Ben-deker, or “The son of Deker” (Contemporary English Version), was in charge of the second administrative district.

Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan: The places mentioned in this verse are all “towns” (Contemporary English Version). In translation it will probably be a good idea to identify these place names as “cities” (Good News Translation) or “towns.” Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, and La Bible du Semeur, on the other hand, prefer to see these towns as referring to the “region” that included them.

The precise locations of Makaz, Shaalbim, and Elonbeth-hanan are uncertain, but these cities were located in the territory originally assigned to the tribe of Dan, along the coastal plain west of the tribe of Benjamin. Shaalbim should probably be identified with the city called “Shaalabbin” in Josh 19.42.

Four different towns are referred to in the Old Testament by the name Beth-shemesh. Two are in the territory of the northern tribes of Issachar (Josh 19.22) and Naphtali (Josh 19.38), and the third is in Egypt (Jer 43.13; called “Heliopolis” in Revised Standard Version). The Beth-shemesh mentioned here and in 2 Kgs 14.11, 13 was a town on the northwest border of Judah (see Josh 15.10; 21.16). Originally it was in the territory of the tribe of Dan and also called Ir-Shemesh (Josh 19.41). It was about 29 kilometers (18 miles) west of Jerusalem and about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north of Ekron. The name Beth-shemesh means “house of the sun.”

Interpreters are uncertain whether Elonbeth-hanan is the name of one town or two. Contemporary English Version takes it as one name (“Elon-Beth-Hanan”), and so do a number of other versions, including New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible. This is also the recommendation of Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, which gives the Masoretic Text a {B} rating. But the Septuagint translates this as two place names, and this is the basis for the rendering “Elon, and Beth Hanan” by Good News Translation (similarly Revised English Bible, New American Bible). One manuscript of the Septuagint reads “Aijalon” instead of “Elon,” and this is the basis for the New Jerusalem Bible translation “Aijalon, Beth-Hanan” (similarly Gray, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). According to Josh 19.42-43, both Aijalon and Elon were located near Shaalbim. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament notes that the name Aijalon could stand alone, but since there were many places named Elon, Elon would need to be qualified, as it is here with the additional name Beth-hanan.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .