holy attire” (Revised English Bible, New American Bible).

• (2) It may refer to God’s magnificence, either in the Temple or in his coming. Compare “in the splendor of his [God’s] holiness” (New International Version), “in his sacred court” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “when he appears” (Good News Translation; see verse 33). Other translations that follow this interpretation include “majestic in holiness” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Knoppers) and “in all his holy splendor” (New Living Translation).

The translations “in holy splendor” (New Revised Standard Version) and “in holy grandeur” (American Bible) are ambiguous and may refer either to the splendor of human beings or of God. All of these interpretations and translations are acceptable, so translators must simply choose among the possible ways of translating this phrase.

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 .