complete verse (1 Chronicles 26:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 26:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “The sons of Meshelemiah and his relatives were powerful in their work. Eighteen guards came from this home.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Meshelemiah had 18 capable sons and brothers.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The 18 children and blood-relatives of Meshelemia had abilities too.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Another guard was Meshelemiah. He and his sons and relatives were also capable people. There were 18 of them altogether.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 26:9

And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren: Meshelemiah is probably the same person by this name mentioned in verses 1-2 (see the comments on 1 Chr 26.4). Brethren here and in verse 11 most likely refers to “relatives” (New International Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version, God’s Word) and not to blood brothers.

Able men is literally “sons of strength.” The Hebrew word translated able is the same word as in the previous verse.

Eighteen: The structure of Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew but is hardly natural word order in English. It may be necessary in other languages to restructure this verse, giving the number before the comment about them. Bible en français courant says “The group of Meshelemiah, made up of his sons and his brothers, counted eighteen men of real ability.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Chronicles 26:9

26:9 Meshelemiah also had sons and brothers who were capable men—18 in all.

Meshelemiah, along with his sons and relatives, were also highly respected. In all, eighteen descendants of Meshelemiah were gatekeepers/doorkeepers.
-or-
There were eighteen (18) from Meshelemiah’s clan/family altogether. They were also well suited/able to guard ⌊the entrances/gates of the house of Yahweh⌋ .

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.