His brethren: from Eliezer were his son Rehabiah …: Revised Standard Version gives a rather literal translation of the Hebrew here, but the sense will not be clear to many readers because the referent for the pronoun His is not clear. His brethren refers to the kinsmen of Shebuel. Shebuel was a son of Gershom (1 Chr 23.16), and Eliezer and Gershom were brothers and sons of Moses (1 Chr 23.15). So Eliezer was an uncle to Shebuel. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch begins this verse with “From Eliezer, the other son of Moses, was Rehabiah….” The Vulgate and the ancient Syriac say that Eliezer was the brother of Shebuel. But this contradicts 23.16 and results from a misunderstanding of the Hebrew preposition attached to the name Eliezer. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text.

Rehabiah, called “Rehabyahu” in the Masoretic Text (so La Bible Pléiade, Chouraqui), was the only son of Eliezer (1 Chr 23.17). New International Version expresses the relationships in this verse more clearly than Revised Standard Version by saying “His relatives through Eliezer: Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zicri his son and Shelomith his son.” Good News Translation restructures this verse to express the relationships more clearly. But Contemporary English Version is even more clear with “The descendants of Gershom’s brother Eliezer included Rehabiah, Jeshaiah, Joram, Zichri, and Shelomoth.” However, Contemporary English Version does not make it clear that Jeshaiah was the son of Rehabiah, that Joram was the son of Jeshaiah, and so on. Bible en français courant translates “In his family was the line of descendants of Eliezer, brother of Gershom: Rehabiah, son of Eliezer, then Jeshaiah, Joram, Zichri and Shelomith.”

Since the focus of this verse and the next one is on Shelomoth, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente restructures this verse and provides a good model as follows: “His relative was Shelomith, who descended from Zichri, Joram, Jeshaiah, Rehabiah, and Eliezer.” Another useful model is God’s Word, which reads “From his relatives on Eliezer’s side of the family was Shelomith. (Eliezer’s son was Rehabiah; his grandson was Jeshaiah; his great-grandson was Joram. Joram’s son was Zichri; his grandson was Shelomith.)”

The Masoretic Text has the name Shelomoth here and in 1 Chr 24.22, but has “Shelomith” in verse 28 and 1 Chr 23.18. The reading in the margin of the Masoretic Text here has “Shelomith.” Good News Translation uses the same name in all of these verses for the sake of consistency and clarity. Others are inconsistent, reading “Shelomith” here and in 23.18, but Shelomoth in 24.22 (so, for example, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).

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 .