complete verse (1 Chronicles 23:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 23:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “The house of Ladan was divided into three groups following his three sons: the house of Jehiel who was the firstborn, the house of Zetham, and the house of Joel.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “His largest son was Jehiel. His other sons were Zetham and Joel.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Ladan had three male children who were Jehiel, the chief-leader/[lit. head] of their family, then Zetam and Joel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 23:8

The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three is literally “The sons of Ladan the head Jehiel and Zetham and Joel three.” The Hebrew word for “head” may be understood to mean “chief” or “first.” The Hebrew of this verse can be understood in the following different ways:

• (1) “The sons of the first, Ladan: Jehiel, Zetham and Joel, three.” In this translation the word “first” goes with the name Ladan and identifies him as the first son of Gershon (verse 7).

• (2) “The sons of chief Ladan: Jehiel, Zetham and Joel, three.” According to this translation, Ladan is identified as the head of a clan. Six other times the Hebrew word for chief in the singular occurs in this genealogy, and it always comes after the name it modifies. So this suggests that chief refers to Ladan here.

• (3) “The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first [or, the chief], Zetham and Joel, three.” This third way of understanding the Hebrew is the widely accepted interpretation; for example, New Jerusalem Bible says “Sons of Ladan: Jehiel first, Zetham, Joel; three in all.”

Following the third interpretation, the Hebrew identifies Jehiel as the chief. Neither Good News Translation nor Contemporary English Version translates the word chief, perhaps on the assumption that readers will expect the oldest son to be named first. Joel is here a son of Ladan and a brother of Jehiel. In 1 Chr 26.22 he is the son of Jehiel and the grandson of Ladan. According to 26.22, Joel and Zetham were in charge of the Temple treasuries.

New Century Version provides a good model for this verse, saying “Ladan had three sons. His first son was Jehiel, and his other sons were Zetham and Joel.”

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 .