Four thousand gatekeepers: For gatekeepers see the comments on 1 Chr 9.17. The divisions of the gatekeepers are found in 26.1-19.

And four thousand shall offer praises to the LORD with the instruments which I have made for praise: The organization of the Temple musicians is found in chapter 25. The words the instruments which I have made may mean that David himself crafted the instruments. Since it is not likely that he made instruments for four thousand musicians, the sense is probably “the musical instruments that I caused to be made” (La Bible du Semeur; similarly Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Nueva Versión Internacional). Or the sense may be “the instruments that I provided.” Contemporary English Version expresses this sense with “the musical instruments that I have given.” New American Bible says “the instruments which David had devised,” which means that David planned which instruments would be used but does not necessarily imply that he made all of them (similarly Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). 2 Chr 7.6 and 29.26 also refer to David’s instruments.

Instead of the verb phrase I made, the Vulgate and an important manuscript of the Septuagint have “he made,” and the Syriac omits this phrase. Revised English Bible follows the Septuagint, saying “the musical instruments which David had produced” (similarly Einheitsübersetzung). Braun, apparently following the Syriac, translates the last part of this verse as “instruments made for giving praise to the Lord.” An American Translation is similar with “instruments which were made, to praise therewith.”

As noted in the comments on 1 Chr 23.4, some versions take both verses 4 and 5 as words of David because of the clause which I have made for praise. However, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible makes only this clause his words by rendering the last part of verse 5 as “and four thousand to praise the LORD with the instruments ‘which I have made to praise him’ (David said).” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh is similar with “and 4,000 for praising the LORD ‘with instruments I devised for singing praises.’ ” But these two versions are not recommended since they rely solely on quotation marks to show that the clause which I have made for praise suddenly intrudes into the story as words by David. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament says that translators should not insert the words “David said” in verse 4 and should use direct discourse in verses 4-5. However, this recommendation should be ignored if readers in the receptor language will not understand that David speaks here in verse 5.

The Septuagint adds the words “to the Lord” at the end of this verse. Braun considers these words to be original and includes them in his translation. Whether the words are original or not, they are certainly implied in the Masoretic Text. So they may be supplied in the receptor language even if the textual evidence does not show convincingly that they were originally in the Hebrew text.

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 .