The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse is correctly translated So in order to show the logical relationship between Jehoiachin’s being given a place of special honor by the Babylonian king and the fact that he was able to get rid of his prison clothes.
Jehoiachin put off his prison garments: This should not be translated in such a way as to leave Jehoiachin naked in the minds of the readers or hearers of this text. What is clearly intended is that he was allowed to exchange his prison outfit for ordinary civilian clothing. The Hebrew verb translated put off is more literally “changed.” Contemporary English Version attempts to convey the idea by saying “Jehoiachin was even allowed to wear regular clothes.” Others may prefer to say “Jehoiachin exchanged his prison clothes for ordinary clothes.” The name Jehoiachin does not appear in the Hebrew text of this verse. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation, as well as nearly all modern translations, have added the name to make clear the subject of the verbs put off and dined.
Every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table is literally “he ate bread continually/regularly before him all the days of his life.” This is reminiscent of Mephibosheth’s being invited to eat with David in 2 Sam 9.13. It was a particularly great honor to be invited even once to partake of a meal with a king. To do so on a regular basis was an indication of an even greater honor. It is very possible, however, that these words are not to be understood literally. As in 1 Kgs 2.7, which said that the sons of Barzillai were to eat at Solomon’s table, the meaning may be that he received a royal pension. American Bible translates this “he received permanent provisions by his favor for life.”
In view of the context, the adverb regularly will be seen as unnecessarily repetitious in some languages and may be omitted. The fact that this was done every day of his life indicates that this was done regularly for the rest of Jehoiachin’s life. In some languages the habitual verb form will be used to underline the regularity of this event.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .