He made the stands also (verse 14): According to the parallel text in 1 Kgs 7.27-39, these stands had wheels. Therefore some versions call these objects “trolleys” (Revised English Bible, Moffatt, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie), “carts” (Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), or “wheel bases” (Anchor Bible). Some languages may have to say “little tables with wheels on the legs.” For a good description of these stands, see WTH, pages 244-245|fig:WTH.4.3.3.Temple – movable stand, cart.244-245.html.

The Masoretic Text here says he made the stands, but does not say how many. The Hebrew verb he made (ʿasah) is similar to the Hebrew number “ten” (ʿeser). Since the parallel text in 1 Kgs 7.43 says that there were ten stands, it seems likely that the text here in chapter 4 originally said “the ten stands” rather than he made the stands. Several translations correct the text here to read “ten” and say “the ten stands” (New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, La Biblia: Traducción en Lenguaje Actual, Peregrino; similarly Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, Anchor Bible).

Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament argues that the text of 1 Kings, which was used by the writer of 2 Chronicles, already had a textual error in which “ten” had been changed to “he made.” Therefore Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text here in 2 Chronicles. If Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament is correct, then this raises a difficult issue for translators: do translators follow what the author of 2 Chronicles wrote, even though the author probably copied a text of 1 Kings which had a mistake in it? If Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament is correct, then translators should follow here what the author of 2 Chronicles wrote, even if the author used a manuscript of 1 Kings that contained an error.

The lavers upon the stands (verse 14): See the comments on 2Chr 4.6.

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 .