Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 23:4:
Kupsabiny: “David said, ‘Twenty-four thousands (24,000) people are to be given to work in the Home of God, and six thousands to become leaders and councilors/judges.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The king chose 24,000 men to care for the work of the temple, 6,000 to work as officials and to render judgments,” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “David said, ‘The 24,000 of them will-supervise the work in the temple of the LORD, the 6,000 will-serve as the officers and judges,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Then David said, ‘From those 38,000 men, I want 24,000 of them to supervise the work at the temple of Yahweh, and I want 6,000 of them to be officials and judges.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Many languages use a “body part tally system” where body parts function as numerals (see body part tally systems with a description). One such language is Angguruk Yali which uses a system that ends at the number 27. To circumvent this limitation, the Angguruk Yali translators adopted a strategy where a large number is first indicated with an approximation via the traditional system, followed by the exact number according to Arabic numerals. For example, where in 2 Samuel 6:1 it says “thirty thousand” in the English translation, the Angguruk Yali says teng-teng angge 30.000 or “so many rounds [following the body part tally system] 30,000,” likewise, in Acts 27:37 where the number “two hundred seventy-six” is used, the Angguruk Yali translation says teng-teng angge 276 or “so many rounds 276,” or in John 6:10 teng-teng angge 5.000 for “five thousand.”
This strategy is used in all the verses referenced here.
Verses 4 and 5 may be understood as a direct quotation of David’s words in the Hebrew text, since verse 5 ends with the words “which I have made for praise.” Good News Translation has restructured these two verses as narrative without direct speech (also Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible use narrative without speech except for the last part of verse 5, which is taken as direct discourse because of the first person singular pronoun. Revised Standard Version inserts the words David said (also New Revised Standard Version, New International Version; similarly La Bible du Semeur) because of this pronoun. La Bible Pléiade and Osty-Trinquet likewise insert “David said,” but place these words in square brackets to show that they are not written in the Hebrew text.
Twenty-four thousand of these … shall have charge of the work in the house of the LORD: The precise meaning of this clause is not clear. There are two possible interpretations:
• (1) It may refer to the work the Levites will do once the Temple has been built, so American Bible says “… are to direct the administration of the house of Yahweh,” and Revised English Bible has “… were to be responsible for the maintenance and service of the house of the LORD.” Since the other duties that follow seem to refer to a time after the Temple will have been built, this first interpretation is preferable.
• (2) Or it may refer to the work of building the Temple; for example, Moffatt says “… having to superintend the work of building the temple of the Eternal,” and Bible en français courant has “… to supervise the construction of the temple of the Lord” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). But Twenty-four thousand Levites seems like a huge number to serve as supervisors of the Temple construction. However, elsewhere the writer uses the Hebrew verb rendered have charge of for overseeing the people who built or repaired the Temple (2 Chr 2.1, 18; 34.12-13). Furthermore, 2 Chr 34.12-13 indicates that Levites who were gatekeepers and scribes also served as overseers. According to 1 Chr 22.2, it was the foreigners who were to do the actual labor of building the Temple.
Six thousand shall be officers and judges: The Hebrew word for officers can refer to military or civil officials. It is uncertain whether the word originally meant “scribe” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente) or “record-keeper,” which is the basis for the Good News Translation rendering “to keep records.” New International Version and Nueva Versión Internacional use the general term “officials.” The Hebrew word for judges is sometimes used for someone who is a ruler or leader, as in the book of Judges; but in this context the narrower sense of “judge” is more likely the intended sense.
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 .
Then David said, “From those 38,000 men, (Translation for Translators) -or-
The king decided that
23:4b 24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD,
I want 24,000 to supervise the work at the temple of Yahweh. -or-
twenty-four thousand (24,000) of them should be responsible for the maintenance of Yahweh’s Temple ⌊once it was built⌋ .
23:4c 6,000 are to be officers and judges,
6,000 of them will be officials and judges. -or-
Six thousand (6,000) of them should be officers and judges.
23:4a–c (combined)
David told them, “Of these, 24,000 men will be in charge of the work of Yahweh’s house. Another 6,000 men will be officers and judges.
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