Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth: This verse picks up from verse 50, where Shobal is named as a son of Hur. A rather literal translation of this verse in the Masoretic Text reads as follows: “And there were sons to Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim Haroeh [the] half of the Menuhoth.” The meaning is not clear.

Instead of Haroeh, some versions have “Reaiah,” correcting the text on the basis of 1 Chr 4.2, which names Reaiah as a son of Shobal (so Revised English Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Einheitsübersetzung, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Braun). The name Haroeh means “the seer,” and the consonants in Hebrew are similar to those in the name “Reaiah,” so it is possible that a scribe miscopied the name “Reaiah” as “Haroeh.” But since the Masoretic Text clearly says Haroeh here, translators should not change the text on the basis of 1 Chr 4.2.

The Menu-hoth are not otherwise known. Menge places a question mark within parentheses after the word Menu-hoth in his translation. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch corrects half of the Menu-hoth to read “the half of the inhabitants of Manahath” (see verse 54, which mentions the Zorites as the other half of the Manahathite clan). Revised English Bible is similar with “the ancestor of half the Manahethites,” and so is New Jerusalem Bible with “half of the Manahathites.”

The relationship between Haroeh and half of the Menu-hoth is not clear. The following interpretations have been suggested:

• (1) The people of Haroeh may have been a part of the people of Menu-hoth (so New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, El libro del Pueblo de Dios). With this understanding half of the Menu-hoth is in apposition with Haroeh. New Jerusalem Bible, for example, reads “Shobal father of Kiriath-Jearim, had sons: Haroeh, that is, half of the Manahathites,” and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “Shobal father of Kiriath-jearim had sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth.”

• (2) They may have been two completely separate people and groups. Knoppers, for example, translates “Haroeh [and] half of the Manahathites.”

• (3) The Hebrew word translated half of (chatsi) may be a person’s name, and Haroeh and Hatsi were brothers who belonged to the Manahathite clan. Einheitsübersetzung, for example, says “Shobal, the father of Kiriath-Jearim had as sons: Reaiah and Hazi, the Manahathites.”

• (4) Haroeh and Hatsi-Menuhoth may be the names of brothers, the sons of Shobal (so Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible du Semeur, La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous). This is an ancient Jewish interpretation. La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous, for example, says “Shobal, the father of Kiriath-jearim, had as sons Haroeh, Hatsi-Hamménuhot.” La Sainte Bible: La version Etablie par les moines de Maredsous also adds a footnote stating that the end of the verse is a mystery. La Bible du Semeur translates similarly but places the conjunction “and” between the last two names. However, it does not add a footnote.

• (5) The Hebrew word Haroeh can be understood as a participle meaning “one who looks after,” and the Hebrew noun manachath (singular word for Menu-hoth) can be understood to mean “resting place.” This ancient Jewish interpretation is the basis for the following alternative translation by Slotki: “who supervised half of the resting-places”; that is, Shobal was in charge of half of the caravan stations in Judah.

Perhaps the best solution is to understand the last part of this verse as referring to two separate peoples: the people of Haroeh and half the inhabitants of Menuhoth (or, Manahath).

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 .