complete verse (1 Chronicles 28:17)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 28:17:

  • Kupsabiny: “David also explained/showed Solomon how much pure gold was needed to make the forks, bowls and jugs, together with the weight of gold and silver which was needed to make the bowls of gold and silver.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “He decided on the weight of good gold needed for the forks, sprinkling pots; and the spouted water pots and on the gold and silver needed for the utensils.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “on the gold big forks; on the gold bowls and pitchers; on the gold and silver plates;” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “how much pure gold for the meat forks and the bowls and the cups, how much gold for each gold dish, how much silver for each silver dish,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 28:17

In Hebrew this verse continues the long sentence that started at the beginning of verse 11. Good News Translation inserts a new sentence here, beginning with “He also gave instructions as to how much” (see the comments on verse 14).

Pure gold means that it was the best quality gold. In other languages the idea of purity in this sense is expressed by the adjective “true.”

The Hebrew word for forks is also found in Exo 27.3, where they are said to be made of bronze. A simple translation such as forks may well suggest ordinary dinner forks to readers today. For this reason King James Version says “fleshhooks,” referring to forks used to turn the sacrificial meat over while it was being burnt on the altar and to remove the meat from the pots in which it was cooked. Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, and Bible en français courant say “meat forks,” New Living Translation has “meat hooks used to handle the sacrificial meat,” and Peregrino translates “carving knives.” For a good description of these forks, see WTH, page 253|fig:WTH.4.4.2.Fork.253.html.

Basins were bowls used to hold the blood of the animals that had been killed for sacrifices. Since the blood in these bowls was sprinkled on the altar (Lev 1.5; 3.2; 7.2), New International Version and Osty-Trinquet say “sprinkling bowls.” Revised English Bible similarly calls them “tossing-bowls.” To convey this meaning in some languages, it will be necessary to use a longer expression such as “bowls for the blood that the priests would sprinkle on the altar.”

The Hebrew noun for cups refers to pitchers used for pouring libations. See Exo 25.29 and 37.16, where it is rendered “flagons.” This word may be translated “jars” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, American Bible), “pitchers” (New International Version), or “jugs.”

The Hebrew word for bowls occurs only here and in Ezra 1.10 and 8.27. It refers to a small bowl that was used for pouring libations (Exo 25.29; 37.16; see WTH, pages 254-255|fig:WTH.4.4.4.Basin, bowl.254-255.html). Some interpreters think that these bowls were actually baskets made of palm-fiber and covered with pitch. Good News Translation says “dishes.”

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 28:17

28:17a the weight of the pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls, and pitchers;

⌊King David told Solomon⌋ the weight of the refined gold for the forks and bowls and jugs/cups
-or-

⌊David told Solomon⌋ how much purified gold to use for the ⌊meat⌋ forks ⌊for the sacrifices⌋ . ⌊He told him⌋ how much gold to use for the basins. ⌊In the basins they kept the blood that the priests sprinkle on the altar.⌋ ⌊He told him⌋ how much gold to use for the jugs ⌊that they needed to hold and pour out the drink/wine offerings⌋ .

28:17b the weight of each gold dish; the weight of each silver bowl;

and dishes. ⌊He told him⌋ the weight of the silver required for the silver dishes.
-or-

⌊He told him⌋ how much gold and silver to use for the dishes.

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