He said to them: Since the pronoun “his” in verse 4 refers to Solomon, Good News Translation, New International Version, and New Living Translation replace the pronoun He with the name “Rehoboam” to avoid any ambiguity. In this context the verb said may be better translated “answered” (New International Version, New Century Version, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “replied” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation).
Come to me again in three days: God’s Word and La Bible du Semeur render in three days more idiomatically as “the day after tomorrow,” since the current day was counted as the first day.
In languages where indirect discourse is preferred, this quotation may be rendered indirectly by saying “Then Rehoboam asked them to give him three days to think about it” or “Rehoboam requested that they go away and come back in three days so that he could consider their request.”
So the people went away: The common Hebrew conjunction here is translated So in order to show the logical relationship between Rehoboam’s reply and the departure of the people to whom he had been speaking.
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 .
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