Verses 26-30a list the Merarites (see 1 Chr 23.21-23). God’s Word places these verses together and makes it explicit that they refer to Levi’s descendants through Merari (see the comments at verse 20 on the God’s Word translation of verses 20-25, which list descendants of Kohath).

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Ja-aziah: Beno: Revised Standard Version gives a literal translation of the Hebrew here. However, there are three difficulties in understanding this verse: (1) what is the meaning of Beno, (2) who is Ja-aziah (literally “Jaaziyahu”), and (3) why does the text say sons of Ja-aziah when only one son is named? Knoppers expresses the view of nearly all interpreters by saying “There is significant textual confusion in vv. 26-27” (page 830). Similarly, a footnote in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible states “Verses 26 and 27 seem to repeat, with variants that make the text difficult … It is difficult to reconstruct what must have been the original text.”

The difficulty in translating this verse, as well as verse 27, lies in the fact that the Hebrew word transliterated as the name Beno may also be understood as the Hebrew word translated “his son” (New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Furthermore, according to Exo 6.19 and 1 Chr 23.21, Merari had only two sons: Mahli and Mushi. Neither a son named Beno nor a son named Ja-aziah is listed there. In fact, none of the other lists of the Merarites in the Old Testament mention Ja-aziah. The relationship between Ja-aziah and Merari is simply not clear in the Masoretic Text.

Some versions change sons of Ja-aziah to the singular “son of Jaaziah” (New International Version, NET Bible; similarly Revised English Bible) as the context seems to require. Some interpreters think that the words The sons of Ja-aziah: Beno were mistakenly added to the text from the next verse and therefore omit these words here (so Klein).

So how should this verse be translated?

• (1) One way is illustrated by La Bible Pléiade, which inserts empty square brackets and reads “Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi [ ].” A footnote in La Bible Pléiade then explains that the words “sons of Jaaziah his son” do not belong in the original text but were mistakenly repeated here from verse 27.

• (2) Another solution is to regard the name Ja-aziah as a scribal error and to follow the Septuagint, which has the name “Uzziah” in verses 26 and 27. This interpretation is reflected in New American Bible, which has “The descendants of Merari were Mahli, Mushi, and the descendants of his son Uzziah.” But this translation still does not solve the historical question of whether Merari had more than two sons. Others translations read “Uzziah” only in verse 27 in place of Ja-aziah (so Menge).

• (3) Some translations make Ja-aziah one of Merari’s sons. Good News Translation and Bible en français courant read the Hebrew word beno as “his son” and simply do not translate the words the sons of. But translators should try to make sense of the text rather than simply omit difficult words.

• (4) Another solution has been to understand Ja-aziah not as a son of Merari but as a descendant whose exact relationship to Merari is not stated. This is the basis for the Berkeley rendering of verses 26-27, which is “26 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi; and among the sons of Jaaziah was Beno; 27 in fact, Merari’s descendants through Jaaziah were Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.”

• (5) One other solution has been to correct the Masoretic Text by changing the Hebrew word beney (“sons of”) to wegam (“and also”). The three consonants in beney and wegam are somewhat similar in shape in Hebrew. This correction is the basis for the Revised English Bible rendering, which reads “The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi and also Jaaziah his son.”

• (6) If translators follow the Masoretic Text and the interpretation found in Revised Standard Version (also New Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Nueva Versión Internacional), in which beno is taken as a man’s name, they may choose to add a footnote explaining that the Hebrew may also be translated “his son.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, which follows the Masoretic Text for verses 26-27, reads “26 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Jaazaiah his son 27 –the sons of Merari by Jaazaiah his son: Shoham, Zakkur, and Ibri.” La Bible du Semeur also seems to be an attempt to make sense of the Masoretic Text by rendering verse 26 as “The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi, and the sons of Jaaziah, his son.”

• (7) Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente represents another attempt to make sense of the Masoretic Text, and it is this translation that is recommended by Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament. For verses 26-27 it reads “26 Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi (in reality they were born from his son Jaaziah and were therefore 27 descendants of Merari through his son Jaaziah), then Shoham, Zaccur and Ibri.” Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente takes The sons of Ja-aziah: Beno to mean that Mahli and Mushi were the sons of Jaaziah (and not the sons of Merari), and that Ja-aziah was Merari’s son (beno). Then continuing into verse 27, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente takes “the sons of Merari” as referring to Mahli and Mushi, and takes beno to mean that Ja-aziah was Merari’s son. Then the next three names in verse 27 are other sons of Merari. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch gives a similar interpretation of the Hebrew text as that in Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, reading “26 The descendants of Merari were Mahli and Mushi–they were sons of Merari’s son Jaaziah. 27 Other descendants of Merari by Jaaziah were: Shoham, Zaccur and Ibri” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible).

The wide variety of translations of this verse and the beginning of verse 27 show that it is impossible to know for sure how this verse should be interpreted and translated. Even Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, after recommending option 7, states “The following translation of vv. 26-27 is a possible interpretation of the MT, which is probably not the original” (page 432).

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 .