Then Ornan said to David: Here the verb said may be translated “replied” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nueva Versión Internacional).

Take it is literally “Take for yourself.” Ornan offers David the threshing floor as a gift, for no payment.

And let my lord the king do what seems good to him is literally “and let my lord the king do what is good in his eyes.” Ornan addresses David in the third person to show respect. Good News Translation restates this sentence by referring to David in the second person while maintaining the sense of respect by saying “Your Majesty … and do whatever you wish” (similarly Nueva Versión Internacional).

See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings: Ornan used the oxen to thresh the wheat. He offers them to David, so that David can sacrifice them to God as burnt offerings (see the comments on 1 Chr 16.1). Other renderings of burnt offerings include “whole-offerings” (Revised English Bible) and “holocausts” (New American Bible).

And the threshing sledges for the wood: Threshing sledges were heavy boards with bits of rock or metal on the bottom that were used in the process of separating the husks from grain. They were normally dragged by oxen across the stone floor on which the grain had been spread out. For a fuller description of threshing sledges, see WTH, pages 15-16|fig:WTH.Threshing board.15-16.html. Other renderings include “threshing boards” (Good News Translation), “threshing-sleds” (New Jerusalem Bible), and “threshing-instruments” (American Bible). The Hebrew does not state specifically why Ornan offered to give the threshing boards, saying only for the wood. Good News Translation makes this more explicit by saying “to use as fuel [for the sacrifices].” Compare also Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, which adds “To make a fire.”

And the wheat for a cereal offering: A cereal offering was an offering of grain mixed with incense and olive oil. This offering could be raw grain, finely ground grain, or grain made into cakes and then baked or fried. Instructions for the cereal offering are found in Lev 2.1-16 and 6.14-23. According to Exo 29.38-41 and Num 15.1-10, a cereal offering was to be offered with every burnt offering. Other translations of this offering include “grain offering” (New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible) and “meal offering” (American Bible). For burnt offerings and cereal offering, Good News Translation uses the general word “offering” without specifying either kind of offering.

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 .