And they destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites that had escaped: In this context the Hebrew word for destroyed may be rendered “defeated” (English Standard Version), “struck down” (Holman Christian Standard Bible), or “killed” (Good News Translation, New International Version, New Century Version). The Amalekites were the descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau according to Gen 36.15-16. They attacked the people of Israel during their trek across the desert from Egypt to the Promised Land (Exo 17.8-16) and were persistent enemies of the Israelites. The remnant of the Amalekites that had escaped refers to those who had escaped previous fighting and were still alive. It may be necessary in certain languages to indicate from what these Amalekites had escaped. They had been living in the Akaba region among the Edomites since they were chased there by Saul (1 Sam 15.7) and David (1 Sam 30.17).

And they have dwelt there to this day: The pronoun they might possibly be misunderstood as referring to the Amalekites. For this reason it may be better to make the referent for this pronoun explicit by saying “these Simeonites.” The adverb there refers to Edom. As in verse 41, the phrase to this day refers either to the time of the writing of the account followed by the Chronicler or to the time that he himself was writing his account. This whole clause may be rendered “From that time until now these Simeonites have lived in Edom.”

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 .